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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

AIBU to ask this of the vendor?

52 replies

Lookingforadvice123 · 23/09/2014 20:12

Hi all, this is my first AIBU but I would love some advice.

DH and I have made an offer on a house, which was accepted straight away - it was on the market for £140k and we offered £137k. The vendors offered to include the White goods for an extra £400, which we agreed.

We've had the survey back which has flagged up a few bits and pieces - the kind of stuff you'd expect for an ex council house of that age. One is the boiler - it's clearly very old, and the separate water tank is not in good condition and needs replacing. The vendors have agreed to reduce the price by £200 due to the water tank.

The boiler hasn't been serviced since 2012, so I've asked for the vendor to service it before completion. They've refused. Was I unreasonable to ask? I'm a first time buyer so don't know much about boilers, although Ive been advised that they should be serviced annually. If we have it services when we move in, it will most likely need replacing.

OP posts:

Itsfab · 23/09/2014 20:15

Get them to prove when it was last serviced.

Don't lose a house you love for the sake of a few hundred pounds that you won't even remember in a few months.

We bought our house and it wasn't great. Stuff we were promised were taken. Stuff we didn't want were left including numerous broken items, 9 bags of rubbish and various bits of crap.

KnackeredMuchly · 23/09/2014 20:16

Yanbu to ask. But now you know where you stand, pull out or accept you're probably going to need a new boiler

ArabellaTarantella · 23/09/2014 20:19

Sounds to me as though they won't get it serviced because the engineer will say it needs replacing. I think you will have to be prepared that you will have to change it when you move in.

MissMalonex2 · 23/09/2014 20:19

If they don't service it the risk is it is condemned when it is serviced (or worse - it is unsafe and something happens if you don't service it straight away). You need to know when buying the house if you have a working safe boiler. Sorry this is something I would dig my heels in about - you could end up having to fork out a couple of grand on a new one immediately.

craycray · 23/09/2014 20:20

That's presumably what the vendors are worried about? If they have it serviced it will need replacing and then you will want them to buy a new one?
It depend on whether or not buying a new boiler would changed your mind on the house, which I would think it wouldn't?
We've lived with a crappy boiler for 1 year in our new house now and are just having it replaced. We knew it would need doing but I wanted to spend money on decorating rather than the boiler and we survived the winter with it. We haven't had hot water for the past three months and have just been using the kettle and electric shower.
It wasn't something we questioned when we moved in as it was obvious from the start it needed replacing.

Original poster

Lookingforadvice123 · 23/09/2014 20:21

This is what I'm a bit worried about tbh. Do vendors pull out over this sort of thing? I've since gone back to the agent saying we're happy to pay for it to be serviced, but would like to request that if there is faults found, that we can negotiate the price with the vendors. I worded my email to make sure they knew it was a request, and not a threat. Would any vendors out there pull out over this sort of thing?

I sent the email to the agent this evening so I'm tempted to call first thing in the morning and tell them to ignore it, and we'll just have it services ourselves. But at the same time part of me feels that they SHOULD have had it services at least last year - depending what month in 2012 it could be nearly 3 years and it is a very old boiler.

OP posts:

MrsPiggie · 23/09/2014 20:34

If it's a very old boiler you are better off replacing it anyway (for efficiency reasons). They should have it serviced, but if they refuse there's not much you can do short of pulling out. They might refuse to service it because they don't want to pay the £100 or whatever it costs. In our first house, the last service sticker on the boiler was from 18 years previously. It was still going strong and passed its service with flying colors, we replaced it anyway after a year or so, it was eating gas for breakfast.
Off topic, are you sure the white goods are worth £400? Washing machine and fridge only, I presume?

Original poster

Lookingforadvice123 · 23/09/2014 20:39

We will most likely replace it in a year or so anyway we just can't afford to straight away. The shower is electric like yours cray cray.

They have offered to demonstrate it working for us. Should I call the agent tomorrow, tell them to ignore my request of us servicing it on the proviso that we negotiate the price in the incident of repairs?

White goods include fridge freezer, dishwasher, separate washing machine and tumble dryer. I thought that was a bargain tbh, can you tell I'm not a home owner!

OP posts:

MrsCurrent · 23/09/2014 20:54

I wouldn't and in all the moves I've done it's never crossed my mind. You can get it done yourself but if I was you I'd replace it ASAP as yes, it costs now all boilers have to be condenser boilers (although there is nothing to stop you from doing your own research and buying it from a wholesaler yourself then getting someone to install it) but you will make it back in your gas bills.

Pipbin · 23/09/2014 21:04

I thought that these days you had to have proof of a boiler service before you could exchange? I might well be wrong.

UnMasterChef · 23/09/2014 21:08

We've recently sold a house, buyer asked for boiler to be serviced, we said no as it had a recent gas safety certificate and it was a sellers market. We didn't need to pay for one, the boiler was fine and felt confident enough to say no.

MrsPiggie · 23/09/2014 21:39

Having it serviced yourselves is not a bad idea per se, except you might end up paying for it and not getting the house after all or not agreeing over a price to fix it (but it's the same with paying for a survey).
Also, there are other important things that can go wrong in a house, for which sellers never offer certificates, like the electrical wiring or the pipework. It's always a bit of a gamble buying a house. Just make sure you've got some emergency funds available.

White goods include fridge freezer, dishwasher, separate washing machine and tumble dryer. I thought that was a bargain tbh, can you tell I'm not a home owner!
It's OK then, if they are working and you need them all, I thought it was steep for just a washing machine and fridge.

Itsfab · 23/09/2014 21:39

They probably want the sale to go through more than you. Don't be a push over. If they are being arsey over this I would be very careful about being too keen to give in on everything.

BotoxedFossil · 23/09/2014 21:41

first thing i had to do was get a new boiler.

i think people panic when they get the survey back tbh. there is no such thing as a house with nothing wrong with it.

whois · 23/09/2014 21:44

Does anyone actually get their boiler serviced annually?

I wouldn't bother pushing them on this, it's not a normal thing to ask.

Itsfab · 23/09/2014 21:44

Have you seen the white goods you are buying in working order?

TheHandmadeStaleBread · 23/09/2014 21:49

I have my boiler serviced every year...

Itsfab · 23/09/2014 21:53

Our boiler is serviced regularly. We like to have a safe appliance in our house.

londonrach · 23/09/2014 21:53

Yabu. However think do you want this house or want to lose it. Parents left their beautiful clean house with no hot water tank to remove to their house with no heating etc. reason for move was closer to family. New house in awful state but a really good house. Vendors not prepared to do anything more. Buy as seen or go away. House better than anywhere else in room etc (ignoring no heating etc). They didnt want to lose it. Think carefully can you afford cost of x... What else is out there... Hope move goes ok x

londonrach · 23/09/2014 21:54

I meant yanbu not yabu. Sorry one letter huge difference...

aprilanne · 23/09/2014 21:55

in scotland you get 7 days after you move into house to get heating checked any faults sellers have to sort

Original poster

Lookingforadvice123 · 23/09/2014 22:28

Thanks everyone for your advice, very useful. I think I will suck it in and wait for the agent to come back to me - if they say no to my request of us paying for a service and then negotiating on price of faults, I think I will just leave the boiler until a later date, or if it conks out! I suppose at least it was serviced a couple of years ago.

Part of me thinks I should continue renting forever, much easier!

OP posts:

phantomnamechanger · 23/09/2014 22:33

Does anyone actually get their boiler serviced annually?

Yes, of course!
It's a bit like saying does anyone bother with an MOT!
It's a basic safety thing - landlords MUST have gas safety certificates.
People die all the time of carbon monoxide poisoning and unlike a gas leak, you can't even smell it.
Anyone who does NOT get their boiler looked at regularly is taking a very big risk. We do, and we STILL have a carbon monoxide detector near it too, just in case.

Scholes34 · 23/09/2014 22:35

We have our boiler serviced regularly - every two years.

JustSayNoNoNo · 23/09/2014 22:37

You could, as a compromise, ask them to get a Gas Safety Certificate, specifying which appliances to check eg boiler, cooker, fire. Costs less than £50 and will tell you whether items are safe to use or not.

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