Discovering small faults with flat/house before completing purchase

gilesm89

Hi all,

What would you do if you discovered a small fault with the house or flat you were in the process of buying but have not yet completed on?

In my example, I went for a second viewing about a week after having an offer accepted on a flat. In this viewing, I wanted to make sure everything was functional rather than moving in and finding that nothing works.

Almost everything worked fine but neither I or the estate agent could turn the shower on. The lever was stuck fast. I requested that they asked the vendor if there was a knack to it or whether they knew what the issue was. They have since come back and said it was fine when they last used it but have now moved out.

Is this the kind of thing that is worth pursuing to try and get them to fix it? Or is it down to me now? At the end of the day I’m not going to pull out of the purchase because of it but equally don’t want to move into somewhere around Xmas time with no working shower!

AnotherJoe

Call their bluff, say you wont exchange until they've fixed it as it could easily be £250 to fix.

newatc

I would always expect that there would be things to change/fix on any property to purchase. I've no idea of the value of property in question but is £250 worth risking them calling your bluff. If the property is empty then it should be possible to get it fixed before completion.

csgohan4

I would rather fix these things myself, who knows what cowboy they will get. Your offer is based on what you saw, if you start finding excuses to reduce your offer AFTER, you will find the vendor may ditch you for someone else.

G_M

There are always things that will need fixing, or changing, or improving. It's inevitable.


The unexpected big things justify re-negotiating price (new roof needed!).


A shower? :rotfl:


If you can'tfix it when you move in, buy a replacement for £80.


You have put £500 aside for contingencies yes? (or £5000 if the property is in need of a revamp).

societys_child

gilesm89 wrote: »

neither I or the estate agent could turn the shower on. The lever was stuck fast.

Lever? What type of shower?

AnotherJoe wrote: »

Call their bluff, say you wont exchange until they've fixed it as it could easily be £250 to fix.

Bit extreme for a stuck lever

oscarward

societys_child wrote: »

Lever? What type of shower?

Bit extreme for a stuck lever

If it’s a Mira shower they used to offer a fixed price repair service.

Was £100 when I used them a few years back.

It’s £165 now.

G_M

https://www.diy.com/departments/mira-go-white-gloss-effect-electric-shower-8-5-kw/5013181101652_BQ.prd

AnotherJoe

societys_child wrote: »

Lever? What type of shower?

Bit extreme for a stuck lever

Worse case the shower can't be fixed, the pump is integral and has failed and a new unit also necessitates tile replacement.
Best case they were trying it the wrong way and there's nothing wrong with it.
Big difference in price between the two.

jonnygee2

Almost everything worked fine but neither I or the estate agent could turn the shower on.

If its just the lever, that's fine, quick fix. But really I would want to test the shower out. It could have other problems that are more difficult or expensive to fix.

The property I bought recently, for example, had a shower which only belted out boiling hot water (or trickled out freezing cold water!). I won't go into all the details but it cost about £2k to get it all fixed, the whole bathroom had to be re-plumbed to get a decent shower. So , I think it's worth knowing what the shower is like.

Still, to be honest, we knew about it beforehand and it didn't affect our offer price, so I maybe it's not worth knowing first? You do expect to have to put money into a new house.

societys_child

AnotherJoe wrote: »

Worse case the shower can't be fixed, the pump is integral and has failed and a new unit also necessitates tile replacement.
Best case they were trying it the wrong way and there's nothing wrong with it.
Big difference in price between the two.

Yeah, I'd be investigating the stuck lever before buying a new unit.


I had the overheat light come on, on an electric shower, and power to the element should have been cut until the temperature dropped.
It didn't and started boiling the water . .

I found the problem was a micro switch had overheated and welded its self together. Cost me £3 for a new switch. It's worked fine for another 3 years so far.