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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to ask House Buyers to pay?

98 replies

HouseSaleIssue · 20/07/2020 18:31

Currently selling house. Put up for sale for £295000 just before lockdown. When housing market opened again, we accepted an offer of £278500 from a couple in rented accommodation with a 25% deposit and a mortgage in principal already agreed. While waiting for survey, the flat roof died so we have had to spend £3000 replacing it. Due to flat roof leak, wallpaper at rear of lounge and a small section in the kitchen is ruined. There is a section of the wall which is damp and will take time to dry out. We have had to remove the wallpaper in the section affected.
As we have added value to property by replacing 11 year old flat roof (cost £3000) and also discounted asking price by £16500, is it reasonable to ask our buyers to sort out redecoration after they acquire the house?

OP posts:
Ballybeyondthepail · 20/07/2020 18:34

It’s yours til you complete and they did t agree to take it with damage. If I were them and you asked I would say we’ll do it but we want the cost knocked off the price

PaulinePetrovaPosey · 20/07/2020 18:34

YABVU.

Until exchange it's your problem. The fact that you accepted an offer below asking price is totally irrelevant.

HogDogKetchup · 20/07/2020 18:35

You can ask - I suspect they’ll tell you to FO.

DollyPomPoms · 20/07/2020 18:35

No. That’s what insurance is for.

luanmapo · 20/07/2020 18:37

Surely a survey would have picked it up anyhow and they could have requested further discount knowing it needed sorting out.
I therefore think YABU.

Pinkyyy · 20/07/2020 18:37

You weren't forced to accept the offer. You chose to out of your own free will.

You can't penalise the buyer because you decided to take less money than you wanted.

isabellerossignol · 20/07/2020 18:37

Surely they'd be redecorating when they move in anyway? If you explain that the reason for the missing wallpaper is that you had an actual repair done, I think they'd be pretty unreasonable to object. They're not buying your decor, they're buying the actual house. (within reason obviously - I don't think it would be fair to strip every piece of wallpaper off a house before moving out, but if it's a small patch or one wall I don't think it's a big deal).

icebearforpresident · 20/07/2020 18:37

Ask away, you never know they might have hated your decor and have planned to change it anyway, but legally the house is still yours and you are liable for any and all repairs.

icebearforpresident · 20/07/2020 18:38

Also be prepared for them to say they want to renegotiate the price if you don’t do the work

MoistMolly · 20/07/2020 18:38

You wouldn't be unreasonable to ask but neither would they be unreasonable to refuse or pull out.

It all depends on how quick you need to sell tbh

pandafunfactory · 20/07/2020 18:39

Decoration isn't part of the sale. You could, if you were so minded, remove all the wallpaper and I doubt they would have any redress. It's good manners to tell them what to expect but no more. are they aware of what sounds like a serious leak though?

Woodmarsh · 20/07/2020 18:42

I would explain and ask what they wasnt to do. They might have wanted to redecorate anyway

Ellisandra · 20/07/2020 18:45

You haven’t really added value to the property with the new flat roof. You’ve just fixed a problem. It’s not like you just built a 2 storey extension on the back for a laugh!
They offered on “a house with a flat roof in working order”, and that’s what they’ve now got. No value add at all.

And they didn’t get any money off - you over priced it.

Dry out the wall, paint it a feature colour to match the existing paper. It’ll cost you bobbins anyway.

Really shitty to think you can pass it on to your buyer!

joyjester · 20/07/2020 18:47

I think you should tell them what happened and ask what they would like? It's pointless you doing anything if they were planning to redecorate once they move in.

icebearforpresident · 20/07/2020 18:48

Not strictly true pandafunfactory, the property should sold in the same state it was viewed. Obviously the OP has had to carry out some repairs which is fine (make sure your solicitor lets their solicitor know OP) but removing wallpaper would leave a seller open to further action from the buyer. I work in property and have seen this happen, the seller had to pay for full redecoration costs for the buyer.

HappyHammy · 20/07/2020 18:51

What does your solicitor advise. If they go ahead and are happy to redecorate then will the damp be sorted in time for them to move in.

Original poster
HouseSaleIssue · 20/07/2020 18:51

The buyers are aware we have had to replace the flat roof due to the leak. We didn't want to sell them a lemon. They have had the survey done, but the surveyor didn't actually inspect the house. They just did it from their computer. Our buyers are lucky that we were honest with them as it would have been much cheaper to cover up the damage rather than coming clean as we did.

OP posts:
FedUpAtHomeTroels · 20/07/2020 18:52

Just take the paper off, dry out the wall and paint it white, tell them what happened they can repaper in their own style once they move in.

Ballybeyondthepail · 20/07/2020 18:53

Seller did this to us, £10K worth of work - got knocked off price plus we still had the inconvenience of doing the work. We nearly walked.

WhoWouldHaveThoughtThat · 20/07/2020 18:53

Surely your insurance will cover the cost of decoration?

Staplemaple · 20/07/2020 18:54

I don't think it's unreasonable, as long as they're made aware of it. You have done the repair, it's just cosmetic. The decor in our house when we moved was horrible anyway, not saying that yours is, but they might want to change it anyway. I wouldn't pull out of a house sale because of some wallpaper, or expect them to do the work, probably with wallpaper I'd hate anyway.

SuitedandBooted · 20/07/2020 19:00

Putting myself in the buyers shoes, I would want to know, (and see) what has happened, as I may have all sorts of plans for the rooms, and you decorating them would be a waste of time and materials. The "reduced" price is irrelevant as you accepted it.

I would NOT be paying anything extra though, as it's still your roof, and your problem - and the surveyor would very likely have flagged it up anyway. They may well have changed it in any case. We took off a flat roof, and replaced it with a pitched one with skylights - looks 10 x better, and has added a lot of value.

maddiemookins16mum · 20/07/2020 19:01

I’d be withdrawing any offer made on your house right away.

Original poster
HouseSaleIssue · 20/07/2020 19:01

We didn't try to claim on the insurance. The flat roof was 11 years old so the failure of the roof was due to wear and tear really.

OP posts:
Roselilly36 · 20/07/2020 19:12

How far down the line are you? If the structural part i.e new flat roof have been installed to a good standard. The decorating part wouldn’t be too expensive, you need to also think about if the sale should fall through, to re-market it could benefit a sale if the decoration is in good order.