Boiler service needed to sell. Why?

andy444

I had the same issue when I sold my last place. When I showed the buyer round I told him that the boiler hadn't been serviced for a few years and nothing more was said of it and he was completely aware of it when he had his bid accepted.

Then a few weeks after the sale was agreed I was told via the solicitor that the buyer wanted me to get the boiler serviced. I did drag my feet on it for a while but I did eventually get a service done just the keep the buyer sweet.

74jax

I've just sold my mams house.
About 3 days before exchange we were told by our solicitor that the purchases wanted a new boiler fitted as we didn't have service info. 

I gave then the option of choosing and paying for the boiler prior to completion.  They declined and said I'd have to pay or they were not going ahead.

It was so strange as they knew about it prior to the offer. I couldn't understand why they would have spent the money on the solicitor etc to pull out so close to completion, but I guess people do things differently to others.

We were happy for them to pull out as we were in no hurry etc, it was more strange than anything.

The next day they wanted to go ahead again if we got it service, so what was a deal breaker one day, want the next.....  Again we said no but said we'd provide access if they wanted it done.

They moved in a few weeks after..... 

AdrianC

74jax said:

I've just sold my mams house.
About 3 days before exchange we were told by our solicitor that the purchases wanted a new boiler fitted as we didn't have service info. 

I gave then the option of choosing and paying for the boiler prior to completion.  They declined and said I'd have to pay or they were not going ahead.

It was so strange as they knew about it prior to the offer. I couldn't understand why they would have spent the money on the solicitor etc to pull out so close to completion, but I guess people do things differently to others.

We were happy for them to pull out as we were in no hurry etc, it was more strange than anything.

The next day they wanted to go ahead again if we got it service, so what was a deal breaker one day, want the next.....  Again we said no but said we'd provide access if they wanted it done.

They moved in a few weeks after..... 

...and I bet that boiler will still be there, still unserviced, several years later...

badger09

74jax said:

I've just sold my mams house.
About 3 days before exchange we were told by our solicitor that the purchases wanted a new boiler fitted as we didn't have service info. 

I gave then the option of choosing and paying for the boiler prior to completion.  They declined and said I'd have to pay or they were not going ahead.

It was so strange as they knew about it prior to the offer. I couldn't understand why they would have spent the money on the solicitor etc to pull out so close to completion, but I guess people do things differently to others.

We were happy for them to pull out as we were in no hurry etc, it was more strange than anything.

The next day they wanted to go ahead again if we got it service, so what was a deal breaker one day, want the next.....  Again we said no but said we'd provide access if they wanted it done.

They moved in a few weeks after..... 

They were clearly just trying it on.

As buyers we asked for recent service history for what was clearly an old boiler. House was freezing cold on both viewings in November & surveyor commented that CH was not on in December.

Vendor stonewalled which made us even more suspicious, so we had our own engineer visit before exchange, to ensure things were working & safe. Vendor wasn't happy but we didn't want to move in in Feb & find no CH or hot water. All ok but boiler nearing end of its life, which we suspected. We had no intention of demanding a new boiler or reducing our offer.

Looks like vendor was just much hardier/meaner than us. Boiler replaced on Monday & now getting to grips with the HIVE app

 

74jax

badger09 said:

74jax said:

I've just sold my mams house.
About 3 days before exchange we were told by our solicitor that the purchases wanted a new boiler fitted as we didn't have service info. 

I gave then the option of choosing and paying for the boiler prior to completion.  They declined and said I'd have to pay or they were not going ahead.

It was so strange as they knew about it prior to the offer. I couldn't understand why they would have spent the money on the solicitor etc to pull out so close to completion, but I guess people do things differently to others.

We were happy for them to pull out as we were in no hurry etc, it was more strange than anything.

The next day they wanted to go ahead again if we got it service, so what was a deal breaker one day, want the next.....  Again we said no but said we'd provide access if they wanted it done.

They moved in a few weeks after..... 

They were clearly just trying it on.

As buyers we asked for recent service history for what was clearly an old boiler. House was freezing cold on both viewings in November & surveyor commented that CH was not on in December.

Vendor stonewalled which made us even more suspicious, so we had our own engineer visit before exchange, to ensure things were working & safe. Vendor wasn't happy but we didn't want to move in in Feb & find no CH or hot water. All ok but boiler nearing end of its life, which we suspected. We had no intention of demanding a new boiler or reducing our offer.

Looks like vendor was just much hardier/meaner than us. Boiler replaced on Monday & now getting to grips with the HIVE app

 

It was really strange, and did seem to come from nowhere.  Might have been last minute nerves perhaps as ftb and it was a big project. 

I was all ready to go to someone else who I knew was interested when our solicitor said they had changed their mind again and would go ahead.

They didn't even want access for someone of their choosing to look at it....

desthemoaner

We made sure we had up to date servicing on our gas appliances before instructing an estate agent. Cost us about 200 quid in total, which is very little in the current madness of the housing market, and we hoped that it would limit delays prior to exchange.

We didn't bargain for a surveyor who picked up "defects" in our electrical installation even though a) he wasn't an electrician and b) an electrical safety certificate was issued in 2019 and doesn't expire till 2024.

Fortunately our buyers talked the situation through with us and recognised that he was just padding out his report, presumably because he wasn't able to find any serious defects.

badger09

74jax said:

badger09 said:

74jax said:

I've just sold my mams house.
About 3 days before exchange we were told by our solicitor that the purchases wanted a new boiler fitted as we didn't have service info. 

I gave then the option of choosing and paying for the boiler prior to completion.  They declined and said I'd have to pay or they were not going ahead.

It was so strange as they knew about it prior to the offer. I couldn't understand why they would have spent the money on the solicitor etc to pull out so close to completion, but I guess people do things differently to others.

We were happy for them to pull out as we were in no hurry etc, it was more strange than anything.

The next day they wanted to go ahead again if we got it service, so what was a deal breaker one day, want the next.....  Again we said no but said we'd provide access if they wanted it done.

They moved in a few weeks after..... 

They were clearly just trying it on.

As buyers we asked for recent service history for what was clearly an old boiler. House was freezing cold on both viewings in November & surveyor commented that CH was not on in December.

Vendor stonewalled which made us even more suspicious, so we had our own engineer visit before exchange, to ensure things were working & safe. Vendor wasn't happy but we didn't want to move in in Feb & find no CH or hot water. All ok but boiler nearing end of its life, which we suspected. We had no intention of demanding a new boiler or reducing our offer.

Looks like vendor was just much hardier/meaner than us. Boiler replaced on Monday & now getting to grips with the HIVE app

 

It was really strange, and did seem to come from nowhere.  Might have been last minute nerves perhaps as ftb and it was a big project. 

I was all ready to go to someone else who I knew was interested when our solicitor said they had changed their mind again and would go ahead.

They didn't even want access for someone of their choosing to look at it....

Definitely trying it on then.

desthemoaner said:

We made sure we had up to date servicing on our gas appliances before instructing an estate agent. Cost us about 200 quid in total, which is very little in the current madness of the housing market, and we hoped that it would limit delays prior to exchange.

We didn't bargain for a surveyor who picked up "defects" in our electrical installation even though a) he wasn't an electrician and b) an electrical safety certificate was issued in 2019 and doesn't expire till 2024.

Fortunately our buyers talked the situation through with us and recognised that he was just padding out his report, presumably because he wasn't able to find any serious defects.

We sold in August and had our annual service in September as usual. If we didn't have annual servicing I would have done what you did.

Surveyors always cover their backside.

Caramac

We sold last July, our boiler had been serviced as part of a service plan the previous August. The solicitor wanted it servicing before exchange but British Gas were only doing emergency calls at the time. When they restarted servicing we could only get a date two months after the proposed completion date. The solicitor accepted it eventually.

Skiddaw1

When living in our first owned home (a flat) we had the old boiler replaced with a lovely, shiny new one. Circs changed and we sold the flat a few months later. Moved, boiler at new house finally went kaput after 20 years, replaced it with lovely, shiny, new one, sold house less than a year later.... mind you, having new boiler probably helped with the two sales so I suppose it is an ill wind..