Last minute request for cash towards replacing boiler in the future

Sarastro

They are trying it on. Absolutely not your responsibility to pay for the replacement of a boiler in a house you don't own. Get your solicitor to say No and speak to the EA about putting the house back on the market (hopefully that will filter back to the buyer and nudge them into agreeing a date). Doesn't bode well.

Davesnave

I wouldn't escalate things as some are suggesting. You don't know your buyers and they may be as unrealistic as some of the people we get on here, fretting about minor concerns on a homebuyer's report and thinking they've made an error wanting the house in the first place.

Reply that the condition of the whole house and its systems is factored into the agreed price, so it is what it is, push for the exchange date and if you don't get one within a week, or you get further grief, then either make a gesture of £2k or re-market depending on what you personally can live with.

If you have to find a new buyer you'll still be in there at New Year, and maybe much longer. Are you OK with that? What about your vendor, assuming you have one?

Others will disagree, but if the circumstances suited me, I'd cheerfully be blackmailed for a small amount, rather than lose something I really wanted.

As usual, context is everything and buying/selling is a long game. It doesn't play out fully for years.

anselld

You have already paid for unnecessary work unless there were specific faults with the systems. They now think you are a soft touch so time to put the foot down.

karcher

anselld wrote: »

You have already paid for unnecessary work unless there were specific faults with the systems. They now think you are a soft touch so time to put the foot down.

Agree with this ^^^^.

csgohan4

Jog on....

BaxterTheCat

Wow! Thanks everybody for your responses. This is the first time I've posted in the MSE Forums. We have already instructed our solicitor to reply with a firm no. He said he was sorry he even had to inform us of the request it was so ridiculous and upsetting. Our buyer has been rather 'demanding' from the beginning and, with hindsight, we wished we'd put the house back on the market earlier in the process.

The buyer commissioned a full survey on our house and, as the surveyor left, he said 'I'm going to ring <the buyer> now and tell them they've not got much to worry about here!' I thought it rather unusual at the time that he was phoning them, rather than just preparing the full report and presenting it via post/email first. However, in light of the 'not much to worry about' comment didn't ponder it any further. The next morning, we received a call from our EA saying our buyer was 'in a bit of a state' and that they'd been into the office saying the surveyor was claiming 'the boiler was on its last legs and was over 20 years old'. I had told the surveyor it was 13 years old and had been serviced less than a year ago and seen him write this down. The EA refused to do anything until the buyer was in receipt of the actual written report. This took 12 days to arrive! Of course, there was no mention of the boiler being 20 years old :doh:We quizzed the EA as to whether the buyer was really genuine/serious about the purchase in light of this (and some other little niggles) and they reassured us they were. So we agreed to do the work detailed in my original post, plus some other bits and pieces - but not absolutely everything they'd ask for, feeling there has to be compromise from both sides.

At the time this was all going on, my Mum (who used to work for an EA years ago) said 'they're a bad buyer, get it back on the market!'. Oh, how I wish we'd listened to Mum now - Mums always know best! All along we've been scared of losing our dream house though which is why we've stuck with this buyer who, initially, seemed great as they were selling to first time buyers. Now all we can do is hope that they'll stop trying it on and exchange that flippin' contract! If not, it's back on the market for us and the possibility that we will lose that dream house and maybe put in motion an upwards chain of other folk losing their dream houses too. House buying/selling sucks! Anyway... waffle over, thanks again everybody; keep your fingers crossed for us and I'll post any updates.

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Davesnave

BaxterTheCat wrote: »

Now all we can do is hope that they'll stop trying it on and exchange that flippin' contract! If not, it's back on the market for us and the possibility that we will lose that dream house and maybe put in motion an upwards chain of other folk losing their dream houses too.

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Good buyer or bad buyer, they're a buyer, and as I said earlier, I'd cheerfully let myself be blackmailed to keep a dream house, but not before pushing back first!.

Best of luck.

csgohan4

to all who read in the future, get the buyer to pay for his own boiler and gas safety checks, their potential house, their check. Also no conflict of interest if not arranged by Vendor and his dodgy friends

00ec25

it is simple brinkmanship - hoping that you will agree to a discount at the last minute rather than lose the deal. They could have simply reduced their offer and tried to "gazunder" rather than, as they have done, attach their "demand" to a physical object, the boiler

Patently now you know your purchaser is trying to play games, no one on here will "know" what is the safest response from you. Your options are obviously:
a) call their bluff because you know that you had lots of other viewers and so going back on the market and replacing this purchaser will be "easy". Also you know that they have spent money so far on surveys and solicitors, so if you kick them back into the grass they will be the ones losing money, you still have the property
or
b) agree.

EDIT - have now read your update #17, I agree with your Mum, put it back on the market and force your buyer to decide if he wants the property or not if exchange is that close.

Lauralou79

Our house has an old boiler of around 15 years old. When we viewed I could see that. It also was mentioned in the survey. However it's been well maintained and serviced regularly. Seems to work ok so far! If we get a year or two out of it that'll be a bonus.
I can't believe the cheek of some people. Wouldn't of even entered my head to ask for money off: just in case. Surely when you offer it's as seen. House ownership comes with a cost of maintaining it.