Re-negotiate on house purchase after survey/reports opinion

rystaman

StandingInTheSun said:

When you say these were "immediate jobs" do you mean they were indicated red, or orange?

If red (serious issues requiring urgent attention) and they are jobs you were not aware of when you made your offer, I think there's no harm in negotiating. 

If orange/amber then they probably fall under the ongoing maintenance umbrella.

We got a Level 3 survey rather than a homebuyers report and the majority of jobs no we weren't aware of or were priced into our offer. The rewire was an unwelcome surprise as well. 

Seems to be a largely negative response to this but the offer was priced accordingly (without these jobs) due to the level of work that needs doing to the interior of the property to bring it up-to-date. We had to put our offer in pretty much straight away after our first visit and was accepted on that day as there were not many houses going up on the market and the ones that were on the market went very quickly. With a second viewing we would have potentially been able to spot more of the issues and renegotiate accordingly but there wasn't the time

Redwino222

Ok I won’t comment farther😊.  Good luck

SameOldRoundabout

Houses are generally priced to reflect their condition and visible issues. Hidden issues are things you can’t possibly have seen (ie structural issues the untrained eye would not notice) and negotiable. Personally I would not accept your lower offer given the 7k you’ve had off. 

Electrics are to be expected. Roof /gutter work sounds like standard maintenance. Windows could have been seen despite the furniture by...looking.  On the plus side none of that sounds like really critical work, just get the roof sorted by winter and the worst of the rain. 

rystaman

davidmcn said:

Rewiring throughout would give you a house with brand new wiring (and presumably everything set out the way you want it) - and you already knew that wasn't what you were getting when you agreed the price, so i wouldn't expect much of a discount based merely on whatever the EICR has said.

The works sound like a list of fairly minor things and I'm not sure why any of them are immediately necessary (e.g. is anything currently leaking?). Any survey is going to pick up bits and pieces of routine maintenance needing done, it doesn't mean you must instruct them as soon as you get the keys, or that it's reasonable to deduct the cost from the price which already reflected it wasn't in as-new condition.

Yes that's correct, we were not of the impression it needed a full rewire however, partial yes. The current electrics are actually quite dangerous with no earthing being run to the lights (but they have metal fittings). The offer was put forward due to the modernisation that's needed throughout the house and actually in comparison to other houses sold on the same road is potentially a bit generous with the condition of the interior.

You're correct they're not huge jobs but yes the drainpipes are leaking and causing mould in the master bedroom at the front of the house which will be an immediate job before the winter. Likewise the felt roof (which needs to be replaced soon) is holding water due to the leaking drainpipes so that could cause an issue sooner rather than later.

ele_91

rystaman said:

Seems to be a largely negative response to this but the offer was priced accordingly (without these jobs) due to the level of work that needs doing to the interior of the property to bring it up-to-date. We had to put our offer in pretty much straight away after our first visit and was accepted on that day as there were not many houses going up on the market and the ones that were on the market went very quickly. With a second viewing we would have potentially been able to spot more of the issues and renegotiate accordingly but there wasn't the time

So you’re in a fast moving market, already got some money off the asking price and now want more for items on the survey that are not immediate? Negotiate if you want but you may find it’s a no or that the seller puts it back on the market. 

The fact you’re far into the process is irrelevant really unless you are using this as a tactic to force the hand of the vendor? Most can see through that.

MaryNB

There's nothing stopping you asking for more off but if you knew it required modernisation I would say a rewire (and the other work) wouldn't be unexpected. £8,500 of work doesn't seem a lot for a house that requires modernisation.

AdrianC

rystaman said:

I wanted to get some outside opinions on my situation at the moment in regards to my first house purchase. Me and my partner are buying a 1970 3-bed semi-detached property in the West Midlands which was up for £240,000 but that we negotiated down to £233,000 due to modernisation needed throughout the property.

And what would it be worth, fully modernised and "ready to go"?

...our suspicions were confirmed that it in fact needed a full rewire (subsequent EICR confirmed also)

"House in need of modernisation would benefit from rewiring"!
Hold the front page!

C1s (actively dangerous), C2s (potentially dangerous) or just the C3s (not up to current standards) that every single property in the country would get unless freshly rewired to the current standards, which were only issued in 2018?

so this equates to £8,500 total immediate work that needs doing including the rewire.

Well, that's OK, because you knocked £7k off the asking... which would have been set bearing in mind the need for modernisation, including that perfectly predictable rewiring...

My other potential option was to ask for the sellers to replace the blown glazing units in the Living Room and Bedroom 3 which would approx be £400/500 of work.

Those blown units - apart from being nowhere near £500-worth of work - will have been clearly visible on viewing, so your offer took them into account.

Trying to chisel just £2k, less than 1%, off at the last minute before exchange? No. Naughty...

rystaman

MaryNB said:

There's nothing stopping you asking for more off but if you knew it required modernisation I would say a rewire (and the other work) wouldn't be unexpected. £8,500 of work doesn't seem a lot for a house that requires modernisation.

I feel the original post hasn't made this clear but £8,500 is the work that we didn't know needed doing. In terms of modernisation, we've already budgeted around £10,000 for the interior work that needs doing which includes a new bathroom. So the total would be £18,500 but it does need a new kitchen as well which is not something we have the budget for at the moment.

Swoosh84

rystaman said:

MaryNB said:

There's nothing stopping you asking for more off but if you knew it required modernisation I would say a rewire (and the other work) wouldn't be unexpected. £8,500 of work doesn't seem a lot for a house that requires modernisation.

I feel the original post hasn't made this clear but £8,500 is the work that we didn't know needed doing. In terms of modernisation, we've already budgeted around £10,000 for the interior work that needs doing which includes a new bathroom. So the total would be £18,500 but it does need a new kitchen as well which is not something we have the budget for at the moment.

You’re not going to get any definitive answers here, only the sellers can tell you if they will accept a reduced amount. From the comments here, it’s clear that most would not.

So put your offer to the seller, accept the faults and progress or pull out of the sale. Absolute worst-case scenario, they pull out. Likely scenario, they decline. Best case scenario, they accept your offer. These are literally your options so take one!

J

rystaman

AdrianC said:

rystaman said:

I wanted to get some outside opinions on my situation at the moment in regards to my first house purchase. Me and my partner are buying a 1970 3-bed semi-detached property in the West Midlands which was up for £240,000 but that we negotiated down to £233,000 due to modernisation needed throughout the property.

And what would it be worth, fully modernised and "ready to go"?

...our suspicions were confirmed that it in fact needed a full rewire (subsequent EICR confirmed also)

"House in need of modernisation would benefit from rewiring"!
Hold the front page!

C1s (actively dangerous), C2s (potentially dangerous) or just the C3s (not up to current standards) that every single property in the country would get unless freshly rewired to the current standards, which were only issued in 2018?

so this equates to £8,500 total immediate work that needs doing including the rewire.

Well, that's OK, because you knocked £7k off the asking... which would have been set bearing in mind the need for modernisation, including that perfectly predictable rewiring...

My other potential option was to ask for the sellers to replace the blown glazing units in the Living Room and Bedroom 3 which would approx be £400/500 of work.

Those blown units - apart from being nowhere near £500-worth of work - will have been clearly visible on viewing, so your offer took them into account.

Trying to chisel just £2k, less than 1%, off at the last minute before exchange? No. Naughty...

Fully modernised? Comparing to other houses sold potentially £260,000 but in today's market I don't know. Bare in mind that would include a new kitchen as well and the other £10,000 of interior work that needs doing on top of the £8,500 of other work.

It's a family home, both myself and my partner come from similar era homes and neither need a rewire as it's been maintained... A full rewire wasn't to be expected, partial yes with putting new circuits in for more sockets or lights perhaps, but the age of the house doesn't define what work that needs doing. 

Considering we've had 3 quotes from 3 firms (not national like Everest and the like) to replace 3 blown units of £380 - £520... It might not seem like anywhere near £500 worth of work but those are the quotes we've received. Likewise they were not clearly visible on our 20 minute COVID-safe viewing in which we had to cover the entire house, so no our offer did not take them into consideration.