Is it appropriate to ask for a reduction in price?

fantasyvsreality

Hello all, I am buying a house and the survey has come back stating that all the double glazing is needing replacing in the near future with one window particularly bad, causing cracking in the brickwork below it. I am at the max of my budget for the property and wondered if I get a quote for the glazing would it be appropriate to ask the seller to go half on the cost of the work (as in a reduction of the asking price). At the very least the cost of the window that will need replacing and brickwork repointing. I realise I might be being naive which is why I wanted to ask here. Many thanks.

babyblade41

I would imagine this was visible on viewing & isn't desperate to do now, I presume the house was priced with the condition of everything which is visible 

You can reduce your offer but depending on the above I would doubt they would agree

jimbog

Yes, you can, but I would be surprised if they would agree - the surveyor saying it will need replacing 'in the near future' sound vague 

[Deleted User]

You can only ask, but it’s likely you’ll only irritate the seller in doing so. 

They won’t be wanting to pay half towards something they don’t benefit from, and not when it’s something considered cosmetic, like new windows would be.

Windows would be something on my own ‘to do’ list. Something else, such as ‘the roof is about to collapse’, would play out differently. 

The house is being sold as seen, the windows being, well, difficult to miss when viewing. The seller will likely be of this mind, and that your offer was based on what you saw,  not what you might need in the ‘near future’. They already know the windows are old, it’s not as if they hid them from buyers.

Your survey will pick up on small things and make a meal of it because your surveyor is covering their back. Windows needing future replacing is a common entry on these things.

fantasyvsreality

Thanks everyone, your answers are what my gut was telling me but I wanted to check as I am a female buying on my own and sometimes doubt myself. 

mi-key

fantasyvsreality said:

Thanks everyone, your answers are what my gut was telling me but I wanted to check as I am a female buying on my own and sometimes doubt myself. 

When a survey says 'in the near future' that can mean anything from 5 to 10 years! They normally say this just to cover themselves if a problem comes up sooner and the customer complains they weren't told. If the windows are weathertight then they don't need replacing yet, so is just something to budget for as a future home improvement.

As others have said, the seller gets no benefit from having new windows fitted, so wouldn't want to pay for it, and I wouldn't expect them to in this example.

Replacing the one window and repointing wouldn't be that expensive, so is something you can budget for in the near future. ( You can even fill the crack yourself easily for less than £25 just for peace of mind for now ) 

fantasyvsreality

@mi-key thank you! I feel reassured. I really appreciate this forum for being able to ask about stuff like this. 

mi-key

fantasyvsreality said:

@mi-key thank you! I feel reassured. I really appreciate this forum for being able to ask about stuff like this. 

You're welcome Surveys can seem quite scary if you haven't had experience of them 

babyblade41

fantasyvsreality said:

@mi-key thank you! I feel reassured. I really appreciate this forum for being able to ask about stuff like this. 

I think some of us don't remember how scary it is buying a property for the first time,

No question  is a silly question & it helps others in the future going through the same thing 

Emily_Joy

babyblade41 said:

I would imagine this was visible on viewing & isn't desperate to do now, I presume the house was priced with the condition of everything which is visible 

You can reduce your offer but depending on the above I would doubt they would agree

The first issue is that quite often when the house is occupied, and filled with furniture and personal belonging of the current owners it is very difficult to examine the windows/ceilings/walls carefully, without prying/breaking vendor's privacy. The floors with fitted carpets are even problematic. The second problem is that in most cases a buyer who has no experience in buildings and has as little as quarter of hour during the viewing relies on the survey to pick things up. Those whose work is not related to building industry you are very likely to miss things that their builder friend will spot instantly.

I remember quite a few years ago I went to look at a house with a friend of mine, a bespoke furniture maker. He glanced at the house from outside for a couple minutes and said "the roof should be replaced as soon as possible. The chimney stack is also a concern. if you buy it, you will need to rebuild a part of this wall quite soon...  Let's go inside and look at the floors, but I think there is some movement in the ground!". I decided I don't want it - the person who bought it started replacing the roof and as far as I can see, more than 5 years later on, the house is still surrounded by scaffolding and inhabitable. I have to confess I still have no clue how did he know.

mi-key

Emily_Joy said:

babyblade41 said:

I would imagine this was visible on viewing & isn't desperate to do now, I presume the house was priced with the condition of everything which is visible 

You can reduce your offer but depending on the above I would doubt they would agree

The first issue is that quite often when the house is occupied, and filled with furniture and personal belonging of the current owners it is very difficult to examine the windows/ceilings/walls carefully, without prying/breaking vendor's privacy. The floors with fitted carpets are even problematic. The second problem is that in most cases a buyer who has no experience in buildings and has as little as quarter of hour during the viewing relies on the survey to pick things up. Those whose work is not related to building industry you are very likely to miss things that their builder friend will spot instantly.

I remember quite a few years ago I went to look at a house with a friend of mine, a bespoke furniture maker. He glanced at the house from outside for a couple minutes and said "the roof should be replaced as soon as possible. The chimney stack is also a concern. if you buy it, you will need to rebuild a part of this wall quite soon...  Let's go inside and look at the floors, but I think there is some movement in the ground!". I decided I don't want it - the person who bought it started replacing the roof and as far as I can see, more than 5 years later on, the house is still surrounded by scaffolding and inhabitable. I have to confess I still have no clue how did he know.

Modern UPVC frames last forever, so the only thing that fails tends to be the sealing around them, or the glazing itself, which are both easy to fix and a lot cheaper than replacing whole windows.

I reckon most windows that are replaced now are so people can change the white or brown ones for black so it matches better when they paint the house dark grey