Annoying buyers

Housebuyer2017

Afternoon all,

I just want to put this up to make sure I'm not being total ridiculous or I reasonable.

Our buyers want to have electrical and gas safety tests done prior to exchange. The house is only a few years old and everything is still covered under the initial safety certificates, the gas boiler has been serviced every year and we have all the certifications to back this up. The issue is that they are saying I should pay for the tests!

I have said I am not willing to pay as all certificates are in date. So it will be at their expense. I have said if any issues are raised by the tests then I will pay for the issue to be fixed.

Any advice greatly received.

Cheeky_Monkey

Stick to your guns and continue to refuse to pay for the tests.

They're not FTBs by any chance are they? :rotfl:

Surrey_EA

Housebuyer2017 wrote: »

I have said I am not willing to pay as all certificates are in date. So it will be at their expense. I have said if any issues are raised by the tests then I will pay for the issue to be fixed.

I think that pretty much covers it. In fact, I'm not sure I would even add the final sentence, at least not at this stage.

How old is the house out of interest?

k3lvc

It's all part of negotiation - there's no 'rules' but certainly an expectation that all systems are serviced and working. I speak from experience of buying a house with an allegedly serviced boiler that turns out to have been condemned and rest assured my next purchase will be a belt and braces job with dated certificates/invoices provided pre-exchange

ReadingTim

"Reason" doesn't come into it - it's merely what's agreed between the vendor and purchaser.

You've told them you won't pay for the tests. They now have to decide whether to pay themselves, or walk away. So you could have saved yourself a few quid, or lost yourself the sale of the house. You've won the battle, but lost the war, as it were.

Ultimately, it's down to what agreements and compromises you're willing to make to complete the transaction - there aren't any objective rules.

Housebuyer2017

Cheers for the replies everyone,

In response to some of the questions. We think they may be first time buyers but not 100%.
All valid copies of the certificates have been forwarded to their solicitor. If they weren't in date then I would willingly pay for the tests.

The house is only 5 years old.

The buyers have been haggling over every little thing - at one point the property to be vacant so they could inspect prior to completion.

Thrugelmir

Housebuyer2017 wrote: »

The buyers have been haggling over every little thing - at one point the property to be vacant so they could inspect prior to completion.

Doubt this current request is the end of the irritation.

PhilE

The certificates for gas and electricity are valid, if they purchase the house once the certs valid they can renew them out of their own pocket then.

You dont have to show them the house vacant before completion, thats an unusual request and you could tell the agent to have a word with the buyers, about how to buy a house.

sheff6107

Get your solicitor to tell their solicitor they have the relevant certificates. A lot of the time solicitors just pass on requests - it doesn't mean they're a necessity or accurate.

G_M

Buying & selling is always frustrating. Don't let it get to you!

Just be
a) reasonable and
b) firm

In this case you are being unreasonable - I see no reason why you should offer to pay for an issue to be fixed before any tests have even been carried out!

I'd have simply politely said you were more than happy to provide access to their elecrrician and/or gas engineer. Full stop.

Similarly with any other requests: just politely agree or refuse depending how reasonable or mad their request is. Don't ever bother with explanattions, or hypothetical promises.