Help needed FAST: should we walk away?

ReadingTim

The short deadline indicates the vendor is losing patience with you. Given you say it's a popular area and you've seen worse places for more money, I suspect she'll find another (less troublesome, from her perspective) buyer pretty quickly. You'll have then lost the flat it's taken you over a year to find - do you want that?

Furthermore, you don't say whether you can afford the place and the work it may need doing (at some point in the future - the boiler might be repairable for a few years yet), only that you don't want to find the money. It seems to me like the hesitation is caused by not getting your way in price negotiations, rather than being too financially stretched.

In summary, if you can afford it, go for it. If things are a little tight money-wise, forget it. Hope that clarifies.

quidsy

Walk. Simple

sianlovestea

can I ask the make/model of the boiler?

It's a Potterton Suprima 50l

sianlovestea

you don't say whether you can afford the place and the work it may need doing

We could afford the work that needs doing but it would mean not being able to decorate or buy the furniture that we need.

PurplePow

Ah it's not the same. In my opinion if the boiler is very old, then you should budget for a new one if you are not going to walk away.

DRP

sianlovestea wrote: »

We could afford the work that needs doing but it would mean not being able to decorate or buy the furniture that we need.

Those things can wait.

If you are sure about the place, pinch your nose and get the deal done.

Rambosmum

Is the flat worth £186k? And can you afford to pay over the asking price and get the work done? Bearing in mind stamp duty, moving costs, solicitors fees etc as well having a contingency for the 'new house blues' which often result in something unforeseen needing replacing.

If you can't afford it or simply don't wan to foot that bill/ think it isn't worth it then walk away and if the flat is still on the market in a month make an offer of £175k with a view to go up to £177.

StartAfresh

Other scenario.
You walk. Find another place down the road after searching for another few months. Seller doesn't mention the age of the boiler. You buy it. 2 months later boiler breaks down

sianlovestea

StartAfresh wrote: »

Other scenario.
You walk. Find another place down the road after searching for another few months. Seller doesn't mention the age of the boiler. You buy it. 2 months later boiler explodes

You're right, if the seller hadn't said about the boiler having been repaired we probably wouldn't have had it checked out. I can totally understand now why estate agents are so reluctant to let the vendor meet the buyer unsupervised!

Hoploz

Potterton Suprima 50 ... I had one of those in my old house. It was put in about 2002 I believe. My plumber (known him for years, old family friend) checked it over when we moved in and said 'whatever you do don't let anyone talk you in to replacing this boiler. All parts readily available and they go on for donkeys years'. When we had a big extension (doubling the house) a new boiler was suggested, but we needed to save money so added to the same system, and it coped with no probs at all. We lived there 7 years and never had a thing go wrong with it.

You say you want the boiler replacing. OK. A new boiler on standard system, perhaps £1700. A full new combi system, no wonder it would be more. That is your own decision - whether to upgrade to a different system.

I see no reason why your seller should pay. She's just had work done and as far as she is aware it now has a clean bill of health. Your contractor could just be after some work. Or when you asked him if a new boiler and new system might be a good idea, he says 'oh yes I think you should pay me £3.5k for that.' good work for him!

The bath, well ok, that maybe cannot be used so the replacement is necessary. Seller has offered you the discount for that.