Shall we renegotiate the price?

madfrenchgirl

Hi people!

We just had a quote given on a few structural stuff on the house we are buying.

The stuff that came out in the strucutral report are:

- remaining chimney breast might need supporting in the loft
- no visible lintel above the patio sliding doors
- roof strengthening

All of the work mentioned above would cost 1700, inc VAT.

Now, one thing that there is to know is that the vendors have been in the house for 27 years and none of this was mentioned when they bought the house, nor has any work been carried out. What is currently in place has been in place for 27 years.

Add to that, we will need proper lead flashing to replace the current concrete flashing. This was not included in the quotes (anyone who has an idea is welcome to give me a rough estimate).

So my 3 questions are:

- shall we bother with carrying out the work if the house has been this way for 27 years? (especially the roof which tiles have been replaced by heavier ones but never got strengthened and the beams are not bowing)

- how much would lead flashing cost? (i will come back to them for that, eventually)

- shall we try to bring the price of the property (145k) down to 144K or not bother?

thank you in advance, chums!

Lorian

I'm not a builder, but If I could have my chimney properly supported and a lintel put in for £1700 that sounds like money wisely spent. Personally I wouldn't be able to sleep in a high wind with the chimney possibly unsafe.

As for should you re-negotiate, sure you could try, but remember it's brinkmanship. If you were to say "lower the price or we are pulling out" then they might well have another buyer waiting....

jenniferpa

I think it depends on how realistically priced the property was in the first place. If the current owners priced the property to account for the fact that nothing had been done to it for the past 27 years then you might be unlucky. Having said that, I don't think there is any harm making the attempt. When I sold my Mother's property there were a couple of issues that came up at survey. I wasn't prepared to drop much since the house was being sold as needing working, with a reduced price to match, but I was comfortable splitting the difference on one major non-decorative issue (an extension roof). If you want the house, though, don't be overly aggressive about it - I was prepared to remarket the house if the buyer had been difficult.

Jennifer

beckyw_2

I would suggest splitting the costs - vendor is more likely to see that as fair and compromise.

madfrenchgirl

jennifer,

the house was marketed at 145k, we tried to make an offer of 143k but they said they did not want to lower it further than the asking price because they wanted to facilitate a quick sale and did not have time for the haggling game.

it does need a lot of redecorating (artex everywhere in every room, anyone?), the kitchen will have to be completely ripped out (awful layout).

I was thinking about going half half too, since they havent been carrying out any work but in the meantime, it had never proved itself necessary.

Thx for the comments, especially the one about the major non-decorative item. I think our bits can qualify as that.

jenniferpa

madfrenchgirl wrote:

jennifer,

the house was marketed at 145k, we tried to make an offer of 143k but they said they did not want to lower it further than the asking price because they wanted to facilitate a quick sale and did not have time for the haggling game.

That strikes me as bit contradictory on the part of the vendors - if they wanted a quick sale, the surest way to do that is to lower the price!

Good luck anyway. This sounds like something that only a structural survey would have turned up, so I think its perfectly reasonable to expect some accomodation on the price. After all, if it couldn't be seen then there was no opportunity for them to adjust the price accordingly. Furthermore, although they may not realise this, should the sale to you fall down on this issue, I believe they are now legally bound to disclose the problem to future buyers (at least the forms I filled out on behalf of my Mother read that way). I'm not saying they would do, but it might not hurt to make the EA aware of that.

Jennifer

Doozergirl

Ask for more than you want and hopefully their compromise will be what you are happy with.

ie. It's usual to renegotiate on structural surprises, so provide the agent with a copy of the report and the quote and ask for the full amount off. If they don't say yes, they might be happy to pay half. If you ask for half, there's very litle negotiating room left.

As long as you are polite, I can't see them losing the sale for £1700, you've both put so much time and emotion in already.

Whether you do the work is up to you, but at least there's extra in the budget for it once you've got the price down.

madfrenchgirl

the EA arranged for the quotes as there is no one living in the house. Unfortunately, they might have to arrange for someone to come back there for them to quote on the flashing on the chimney (a bit stupid from the EA part not to have passed that on).

Regarding the price, they wanted a quick sale and the price had been put low to start with to attract a quick sale. We did not want to lose it so we put down full asking price: the same house located in the same area but in a cul-de-sac, needing a lot more work (no double glazing, no central heating) was marketed at 150k.

that is why in the end, we were not too bothered about giving them full asking price.

However, I just find it strange that those points were never brought up when they bought their house 27 years ago: I know building reg change all the time, but a chimney support, flashing, lintel and roof needing strenghtening because of heavier tiles are not that likely to have been less important 27 years ago.

Just a thought.

madfrenchgirl

thx Doozergirl!

it is 1700 at the mo, but it might go up now that I have asked for a quote on the flashing as well... so it might work out to be something in the likes of 700 quid.

Doozergirl

madfrenchgirl wrote:

However, I just find it strange that those points were never brought up when they bought their house 27 years ago: I know building reg change all the time, but a chimney support, flashing, lintel and roof needing strenghtening because of heavier tiles are not that likely to have been less important 27 years ago.

There's not much point in having a structural survey done if you think that way! The walls will be under additional pressure from having extra weight and bits of walls removed. The fact that it hasn't colapsed, doesn't mean there isn't an issue as the mortar starts to weaken over time. If you think it's good value at the price, then bonus to you if they agree to the reduction. It's normal to try and renegotiate so why not do it?

Over time, if signs of stress appear, at least you know you paid less because of it - also, when you come to sell on, it will come up again in survey, and there's every chance the buyer will try to renegotiate with you!

madfrenchgirl

Doozergirl,

I meant that either they never had a proper structural done when they bought it, or they had one done but the surveyor was a bit daft not to point those thngs out.

Or (and that is the mean paranoid !!!!! talking)

they are just trying to make us believe they did not know about it.

of course, we will try to renegotiate, and we will get it done first before installing loft insulation or even thinking about redecroating the lounge (patio doors).

Thx a lot for the advice!