Need further negotiations, but....

desthemoaner

MrsBrush said:

If there was no valuation undertaken and the original asking price, and subsequent reduction for a new boiler is all reasonable, then why on earth would you risk upsetting the vendor by nit picking everything that might be wrong with the property?

Do you not have a 'make the house ours' budget? To me, expecting to have to find £5-10k in the first year or two to fix the things that will make the place work for you is normal and sensible. If you are overstretching to the point there is no flex, then you probably should be looking at a cheaper property!

I am all for due diligence and making sure that there are no nasty and very expensive surprises, but there is due diligence and there is taking the P. Every house, by the nature of changing building regulations, wear and tear and normal living will need something doing to it. and all surveyors will point out the risks and potential things that might need looking at in time. Even the perfectly sparkly new builds, that have the perfect everything, have snagging lists as long as as the queues for fuel - it is all a part of the process.

Unless something is dangerous (i.e. gas or electricity disconnected by the utility company, or something like a roof is condemned) it doesn't NEED to be done on day 1, no matter how much you might WANT it to be. And if it is in a 'want' category, the vendor does not have to oblige and be bullied into paying for a large list of demands. The vendor is perfectly within their rights to refuse further negotiations and ultimately refuse to sell and re-market.

OK. I'll say this once more then I'm out of this discussion. We didn't originally intend to "pick" away at the price, nor was there any "bullying" of the vendor in an attempt to get him to pay for a "large list of demands". That's a quite ludicrous analysis.

 We were happy with the boiler reduction, had the EICR done and thought we could probably cope with that too. There was a delay in having the survey done, and it was only then that the flat roof and drains became issues. That surprised us, and we didn't think it unreasonable to ask for further negotiation on those items. However, even before we could do that, the seller issued his ultimatum.

Its obvious now, having read the sensible comments on this thread and ignored the insulting, condescending ones, that we need to swallow all that additional cost or bow out. 

Thanks to all those who have posted articulate and constructive replies, and "a custard pie in the face" for those guilty of using my OP as an opportunity to indulge in sneering and goading.

Tara for now.