ask for a price reduction after having the home buyer survey

jessieqi

Definitely need suggestions on how to bargain down the price when the survey found out the central heating system does not work. Here is a full picture:

The house we are buying were on the market for 368K. No offer for almost two months, until we put an offer of 345K. The first offer was rejected, then we increased the offer to 350K and got accepted.

However, we just know that the vendor could not get the certificate from British Gas. Actually, BG said they could not repair the boiler and gave a price quote of 5300 pounds to replace the system:eek:! I talked to one gas engineer (who has not inspected the boiler yet) and told me that this kind of boiler (installed in the chimney breast, very weird, right?) needs to be replaced and it is very costly due to all the pipes work. Together with other problems of the house, I think it is very reasonable to ask for a price reduction of 4000 pounds as I understand the vendor will not want to bear the cost of central heating replacement all by himself. I think I am very reasonable.

However, what the vendor offer is to get an engineer he knows for many many years to repair the boiler:mad: and issue a certificate. The vendor does not want to reduce the price as he thinks the old central heating system is reflected in his asking price already. It is seriously funny: Before we put down the offer, the vendor said they service the boiler every year and it works totally fine. After we know BG could not give them the certificate, the vendor said the central heating system is very old and they EXPECT it should need replacement in one year. so the poor boiler condition is reflected in the asking price already. After they got the replacement quote from BG, now they are suggesting a cheap repair.

And should I trust that someone he knows can repair the boiler and gives a certificate? No, I would rather get a price reduction and let BG do it later on. Actually i am SERIOUSlY tempeted to just walk away, though my hubby wants me to negotiate a deal with the vendor.

How can I convince the vendor that no one will accept his suggestion of getting someone to repair the boiler, when it actually needs a replacement. Thanks a lot.

jessieqi

also, I have no house to sell and got mortgage offer already. The vendor's tone is that they will consider to put the house on the market again if we do not proceed.

WelshNic

If he's been this shady about the boiler, what else is he hiding?

How old is the property?

shimano

Tell him you are reducing your offer. In reality, BG prices will be vastly inflated. If you can get a boiler installer in on a viewing to make an estimate, may be worth doing so to give you a more realistic price and bargaining stick. Regardless sounds it's best to replace it all rather than repair.

What's reflected in the price is subjective; you clearly dont value it at 350k with the boiler issues, so lower your offer.

Catblue

Tricky. Seems daft to repair the boiler when even the vendor admits that it will need to be replaced next year anyway.

Could you offer to split the difference? If the work does cost around £5K to get it replaced, could you reduce your offer to £347500, effectively paying half for the work?

Worth a go, I would think.

kingstreet

How much has the surveyor downvalued the property to reflect the boiler problem?

Gorgeous_George

I think what you refer to as very weird is a back-boiler (like this perhaps). Quite normal to be honest and mine was fitted by British Gas in 2002 (by the previous owner).

I very recently had one removed from a BTL property and replaced with a combi at a cost of £2,600. This was a top of the range boiler and moved to a different on a different floor of the property.

British Gas like to comdemn boilers because the engineers get a commmission for each new boiler they sell.

When you are paying so much for a house I'm surprised that you are worried about a few grand for a boiler (or that the vendor is worried about a few grand for a boiler).

If you want the house, deal with it. I'd accept the vendor's offer to make good the boiler and provide a safety certificate from a GasSafe engineer. For my home, I would replace the back boiler with another one if this one failed drastically. New ones cost less than £1,000 and shouldn't cost too much to be fitted.

GG

jessieqi

WelshNic wrote: »

If he's been this shady about the boiler, what else is he hiding?

How old is the property?

Thanks all. The house is around 100 years old, the boiler is 20 to 30 years old from what we were told recently. So I guess it should need a replacement if it breaks down recently. Will try to get a price quote from another gas engineer. I think sharing the cost is a reasonable thing to do.

jessieqi

Thanks. Yeah, it is the back boiler, but I recently know it is 20 to 30 years old. And BG said it has to be moved to an exterior wall, so scaffolding involved. Will get another quote, but guess still very pricy. I just feel I will not offer 350K if I know the boiler is in this poor condition. And actually for this house, loads of renovation works are involved. I badly underestimate all the labor cost.:mad:

Rob_192

jessieqi wrote: »

And BG said it has to be moved to an exterior wall, so scaffolding involved.

Why? back boilers tend not to be very fasionable these days but are fine. As Georgeous George said it shouldn't cost anything like what BG are quoting just to replace a boiler. Just find a good local Gas safe engineer.

antrobus

jessieqi wrote: »

I talked to one gas engineer (who has not inspected the boiler yet) and told me that this kind of boiler (installed in the chimney breast, very weird, right?) needs to be replaced and it is very costly due to all the pipes work.

Gorgeous_George wrote: »

I think what you refer to as very weird is a back-boiler (like this perhaps). Quite normal to be honest and mine was fitted by British Gas in 2002.

Absolutely normal, that's where boilers used to always go, before they came out with these new fangled wall mounted condensing jobbies. (Once upon a time people had coal fires, so you'd naturally put a boiler in the chimney breast above the fire if you wanted hot water.)

I'd imagine it might be costly to replace one "due to all the pipes work" if you replaced it with a wall mounted condensing boiler. But as the link above demonstrates, Baxi produce a an A-rated condensing back boiler, so it would be cheaper to swap it out for the old one. Google Shopping shows that you can get the back boiler unit on its own for less than £900 and a unit plus fire for £1150-£1600 depending on what you want. Plus fitting, which will depend on this and that of course. But £5,300 would be way over the top.