House purchase - Advice needed (who should pay for what?)

jonnydeppiwish!

User2349 said:

user1977 said:

User2349 said:

Side note, I can't help but feel that on a forum centred around saving money, it does seem counter-intuitive that I'm advised against ensuring a blown seal on a window is replaced prior to purchase, thus incurring the additional couple hundred (that I've been quoted) myself. Whilst recognising the house is not brand new, but only c.25 years old, I would expect anything broken to be fixed before sale but perhaps that's just me... 

Yes, it's just you. Every property is going to have defects of some sort or another, it is not normal in the slightest for a seller to go around fixing everything that a buyer's surveyor has pointed out. And it's usually advisable that (if it's something worthy of negotiation) you deal with it by reducing the price - that way you're then in control of the repair, rather than hoping that the seller uses somebody of good standard.

Fair enough. Might see if we can negotiate the cost of the window repair. Not fussed if not. Next option is a DIY job.

@jonnydeppiwish!  - in an ideal world, yes... but in an ideal world I would also be a premier league footballer...
Isn't the point of a survey to give a fairly comprehensive view of the condition the property being purchased, carried out by an experienced professional, more likely to spot things than I would be?    

Yes it is but you’ve also looked at the property at least twice before offering so you would have noticed the shot window. It’s a bit like saying I’ll offer you xxxx for a car then say oh there’s a big stone chip in the bumper and even though it was there before I offered, I want you to pay to fix it……..

NameUnavailable

User2349 said:

 

Side note, I can't help but feel that on a forum centred around saving money, it does seem counter-intuitive that I'm advised against ensuring a blown seal on a window is replaced prior to purchase, thus incurring the additional couple hundred (that I've been quoted) myself. Whilst recognising the house is not brand new, but only c.25 years old, I would expect anything broken to be fixed before sale but perhaps that's just me... 

Every bought or sold a used car? Following that thinking you would expect that it should be resprayed to ensure no scratches/chips and retrimmed to ensure no marks/wear on the upholstery and a full engine rebuild, and new set of tyres all round!

You're buying a 'used' item, there will ALWAYS be things that need some attention.

mi-key

It is funny how some people quibble over small  ( sub £500 things ) when buying a house for hundreds of thousands and expect them fixed or a reduced offer to be accepted, then move in and spend thousands ripping out the bathroom and kitchen, putting in new flooring and redecorating etc..



There is a big difference between a broken boiler or collapsing roof and a window seal that lets in a bit of condensation

I bet pretty much all of us who own our home have some of those little jobs that need fixing that we haven't got round to because they aren't urgent and don't really bother us. You learn to live with the small things in your house. 

TheJP

mi-key said:

It is funny how some people quibble over small  ( sub £500 things ) when buying a house for hundreds of thousands and expect them fixed or a reduced offer to be accepted, then move in and spend thousands ripping out the bathroom and kitchen, putting in new flooring and redecorating etc..



There is a big difference between a broken boiler or collapsing roof and a window seal that lets in a bit of condensation

I bet pretty much all of us who own our home have some of those little jobs that need fixing that we haven't got round to because they aren't urgent and don't really bother us. You learn to live with the small things in your house. 

The house i have has 2 blown windows, 2 years on they are still the same. Just haven't got round to it and i don't notice it anymore.

hazyjo

You should be able to get that done for a couple of hundred. If you split it with the vendor, that's £100 or so. If someone asked me to drop that, I'd be seriously worrying about whether they could afford to buy! Would be bordering on petty. It's not even essential. I'm sure I had 2 blown windows in my last house. Forgot about them tbh.

Would definitely keep quiet in your shoes.

Good luck. Oh and hope the asbestos test comes back negative - not that that would bother me too much either.

Niv

mi-key said:

It is funny how some people quibble over small  ( sub £500 things ) when buying a house for hundreds of thousands and expect them fixed or a reduced offer to be accepted, then move in and spend thousands ripping out the bathroom and kitchen, putting in new flooring and redecorating etc..



There is a big difference between a broken boiler or collapsing roof and a window seal that lets in a bit of condensation

I bet pretty much all of us who own our home have some of those little jobs that need fixing that we haven't got round to because they aren't urgent and don't really bother us. You learn to live with the small things in your house. 

My bolding. I bought my house 6.5years ago, the survey mentioned one (small) window that had blown and suggested that all windows were coming to the end of their life on the back of that. To this day, that window is still blown and not one other has... just not quite got around to it 

propertyrental

The other common problem is that many buyers (esp FTBs) think that the point of a survey is to identify all the problems that the seller should fix or reduce the price for.

It's not. It should be thought of primarily as a source of very useful information for the buyer about his future property. To be used as a guide for future improvements and on-going maintenance. A 'to do' list if you will.

Sure, it will highlight any major issues that might make the buyer think twice, but most of the issues mentioned will be for information only.