Pulling out of purchase week of exchange

arachne

Feeling hugely depressed. We're buying a house which we were due to exchange on this week and complete in the first week of Jan. After 2 months of chasing, we finally got responses to our enquiries on Friday, which showed the 25 year old boiler had never been serviced although the seller (not a gas engineer) had 'maintained it himself' :eek: and they were not willing to have a service done now, as we had requested. As far as I'm concerned, the boiler is likely to pack up in the next year or two if it's that age and has never had a service. We had also had another few £1000 of work raised by our survey that we decided to suck up the costs of rather than renegotiating but the prospect of a new boiler was one cost too far. So, we went back to them and asked for £3k off the agreed price (meaning a revised offer of 6% below asking price) to cover the cost of a new boiler but they've refused point blank and won't even negotiate. We are in rented accommodation at the moment (having completed on our sale a fortnight ago) so have no chain below us. My instinct is to draw a line, pull out of the purchase and look for something else in the new year but part of me feels like £3k is a really small amount to lose a house over when we're this close. Also, our rental is only for a month so we would have to move into another rental property while we look for something else.

I don't think they're bluffing so the choice is pay up (knowing we'll have to suck up the costs of a new boiler in a year or two) or lose the house.

What shall we do???

pinkshoes

£3k for a boiler? Is it a mansion?

My grandfather has serviced his own boiler which is now 40 years old, and STILL going strong...

I think you're perhaps over-reacting.

BOBS

Think it really depends on how much you like / want the house. Maybe the fact you are telling us about this and asking advice you are worried that this isnt the right house for you - and a way out of buying it - maybe I am wrong - just suggesting ??

G_M

Errr.... either buy at the price the vendors are willing to sell at, or find a new rental to live in????!!!!

If the guy knows what he's doing he may have serviced the boiler perfectly well over the years. Yes, 25 is old, but boilers lasted longer in the old days. My last one lasted 30 years plus (I never knew how old it was, but I know when they stopped manufacturing them so it was at least 30 years).

On the other hand you may be right. It might break down next week. Does it work at present? Have you instructed a heating engineer to examine it? It is normal for the buyer to pay for this, so don't expect the seller to do so.

BitterAndTwisted

If £3k is a really small amount for your seller to knock off the price then it's an equally small amount for you to suck up, isn't it?. The need to replace the boiler in the immediate future is just a maybe. I'd go ahead with the purchase if you really, really like this house and keep my fingers crossed.

Nuttyneddy

It's your call, but if you are due to exchange this week I imagine you will have racked up some survey / search / solicitor's costs which you will lose if you pull out now. These are likely to be equal to the cost of a new boiler, and will have to be paid again on the next house you buy if you do pull out.

supa-girl

How badly do you want this house?

Have you costed a new bolier and is it really £3000? (I don't know, which is why I ask). Personally I would get the cost, including installation and send a copy to the vendor to demonstrate that is likely to be the cost and asking them for a reduction to the tune of half that amount. Any more than that is being a bit cheeky imo.

Are they in an upward chain? If so perhaps they are not agreeing because they simply don't have the money and the people they are buying from won't come down at all.

The final option is to talk to your agent. I used to be one and in this market they will not want to lose a sale. In these situations it has been known to "pass the money up/down the chain" by each agent reducing their fee by, say, £250 to help with the negotiations as well.

However if you really love the house then is it worth losing it over the cost of a boiler. If you offset the cost of paying application fees, removals etc for a new rental property, THEN the survey fees, mortgage app fee when you find a new property to buy, are you actually going to any better off walking away?

SG

Doozergirl

You've gone back to negotiate £3k on a boiler which can't possibly cost £3k. They are probably quite surprised.

You need to lay it down politely explaining all the work that needs doing, the cost to you and how much of that you are prepared to suck up and try to come to some kind of compromise that way rather than just making a demand immediately before exchange - it looks a bit like gazundering at this point...

It's quite normal to get itchy feet just before exchange and it does get stressful as you go through the paperwork and find the faults. Remember how much you've spent, remember that the next house might need a new boiler (at 25 years old I'd have budgeted imediately for a nice new efficient one anyway?) and that you're unlikely to find a maintenance free house, and if you do, you'll be paying for it! Is it the right location, size, overall the right price, did you love it when you saw it? Can you cope with renting for the next six months or indeed sucking up rent and mortgage when the right house comes up and you're commited to your rental contract. Cost of moving houses twice...

That's what you weigh up. And see what wins. If I could meet a compromise in your shoes, I'd go with it. And remember that a new boiler installed is probably more like £1500 than £3k.

scottishblondie

My parents have 2 boilers that are 23 years old, neither have been near a gas engineer since the day they were installed and both work perfectly. The boiler in the house could be in perfect working order. You could ask the vendors to allow you to pay for a service yourself if you are really worried. Should cost less than £100 and would give you some peace of mind.

angrypirate

Also, a new boiler compared with one 25 year old will be more efficient and will save you the cost in gas over a few years.

arachne

Thanks for all the comments.

BOBS - your comment scarily feels like a probe into my mind. You may well be right but my brain is too addled to know at this stage!

I know this looks like gazundering because it's so last minute but it's honestly not. This is part of the frustration -despite our constant nagging, it took them a month to submit their PIF (which we raised queries on the next day) and then a further 3 weeks to respond to those queries, taking us up to the week of exchange. If they'd been on the ball, we'd have been discussing this 6 weeks ago, before we'd all got so far in and when we were less stressed.

Will have a think on everything tonight - thanks so much for all the extra thoughts and angles on it. The plan is to NEVER move again so I just don't want to make a mistake I end up regretting for the next 40+ years.