Buying a house with 18 year old boiler - renegotiate price?

katsu

OP, we purchased a house with a very unloved old boiler. I really agree with the suggestions to get a local engineer to service it. A good expert is worth their weight in gold, and can keep old boilers going for many years. Our central heating system will often cost us a couple of hundred pounds in parts when it is serviced - probably every other year is £300 ish. We have had many years where it only needed the annual service too.

Our boiler has been in place for over 25 years and has life in it yet. If we had replaced it when we moved in, as modern boilers last up to 10 years, we would have needed to replace it again by now. So it's not necessarily the right thing to do, or anything worth worrying about at first. Check that it turns on and off and hopefully you'll have a few years where a good engineer can nurse it along.

lookstraightahead

I would renegotiate - the seller may say no, but they have a lot more to lose than you. How long has the house been on the market? Don't feel threatened by people saying the vendor is s big scary monster that holds all the cards. You are the one buying. They need a buyer. If they didn't want to sell it wouldn't be on the market, and they're unlikely to find another buyer very quickly.

lookstraightahead

csgohan4 wrote: »

As mentioned above you can jump and shout and negotiate, the vendor is under no obligation to agree. Their house their price

You can't force nor justify what you offer and why the vendor should accept

By all means Op can try, but they may risk losing the house as they will be seen as more trouble than good, as what else they will ask to reduce


If it was something like a leaking roof found on survey or structural damage then fair enough

If they really want to sell it's hardly their house their price. They can be king of what they think is s castle all they like but it defeats the object. There's no real risk to the buyer is there? One house, the next, or the next. Like buying apples.

Crashy_Time

beedeedee wrote: »

Our boiler is coming up to 30 years old, serviced regularly and our heating engineer says he will keep it going efficiently till he can no longer get the parts - which could be 20 years or more!
In his words "there's less to go wrong than in more modern ones"....
We wouldn't reduce the price on the house just because of the boiler.

True, house price reductions just now are mainly to do with another thing that starts with B, and I hear it will definitely break down in about three months.

lookstraightahead

csgohan4 wrote: »

the time for boiler checks should have been done before offer, the OP risks losing the house for the sake of 2-3 K for a new boiler when it doesn't need one yet.

Why would vendor install a new boiler at their cost for you?

The time to check anything is any time prior to exchange. That's the point of the whole procedure.

lookstraightahead

Tom99 wrote: »

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]And if it's an old house with an old boiler you will want even more off the price.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]'Crikey I didn't know the house was built in 1930,it as old as my grandad, I want 50% off.' [/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Unless a house is brand new, then some parts are going to be partly worn out, boiler, electrics, roof, bathroom, kitchen etc etc. [/FONT]

and the cost of replacing needs to be factored in. There's no negotiating to do except for the vendor to accept or decline what the purchaser will pay.

AdrianC

Crashy_Time wrote: »

True, house price reductions just now are mainly to do with another thing that starts with B, and I hear it will definitely break down in about three months.

Your theories and monomania have always been to do with "something beginning with B". And ending with "it", too.


But instead of just three letters in the middle, there's five.

PhilE

The house Im sitting in, needed a new heating system. I asked for a reduction based on the cost of a new system, and got it.

If you or anyone would rather not ask for a reduction based on old heating, that's up to you.

The OP asked for advice, and I gave it based on my experience.

PhilE

Tom99 wrote: »

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]And if it's an old house with an old boiler you will want even more off the price.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]'Crikey I didn't know the house was built in 1930,it as old as my grandad, I want 50% off.' [/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Unless a house is brand new, then some parts are going to be partly worn out, boiler, electrics, roof, bathroom, kitchen etc etc. [/FONT]

The life expectancy of a 1930's house isn't 10-15 years. Its not a matter of whether its new or not, its whether its at the end of its expected life.

lookstraightahead

It doesn't really matter what the vendor thinks, or if you upset them, or if they take offence. It's what you are happy with initially that counts. You are absolutely entitled to ask for a reduction, if they say no, then you have to decide to accept, or walk away while they remarket. An offended vendor? Really??