Buyer enquiries - are these reasonable requests for me to pay for?

Flick85

The flat sold above asking price after being on the market for less than 24 hours, and a small bidding war from 2 investors. When I agreed a price with this guy, I had 20 viewings booked in for the following Friday. So, if I had to go back on the market, it would be annoying, but I’m prepared to do so.

The house I’m buying isn’t even going to be ready til the end of the year, so I’m not in a desperate rush. The developers want me to exchange asap, but have also said if the buyer pulls out they’ll give time to go back on the market and sell again. So, I’m not feeling under massive pressure to agree to all his terms.

However, I’ve agreed to pay the transfer fee, and said he can pay for the other things if he wants them. We’ll see what they say. 

dimbo61

Fair enough.
If you pay for the EICR you could get someone round who might overlook a few issues where as if the Vendor employees his own Electrician he will get a full report and any improvements he might suggest ! 

Flick85

propertyhunter said:

I had to pay for a gas safety check and electrical safety check for the home I bought. You should really have your boiler serviced annually if you are living in the property to check that all is functioning correctly - you don't want a serious avoidable accident (such as carbon monoxide poisoning). Make sure you get this done wherever you move to next (if you're buying).

Yes, the boiler service was a massive oversight on my part. Not an excuse but I was really very mentally unwell with severe OCD for 18 months, and I can’t open post when I’m that ill. I missed a bunch of letters about the boiler service and warranty. 

It’s only within the last year that I’ve been able to open post again, and although I did eventually open those letters, it was too late to deal with it. 

Thankfully, I now have better support for this particular task if I become unwell again, so shouldn’t be an issue moving forwards. And of course, just hoping I don’t get that ill ever again!

SallyDucati

When I sold my flat I paid for 1), buyer paid for 2).

Re 3) it was pretty clear in the lease that it was the seller who was responsible to pay, so I was always expecting it (and partly annoyed!).  
Same when we sold my Mums retirement flat, so not that unusual in my experience!

Thrugelmir

Having offered £7.5k over asking price. Understandable why the potential purchaser isn't willing to put his hand in his pocket again. Alarm bells may also be ringing as to what else maybe subsequently uncovered. Confidence can soon be undermined. 

Grumpy_chap

felicityBD15 said:

So, the things he's asking for are:
1) I had a new boiler installed 3 years ago, but it's not been serviced. He's asking me to service it before exchange at my expense. 
2) He's asking for me to do an electrical installation test before exchange, again at my expense.
3) 'We note that there is a transfer fee payable to the Management Company on completion in the sum of 0.15% of the gross sale proceeds. Please confirm that you are happy for this amount to be paid from the sale proceeds upon completion.'

1 & 2 are low costs in the scheme of things - you make your own decision whether you are willing to pay or risk losing the sale.

What exactly is (3)?  That works out to £150 per £100k property value. 
Is it an "admin fee" for the Management Company to register the change of owner? 
Why would that be related to the property value?
Is there still a Management Company?

Flick85

Thrugelmir said:

Having offered £7.5k over asking price. Understandable why the potential purchaser isn't willing to put his hand in his pocket again. Alarm bells may also be ringing as to what else maybe subsequently uncovered. Confidence can soon be undermined. 

Tbf i did strategically set the asking price to be on the low side - it was the minimum I needed for my own ward purchase - and he hasn’t tried to renegotiate after having a mortgage valuation. If he was v worried about overpaying, I would have expected that if the mortgage value was low, he would have tried at that point.

And, while we were negotiating literally asked what price I needed to take the flat off the market without having anyone view it. I said 10k over asking, and we eventually settled on 7.5k and an agreement he wouldn’t put pressure on me to rent while I found somewhere given this crazy market.

And, this is an investor who owns multiple other flats in the same block, so does know the development pretty well. It wouldn’t surprise me if his long term plan is to try to buy them all up to then purchase the freehold.

Anyways, we’ll see what happens. 

Flick85

Grumpy_chap said:

felicityBD15 said:

So, the things he's asking for are:
1) I had a new boiler installed 3 years ago, but it's not been serviced. He's asking me to service it before exchange at my expense. 
2) He's asking for me to do an electrical installation test before exchange, again at my expense.
3) 'We note that there is a transfer fee payable to the Management Company on completion in the sum of 0.15% of the gross sale proceeds. Please confirm that you are happy for this amount to be paid from the sale proceeds upon completion.'

1 & 2 are low costs in the scheme of things - you make your own decision whether you are willing to pay or risk losing the sale.

What exactly is (3)?  That works out to £150 per £100k property value. 
Is it an "admin fee" for the Management Company to register the change of owner? 
Why would that be related to the property value?
Is there still a Management Company?

3) works out at about £330. It’s written into the lease, I don’t know why. And yea, there is a management company. 

Grumpy_chap

It would be worth understanding what (3) really is but, for £330, it is (like 1 & 2) your choice whether to pay or whether to risk the sale.

In making this decision, it might be worth considering whether another prospective buyer might be put off the purchase altogether by this fee.  I think I might be, because of the fear it would put off future purchasers.

Noneforit999

Personally I would not be paying for 1 or 2.

A boiler service is like £100 and the buyer can do they once they move in.

Same for the EIRC, if they want it beforehand then they need to pay for it. The issue with this is that any electrical installation which is 'older' is likely to have things which don't conform to current regs so when the electrician gives you a list of things which need looking at, they may be minor but it might cause an inexperienced buyer to panic and try to re-negotiate.

I would be playing hard ball. They want the house, they get the stuff done themselves.