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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to not want to spend £2k on a boiler that we wont get the benefit of?

78 replies

Mortgagedilemma · 17/01/2017 22:21

Posting here for traffic as need to make decision by tomorrow morning.

Our house went up for sale this week. First viewings booked for Sunday. Today the boiler stops working.

The boiler is old and has been a bit dodgy for a while.

Plumber came round today to try and fix it. He thinks it could be the fan, or possibly the gas valve, but not certain. Fan would cost £300, bit then valves may also need to be replaced.

Alternatively He can replace like with like on Friday and replace whole boiler for £2k.

WWYD? It's a lot of money to shell out that we won't get the benefit of, so I'm loathe to do it, but there's no guarantee the patching up will work in time for first viewings.

OP posts:
PurpleDaisies · 17/01/2017 23:08

The vendors came back with 'what's a boiler service?!' so we cut fifteen hundred pounds off our revised offer.

If I'd been the seller I'd have said the house was priced to reflect the age of the boiler and refused to reduce the price.

Op jus make it clear the boiler's old. As long as it's in working order o can't see the issue.

PickAChew · 17/01/2017 23:10

For a £360K house, a £2K boiler is quite painless!

We're expecting to sell our house for no more than just £60K, this year, but are putting time, effort and money into making it at least look cared for. The reality is that a lot of expensive things have happened, but we'll get a fair bit more for it relaying at least a cheap vinyl kitchen floor to replace the one trashed by a (fixed) burst pipe, as well as re-painting all the scruffy scuffed walls. We want to at least get back the £50K we paid for it!

PickAChew · 17/01/2017 23:12

And I'm with PurpleDaisies, but so many people aren't. In reality, a boiler service is £60. Rentals have to have the, by law!

SheepyFun · 17/01/2017 23:13

Either repair it, or expect to have the replacement cost taken out of an offer once a survey is done (unless you inform possibly buyers that the boiler doesn't work in advance). We got £500 off our current house because the vendor couldn't demonstrate that the boiler (then 30 years old) worked - the house had been rented out, and was at empty when we viewed it. The boiler is still going strong a good few years later.

Justaboy · 17/01/2017 23:16

If it were me, I'd be able to fix it anyway, but I reckon a repair will be in order. Just get an independent plumber to look at it not somewhere like British Gas !. Tell him or her, yes there are some women plumbers around that you just want a repair done for now as your selling the house and your not in the market for a new replacement one.

OhGodWhatTheHellNow · 17/01/2017 23:17

I have twice bought a house where the boiler was apparently only just limping along and packed up milliseconds after I got the keys.

A new boiler, with guarantees, is a great selling feature and a damn sight better than some of the other crap they suggest to Boost your Sellability.

(Mind you, if you have a lot of books you could burn them to keep warm, as there are no books in Rightmoveland...)

BoomBoomsCousin · 17/01/2017 23:18

I think there are a lot of factors involved in what is best value for money for you. If you are desperate to sell, a new boiler could help move the property faster. And someone might be inclined to offer a bit more for the property if the utilities are all fairly new and in good condition. But I think you are unlikely to get an offer that is 1.5K + more just because the boiler is new rather than repaired. If the market in your area is a seller's market right now this is even more the case. Absent a need to move the property quickly (and even then the extra is probably better spent on making the place look better) I would be inclined to go for the cheapest safe option to get the boiler working.

5OBalesofHay · 17/01/2017 23:19

Don't try to cheat potential buyers. You know it's fucked. Replace it or tell them it's fucked.

PurpleDaisies · 17/01/2017 23:21

A new boiler, with guarantees, is a great selling feature and a damn sight better than some of the other crap they suggest to Boost your Sellability

I just can't see it though. Someone loves your house but the boiler's old so they walk away? It's a nice bonus but I genuinely can't see it as a deal breaker or such a selling feature it means someone chooses your house over another one they also like.

Justaboy · 17/01/2017 23:21

One of our rental houses has a 40 yes forty year old Glowworm a very simple beast my boiler inspector mate says it was one of the best and to keep it on the go as long as possible!

Justaboy · 17/01/2017 23:27

Meant to mention also that if it is of some age it will provably be a bit cheaper to repair they were simpler then and didn't have expensive PCB control circuits the one alluded to above , a very simple beast it will probably become unusable when spare parts dry up but there are plenty of people making good replacement gas valves fans and the burners and the like!.

Yamadori · 17/01/2017 23:28

I'd get another plumber round to have a look at the boiler and give a quote to replace/repair before you decide.

PickAChew · 17/01/2017 23:34

Before we got our combi boiler, we had a back boiler. I'm quite sure that the back boiler, held together with insulation tape, would have still been passing its boiler check had the hot.water tank not burst and leaked all over our bed!

Original poster
Mortgagedilemma · 17/01/2017 23:36

I think ours is a glowworm, and would possibly go on forever if repaired.

However I'm coming round to the idea that a new boiler is a selling point.

We're in Scotland so the old boiler has already been priced into the home report survey. The timing is incredibly annoying!!

OP posts:
PurpleDaisies · 17/01/2017 23:38

We're in Scotland so the old boiler has already been priced into the home report survey. The timing is incredibly annoying!!

So you really do only need to fix it so it's in working order. Won't people who come to view it have already seen the survey so be expecting an old boiler?

roseshippy · 17/01/2017 23:38

I would get a nice boiler, not just like for like.

PurpleDaisies · 17/01/2017 23:39

What's the the point in that roses? Confused

Eevee77 · 17/01/2017 23:40

It's crap but I'd pay it if I could afford to. It's definitely a selling point.

PurpleDaisies · 17/01/2017 23:43

I feel bizarrely over invested in this. Grin I think it's because we had exactly the same dilemma.

Good luck with the sale op. I'd just think about whether a new boiler would genuinely make a difference to whether you'd buy a house over another one or not and go from there. It didn't affect our sale-we got the full asking price with a forty year old back boiler that had recently been repaired.

TheWoodlander · 17/01/2017 23:43

I'd repair it.

We have British Gas cover because I totally hate dealing with all things boiler/heating/plumbing related. They always repair it. Plus yearly services. Which tells you something.

engineersthumb · 17/01/2017 23:47

It always annoys me when landlords boast about their 40 year old reliable boilers. It may be cheap for you to maintain but they are incredibly expensive for the tennent to run. Modern boilers are so much more efficient.... still you get your pound of flesh!

Viviennemary · 17/01/2017 23:51

This is really annoying. Bui I think you will have to replace the boiler. I'd be reluctant to buy a house without a working boiiler. I'd think why on earth did these people live in a house without a working boiler. And as a proportion of your asking price £2K is not a lot. You will have to take this into consideration when considering offers.

GilMartin · 17/01/2017 23:54

In reality, a boiler service is £60. Rentals have to have the, by law!

Not so.

They have to have a safety check that they aren't leaking out gas, but they don't have to be serviced. Two completely different things.

BoomBoomsCousin · 18/01/2017 00:02

Vivienne the OP isn't suggesting selling her house without a boiler! She's weighing up the pros and cons of repairing over replacing.

AnnieAnoniMouse · 18/01/2017 00:07

I don't really understand how house sales work in Scotland, only that it's different than in England. In England I'd say replace it, but don't take lower offers on the house - stick to your asking price.

A major consideration has to be how fast houses are selling where you are. If you think you'll be there all winter I'd replace it, if you think you'll move soon, don't - it has been valued with the old boiler, so the buyers should have factored in needing to replace it.