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Burst tank after offer put in for house..should we lower our offer? How much by?

purple2480
Posts: 9 Forumite
Hie,
Need some advice. We are buying a house for first time and found a lovely 3 bed semi built in 1927 thats had only one owner so far. The house needs refurbishment which we were prepared for hence we put in an offer of £109k. The offer was about 8% below asking price £119k. The problem is that since we put in our offer price the EA called us a week later to say that there had been a burst tank so we might want to look at the house again before putting in a best and final bid (apparently another couple had put in an offer as well).
We went to see the house again and there were signs of water damage wallpaper peeling off, ceiling paper peeling off, effluerescence salts on the red brick outside. We are fairly certain that the ceilings will need replacing as well as the electricals. We also think that the blanket insulation in the attic where the pipe burst will be sodden.
We still ike the house and may consider doing the work to renovate it but we dont know if its a good idea to still offer and if so how much.
oh and the vendor has said that he will not be doing any repair work at all so we would have to buy house as is. Any ideas on whether water damage is an issue and how much lower we should offer.
Thanks:(
Need some advice. We are buying a house for first time and found a lovely 3 bed semi built in 1927 thats had only one owner so far. The house needs refurbishment which we were prepared for hence we put in an offer of £109k. The offer was about 8% below asking price £119k. The problem is that since we put in our offer price the EA called us a week later to say that there had been a burst tank so we might want to look at the house again before putting in a best and final bid (apparently another couple had put in an offer as well).
We went to see the house again and there were signs of water damage wallpaper peeling off, ceiling paper peeling off, effluerescence salts on the red brick outside. We are fairly certain that the ceilings will need replacing as well as the electricals. We also think that the blanket insulation in the attic where the pipe burst will be sodden.
We still ike the house and may consider doing the work to renovate it but we dont know if its a good idea to still offer and if so how much.
oh and the vendor has said that he will not be doing any repair work at all so we would have to buy house as is. Any ideas on whether water damage is an issue and how much lower we should offer.
Thanks:(
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Comments
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any scope to get a builder in to have a look and see how bad it is?MF aim 10th December 2020 :j:eek:MFW 2012 no86 OP 0/20000
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I would ask the EA if you could get a builder/plumber in to look at the damage and quote for the repairs. Then you can offer £109k minus around this amount.0
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Do you REALLY still want to buy it ?0
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If not repairing anything, I'd guess the owner isn't heating the place either.
Money pit. Walk away. Being only at the offer stage, by the time you get contracts signed and get access to make any repairs, water & ice will have had the entire winter to inflict severe damage. The sort of damage that could undermine stretches of brickwork permanently, possibly.
Wait for spring and see if it is still for sale and what condition it has become, if nothing better comes up in the meantime.Act in haste, repent at leisure.
dunstonh wrote:Its a serious financial transaction and one of the biggest things you will ever buy. So, stop treating it like buying an ipod.0 -
Didnt the vendor have insurance to get it fixed?0
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purple2480 wrote: »Hie,
so we might want to look at the house again before putting in a best and final bid (apparently another couple had put in an offer as well).
This sounds suspicious to me, had you been told about the other couple previously and why would the offer have to be 'BEST and FINAL'.
Have you had a homebuyers survey(not valuation survey) done on house, if not I would be tempted to leave the offer on the table as it is(so the estate agent/vendor has got any wiggle room to get out of deal). If you have then have a survey done later this will give you opportunity to renegotiate price if needed but in the meantime the EA/vendor will have to show there hand.
From sound of it work may cost about £2k max and could be a lot less in view of the fact that you are doing refurbishments anyway. Really depends on how much you want the house, even if this had not arisen you should have a homebuyer survey done this will cost about £450 but be money well spent. It may reveal far more problems that what you envisage to bring the property up to an acceptable standard.
Hope it works out Ok for you.
PS Things that could cost,
Has it been rewired
How old is central heeating sysem
Has it got damp problems
How old /what state is the roof- if original may not be underfelted
These things will cost you more than £10k if all need doing
As a first time buyer you shouldn't be buying any secondhand property without at least a homebuyer surveyadded ps0 -
If you buy it, will you be able to live there whilst you renovate?0
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Hi
I dont think the vendor has insurance on it because its been empty since his mother died 4 yrs ago.0 -
Get to a quote to renovate the whole house, subtract it off of the offer
Bingo bango you have a 'brand new' house internally including walls and ceilings (which im guessing if the previous occupants were old would have been neglected/original)
Could be a dream situation, or a nightmare. Just get surveyors in to assess the damage0 -
Hie,
We originally wanted to move in and renovate in situ, however we are not sure about the electrics now - they will definitely need to be sorted before we move in (we have 2 little uns).
Would a builder be able to include estimates for electricals and plumbing damage repair costs?? And if a roof is not underfelted when you buy a property is it something that needs to be done straight away? This house has no underfelting.
Thanks0
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