AIBU to ask for money off house? Wwyd?

[moveblues]

We are buying a house and paying 500k for it. The level 3 survey came back to say this needed a new roof (“life expired”) because the property is around 90 years old. We got a roofer to look at it who reckons it just needs a few replacement tiles, some other minor bits and bobs and a new flat roof. Circa £5-7k.
Drain survey also states £1.5k of work.
Now, I think it’s worth asking for this money off. We are already having to get new windows (circa 12k) to bring up to date and while the property isn’t the most expensive that’s sold on that road, it certainly isn’t the cheapest and isn’t in the best condition. Needs quite a bit of renovating which we will need to pay for in addition to these unforeseen works.

Husband is thinking we should not ask for the money off.
He has a point; one link in the chain has a mortgage expiry in the next 3-4 weeks. We do want to complete.
If it fell through we aren’t sure we would get it again (either in terms of offer on ours and prices ??increasing where we are buying relative to where we are selling?)
Vendor is lovely but temperamental

WWYD?

You can ask, and they can can so if they want to.

would you still go ahead without the money off?

No harm in asking but sounds like you will stick with it regardless.

Houses need work to maintain them; the works quoted just sound like things you should expect to do every now and then, not really “stop press, this is a game changer”. Does it actually need-need new windows – our last house had frames so rotted that when it rained it came straight through round every window – or is a want-need?

Your plans to replace the windows are irrelevant, you knew that when you made your offer. It can be worth asking the seller in a diplomatic way about a reduction for the roof as it’s worse than you thought.

It’s more about how the house has been priced to start with. You say it’s not the most expensive on the road so to me the current condition has already been taken into account. You have to expect with any house or any age that there will be things that need doing. A house price isn’t for a pristine house that will never need anything doing but rather for that house in that particular state.
mid the survey had picked up subsidence or something else unexpected then that would be the time to go back and renegotiate

If it actually did need a new roof I think you would be reasonable asking for a reduction. But a few repairs are not really grounds for reducing in my opinion.Houses cost money to maintain, that's what you are taking on. If you are prepared to walk away over it then go ahead and try your luck.

I had a full survey completed on the older house that I purchased, it needed work doing to it so I asked my EA to ask the seller to reduce the asking amount to cover the work. It was hidden work that wasn't obvious when I viewed the house. I was prepared to walk away if the seller didn't compromise on the asking price. She did lower the price as she had already put an offer on a place she wanted. If you call the sellers bluff you need to be prepared to walk away otherwise you've got no weight to your request. However the sellers maybe selling now precisely because they don't want to have to fork out for all that work.

Drain plus roof repairs=£6/7K on a £500k house; no, I wouldn't chance asking for a reduction that small at this late point in proceedings with a temperamental vendor.

Things like a roof are visible and so it's condition should have been taken into account when the house was originally valued.

I think if the roof is 90 years old you risk throwing money away over the next few years by patching it up and perhaps in 10 years time a roofer will say it is beyond economic repair and you will have to replace it. I would find out the cost of a new roof and consider doing it sooner.

We did this, ended up with £1k off the price and then taking about 4-6 weeks to change the mortgage amount it was a right pain and stress for nothing really. I wouldn’t bother again!

It depends whether the prospect of money off is sufficient to jeopardise the whole chain and if it isn’t accepted, risk pissing of everyone in that chain, as well as losing the house.

No, don’t bother. The things you say need doing are fairly standard minor things, not particularly unexpected. Not worth potentially sullying the transaction imho.

Do you have a decent fixed rate mortgage offer? Will you need to reapply if the value changes?

It's a very small amount in the scale of a 500k house.

Could be worth it but if this fall's through and your new mortgage rate is much higher you might regret it.

If I'd secured a decent mortgage and this house was hard to find I wouldn't risk it. If I was a cash buyer and there are a decent number of properties that would suit my requirements then I'd ask

Is it your money you're spending?

All houses need maintenance and upkeep. If you needed to spend money replastering after you rip wallpaper off would you have enough money to do that work?

The big expenses like wi

The big expenses like windows and the roof are important to consider. I'd be interested in energy costs right now and what improvements can be made.

Ask. They may decline and then you decide what to do.

Same. They had to rush the mortgage offer through. Not worth the stress!

He has a point; one link in the chain has a mortgage expiry in the next 3-4 weeks. We do want to complete

You'd be a bit of a cow to do this to them, it may totally fuck up their ability to buy the house/any house & will ceryainly
increase their cost of the mortgage IF they can get one.

If it fell through we aren’t sure we would get it again (either in terms of offer on ours and prices ??increasing where we are buying relative to where we are selling?)

How much do you want to move?? £8k on £500k house isn't much to risk losing it & the opportunity to move.

Vendor is lovely but temperamental

Again are you prepared to lose it over £8k on a house you know needs renovation?

As another poster said, look at the cost of replacing the roof. It might be best just to bite the bullet & do that first, properly. There's only so much you can patch before it becomes uneconomical & a risk of flooding. I'd do that before windows (there a lot you can do reasonably cheaply to insulate them for this winter) or if you can afford it after the roof so the worst windows. There's not generally a huge saving getting all of them done aa opposed to half now & half later on.

get the drainage checked by a second reputable company & see where that comes in the order of importance. Again I'd see that as more important than windows, but if it can be left until spring without further issues I'd do that

At what price was the house valued in your valuation?

I never understand posts like this, you’re not buying a new build for gods sake .

The vendors aren't doing an onward purchase and our mortgage is ok (fixed, porting). We haven't had the valuation back yet - should be next week

I’d be asking for a reduction. Sellers are jacking the prices up currently on properties that aren’t worth it. My brothers just done the same thing for a roof and chimney and got £10k off. Might not sound a lot but it’s the principle.

If we got the money off it would directly free cash up (otherwise being used as deposit) for the work

I agree with this. It is really shit of you to risk those people being actually unable to buy a home. It is foolish to risk your own move. It is reasonable upkeep and not enough money to create all the chaos (much of which would be for others to bear).

We asked for a reduction in a very similar situation recently following survey. We didn't get the full amount we asked for but we did get some. They're unlikely to cancel the sale at this stage just because you asked the question.

I would just double check with your mortgage broker that it won't affect your LTV or lead them to change your interest rate. Also how long to send a new mortgage offer out.

It's totally reasonable to renegotiate following a survey, you can't necessarily tell what repairs need doing during a 30 minute viewing. And most people don't have the expertise - that's why you get a survey!