Wwyd- first viewings on Sunday and boiler is broken

[Mortgagedilemma]

So house went up for sale this week. First viewings booked for Sunday.

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.

Is your house 'done' or being sold for renovation/improvement? If it's 'done' then I think you should replace the boiler as it will put off buyers. If it's for renovation and they're likely to rip it all out anyway then maybe just patch it up.

It's done ish.

If I was moving in I would replace the kitchen, but the rest is done.

It's a tricky one. You can't have people looking round a cold house in January. It would put me off straight away.

Even if you sold your house quickly it will be several weeks before you move so you would still need to have heating and hot water. You just have to decide how much you want to spend.

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

Replace. Honestly, even if £300 solves things this time, how long until the next thing?

Replace the boiler. It will be a great selling point if your buyers have any sense.

Thanks everyone for your input. Looks like I should just bite the bullet and replace it!!

We had this with our own boiler, it limped on for months but British Gas Homecare crew were a ever visiting presence in our home

We just wanted to get it to summer when we were planning to replace the boiler anyway.

I would bite the bullet and replace it now.

I'd replace it as it is a really big selling point. Get two other quotes though. Isn't that expensive? I thought a whole new system with pipes and rads is not much over £3k?

As for Sunday, get electric heaters and hide them in the garage when viewers arrive!

It could take months to sell, even if you got an offer immediately it would still be a couple of months before you're out, I'd replace it.

I'd replace. Once your house is under offer, if the buyers have any sense at all they will organise a gas/boiler inspection, and I would be unimpressed if I was buying a house with a boiler on its absolute last legs - I'd either reduce my offer accordingly or just walk away entirely depending on how things had gone elsewhere in the process.

That being said, I would replace with the cheapest option available. It's what the people did before we bought the house I'm in now, and I can't say I blame them.

It would be a selling point to have a brand new boiler, and it would come up in any surveys if it was knackered anyway

Replace it.
I know someone who bought a house and on move in day had no hot water. Boiler valve needed replacing with all manner of other things.
The bill was sent to the solicitor of the vendor as she had signed to say that everything was in working order.
Should the boiler fail in move in day, you'd be sent a bill for repair/replacement anyway.

I'm just going to have to bite the bullet aren't I .