Re: Getting vendors to do work/reduce price

NickDurham

LandyAndy wrote: »

If the repayments are comfortable that implies you could make substantially greater ones. That implies that you have a significant amount of spare cash each month. That implies that you wouldn't need to borrow £5k over 5 years on a credit card.

We have about 300 over each month on average. More in the winter months (various reasons). Obviously if would take a few months to save up enough, so using CC and then paying off big whilst on 0% is the idea (this is better I feel than a loan over 5 yrs).

LandyAndy

NickDurham wrote: »

Yes we had thought of this. If they lowered by 2-3k that would give us 200-300 quid extra. Not a massive amount, but it would help. It's certainly not impossible for us to afford with some credit-card borrowing, but we'd prefer not to have to put off some of the more pressing redecorating costs.

The between exchange/completion idea sounds like a win-win... I'm presuming it could be written into the contract too (or am I wrong there?).

Sounds like a nightmare for a vendor. Is your vendor living in the property now? Are they in a chain?

Edit: Cross posted with your post saying it was empty. That makes much more sense.

NickDurham

NickDurham wrote: »

We have about 300 over each month on average. More in the winter months (various reasons). Obviously if would take a few months to save up enough, so using CC and then paying off big whilst on 0% is the idea (this is better I feel than a loan over 5 yrs).

I should add this is why we would work room by room. Obviously the walls would need to be done 1st, though this is more time-consuming that expensive. The carpets are not great, but would be livable with a steam-clean. We would save up for them if possible and have them all done after 12-18 months.

I thought this was all fairly sensible and not really 'reckless' financially. :S

princessamy86

If the vendor drops the price 2 or 3 thousand, why would that mean you only had an extra 2 or 3 hundred? Where is the other money going? Sorry I'm confused!

NickDurham

princessamy86 wrote: »

If the vendor drops the price 2 or 3 thousand, why would that mean you only had an extra 2 or 3 hundred? Where is the other money going? Sorry I'm confused!

Because the purchase price would now be lower, so we'd get a lower mortgage and save 10% deposit on the 2-3k. We wouldn't get that 2-3k in our hands. We'd just be lent a slightly lower amount by the mortgage provider.

niklam

One thing to remeber - if this an an old house then are the existing sockets and switches in the right place for todays living anyway? For instance - are there enough sockets in the living room for your stereo, tv, dvd player etc. Are there more than one socket in each of the bedrooms?

The reason I point this out is that it would probably be cheaper to get your wiring (new sockets, moved sockets) in place whilst the rewire is done rather than doing it afterwards.

If you take this into consideration - you might be best getting your 2k knocked off the purchase price if you can then sorting the rewire yourself. If you get the vendors to do it - they will just do the basic job which might not be what you want or need. I would take the opportunity to see if you can get another viewing to work out if the current electrical wiring layout (position of sockets etc) is something you can live with.

hth

Niki

suisidevw

Because it doesn't mean you pay 2/3k less on the deposit....?!

EDIT. Someones already said this....

NickDurham

niklam wrote: »

One thing to remeber - if this an an old house then are the existing sockets and switches in the right place for todays living anyway? For instance - are there enough sockets in the living room for your stereo, tv, dvd player etc. Are there more than one socket in each of the bedrooms?

The reason I point this out is that it would probably be cheaper to get your wiring (new sockets, moved sockets) in place whilst the rewire is done rather than doing it afterwards.

If you take this into consideration - you might be best getting your 2k knocked off the purchase price if you can then sorting the rewire yourself. If you get the vendors to do it - they will just do the basic job which might not be what you want or need. I would take the opportunity to see if you can get another viewing to work out if the current electrical wiring layout (position of sockets etc) is something you can live with.

hth

Niki

Cheers! This is a big consideration. Yes, we need more sockets. I was wondering whether, if the vendor got the work done, we'd still be able to consult with the electrician and tell them where we want more sockets. If so, then great. If not, then, as you suggest, maybe we're better getting it done asap after completion and rent where we are for a couple of extra weeks. I'm not sure whether we'd be allowed to have that sort of input if the vendor got it done, even if it was after exchange.

niklam

The vendors might be reluctant to get the additional work done even if you offered to pay for the additional work. Even if they did is it likely that you owuld have any say in which contractor did the work and then there is the chasing of the certificates required afterwards. I would just get it done yourself. As for how long it would take - we recently extended and remodelled our house (3 bed semi) and it took our electrician 2 days to do the actual rewire (whole house) and add in some additional sockets in selected rooms.

hth

Niki

NickDurham

niklam wrote: »

The vendors might be reluctant to get the additional work done even if you offered to pay for the additional work. Even if they did is it likely that you owuld have any say in which contractor did the work and then there is the chasing of the certificates required afterwards. I would just get it done yourself. As for how long it would take - we recently extended and remodelled our house (3 bed semi) and it took our electrician 2 days to do the actual rewire (whole house) and add in some additional sockets in selected rooms.

hth

Niki

Good advice. Maybe it's better just to get it done post-completion and use our savings to do that rather than redecorate straight away.

How did you find the redecorating by the way? I'm hoping that, whilst ther walls will look pretty rough, at least it is 'safe'/liveable and we can then go slowly room by room.