TTD

Leslie Deans, head of the firm which bears his name, charged under money-laundering regulations http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-24297069 http://www.scotsman.com/news/scotland/top-stories/leslie-deans-charged-with-money-laundering-offences-1-3114316 http://news.stv.tv/east-central/241086-leslie-deans-charged-with-money-laundering-as-part-of-fraud-inquiry/

Why do you care, since you're buying at an agreed figure less than both HR valuations?

If you were called upon to provide evidence in a court of law, having said the above, would you be able to prove it? Do you have any hard evidence, or is it all hearsay and word of mouth?

Not sure what your point is, but since the HR will be sent to the buyer's lender, and the lender will lend on the lesser of the HR value and the purchase price, it lets the buyer know that they'll be able to buy without having to find more ready cash than the lender's required deposit. If they bought for over the HR value, the lender would lend at the valuation figure, and the buyer would need more cash to put into the deal. You seem to have a bee in your bonnet about HRs.

Since the house is in Scotland, you need to tell your friend to get a Home Report before he or she places a board in the garden, puts it on a website, or in the newsagent's window. Also, since it's in Scotland, the advice to merely 'get it on Rightmove' from the England and Wales brigade may not be appropriate.

The property questionnaire states the heating was installed by a previous owner - why is it curious that the current owner doesn't know on which date this was done?

Are we reading the same Home Report here? Again, in total, the surveyor's comments on gas and heating; "Accessible parts of the system were visually inspected without removing fittings. No tests whatsoever were carried out to the system or appliances. Visual inspection does not assess any services to make sure they work properly and efficiently and meet modern standards. If any services are turned off, the surveyor will state that in the report and will not turn them on. Gas is from the mains. The meter is situated in a PVC box The gas supply was not checked or tested. Accessible parts of the system were visually inspected apart from communal systems, which were not inspected. No tests whatsoever were carried out to the system or appliances. Hot water and background heating is provided by a gas fired boiler which is situated in the hall cupboard. The boiler services corrugated radiators via copper piping. The central heating system we have assumed has been regularly serviced and maintained to comply with current Regulations. Ventilation should be increased to the boiler cupboard." The boiler is situated in a hall cupboard, and the surveyor recommends increasing ventilation to that cupboard. How does this equate to 'not seeing the boiler' ???

But the report is clear on what he did - in two separate paragraphs, it states, in total - "Accessible parts of the wiring were visually inspected without removing fittings. No tests whatsoever were carried out to the system or appliances. Visual inspection does not assess any services to make sure they work properly and efficiently and meet modern standards. If any services are turned off, the surveyor will state that in the report and will not turn them on. Electricity is via the mains grid. The meter and circuit breaker is situated within the hall cupboard. The electrical system was not checked or tested." Which part of this leads you to the conclusion that "it was odd for the surveyor to choose to pretend that no part of the electrical system was available for the briefest of visual inspection " ???

Yes, really. With (so far) 2 sales in 2012 (see Sold Prices on Zoopla) at £450k and £850k, and 60% of the 2011 sales at over £300k .....

It's a 1970s build, so YOU think the electrics will need 'updating'. However, surveyors aren't electricians. They'll report on any obvious safety-related issues (cracked wall plugs, ancient fuse boxes, fuse boxes without covers, etc, but for a qualified opinion on electrics, you should ask an electrician. I sold a 1970s build in the last couple of years. Whilst some aspects of the electrical installation were dated, it was by no means unsafe, and I see no reason to assume that every 1970s build automatically requires work on the electrics. What gives you the impression that the surveyor concerned is merely a 'Quantity Surveyor' (I take it the implication of this remark being that you feel the surveyor to be unsuitably qualified for the task...?)

But again, sellers' stubborn-ness is not a fault of the Home Report system....

So what if the HR valuation is higher than you're willing to pay, or if the seller is insistent on achieving the HR valuation price. It's not mandatory to spend that much. You don't HAVE to buy the house at that level. You both appear to be insisting that the only realistic HR valuation is one at or around the price you buy at, which isn't the case, especially with the current paucity of mortgage lending. It's a figure which is provided by one surveyor, and made available to the buyer's lender for them to determine how much they'll lend to the buyer. It's no different from the pre-HR situation where a buyer would offer subject to survey, and one surveyor would then visit the house, assess it, and provide the survey and his estimated valuation to the buyer's lender - just that the responsibility for paying for that survey has been shifted from buyer to lender, and the format of the survey has been standardised by the Govt. Good luck on getting a change through where every seller has to commission multiple surveys from multiple bodies. It's expensive enough just to get one. Who pays for all of them? Why do you think sev 3s are 'cop-outs' - severity 3 is the worst category of fault in the HR - the fault that requires 'immediate attention'

Most of what you cite here is 'seller's attitude' rather than anything to do with the HR. If you want a costing for dealing with the items you list, I'd suggest you should be getting this from licenced asbestos contractors, damp-proofing specialists, etc. Doesn't the valuation in the report state "Valuation in present condition", suggesting the surveyor has factored these things in?

If that's all the sales data available to either the EA or the surveyor, what would you suggest should form the basis of the HR valuation? Despite the surveys, don't the selling prices ending up below the HR valuation from months or years earlier suggest to you that it's a falling market, rather than a campaign of over-valuation by surveyors.....?

...but still only one-third of that being sought for the new-build/conversion in Gullane......

Zoopla are retaining a history in this fashion, but it's woefully incomplete for Scottish properties, because hardly any agents are actively listing their properties there. Look at lists of sold prices, and the ones with this history have (I think) an 'H' icon next to them - click on this to browse the cut-dwon schedule and asking price. It's not perfect, I've seen one property which sold within two or three years of a previous sale, and both sales link to the most recent agent's listing......

It's been sold, I think, but the selling agent's PDF can still be found with a google of "for sale oswald road", and is at http://media.primelocation.com/KFGR/KFED/KFED999000358/BROCH_01.PDF

That's 325 sq metres, which works out at £2154 per sq metre by my reckoning, and that seems fairly....average. To put it in perspective, see the tail end of the 'Worst value properties...' thread. FWIW, it's 90% bigger than my two-storey, 4-bed house. And it's a flat.

They seem to have a fair number sold already - I passed by before Xmas, and the sale board trumpeted that 7 (?) or 9 (?) were sold already. Agent's website shows three Under Offer from the 11 currently listed therein, there appear to be 18 in total, so appears 7 sold already.... remarkable at those prices, IMHO.

How much do you want to spend? Do you think it's worth £235k to £250k? If so, offer what you think it's worth and see if they accept. If they don't you negotiate to some point between what they want and what you offered at initially. Given that they're eight months down the line, they're very unlikley to disregard an attempt at negotiation, even if they do reject your first offer. Don't waste your time with verbal exchanges between you and the seller. Get your solicitor to put your offer in writing and bang it over to the seller's agent, assuming you want to buy it. I've seen many properties selling in the last few years at below their offers over prices, so any previous 'etiquette' would appear to have gone out of the window..... No-one will pay over £250k, given the stamp duty threshold.

...and the Penthouse is up for sale in the development I mentioned above - 4 beds, ONE public room, one bathroom, one ensuite 98.6 sq m, measured to the backs of the built-in wardrobes,,,,,, £750,000 £7,600 per sq m

No bother, I was assuming you'd made an appointment with an EA to view one of the pre-owned ones that's currently for sale......

Ah, so the 'EA' was the on-site salesperson....?

What I make of it is that you could have looked at the room sizes on the schedule or floorplan first ..... no?

Honestly, couldn't you have figured this out from the room sizes on the schedules or web listings, and have saved you and the EA the trip.....? Why do you need to SEE the room to realise what size it is?