What is reasonable? Survey has come back and work needs to be done.

[BoysRule]

We just had a survey done on a house we had an offer accepted on. It came back that the roof needs recovering as it was not covered correctly when the extension was done.

We got a quote and have forwarded this to the seller. They have yet to come back to us. What is reasonable to ask them to do - take the cost off the price of the house? Do the work themselves and provide receipts? Nothing? Obviously they would run the risk of us pulling out and another buyer asking for the same. We are in an area where the market is very buoyant and there are lots of buyers.

Thanks

When I asked for money off previously I was turned down so sucked it up, it stopped me asking for money off again.

It is best for you to get them to do the work so they are inconvenienced not you.

If they knew about a possible problem, the house could have been valued to reflect this. I'd offer to meet half way and see how it goes.

It would depend for me on how big a job is was / how much it would cost and also how much in relation to cost of the house.
Is it a dealbreaker?
If they do nothing, would you not want the house?

Well, are you prepared to absorb any of the cost yourself? If they reduce the price of the house, will your mortgage lender advance the money to put it right? If the answer to both questions is no, you ask them to fix it themselves. They are within their rights to say no, and you are within your rights to withdraw.

You have to balance how much you want the house, and how much you've already invested (cost of survey) against these increases in the cost of the house. House price negotiations are always a game of poker, and in this kind of market, the seller holds a pretty good hand. You could open by asking them to drop the whole amount, with a view to softening to meet them halfway.

Depends if they've dropped the price already or accepted an offer which was below what they wanted / valued house at. If for instance house was up for instance£200k, you offered £190k and price of works is £5k, I expect they'll say no.

I would rather have the money off and get it done myself that way I can pick who does the work and its done to my standards whereas if you get them to do it they might get someone to botch it up to get a sale.

We've had this issue in the past and negotiated to both meeting halfway.

(and I agree with Peggy - do it yourself rather than getting the seller to do it)

I think it all comes down to the valuation value. Was it lower than what you agreed to pay because of this work? Or is it still the same or higher?

We managed to get a price reduction once because of the valuation when work was recommended. But that was when the market had just started going down.

We had something come up on a survey and got a quote for remedial work - we asked for full price off and ended up getting two thirds off.

Firstly, work out whether you can afford to do the roof if they refuse to negotiate. And, whether you would want to.
You say you live in a popular area, so you may have beaten several people to secure this property.......so at what point would it be worth walking?

Once you are sure of your own minds, you are in a much better position to play hard ball. This is major work (some people will try to negotiate over very minor things) so it is very reasonable to expect a further drop to accommodate the cost.
I would expect that the vendors will come back to you shortly with a figure, but bear in mind that if they are also buying and have chosen their next property based on the sale price of this one then there may not be much room for them to manoeuvre.......its not always just "being difficult"
If you would like more, bat it back once.
If an offer seems fair, accept.
If you don't really mind if the sale does fall through, then argue it all the way. You may get the whole amount.