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Property/DIY

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Original poster

Advice on House Purchase Please!

25 replies

TwentyThousandWoks · 30/07/2018 10:43

Hi All, We are going through a house purchase at the moment, for what we're hoping will be our 'forever' home. We love the house, and the area, but it's very much a project house. We anticipated this and offered accordingly, but the one thing we had not anticipated was to have to replace the boiler, as it was only installed two years ago. Unfortunately it has since come out that the entire heating system including all pipes and radiators need replacing, as the pipes are 'micro-bore' and have a build up of sludge which has meant the boiler is warped and leaking, as well as a number of radiators.

We are devastated as the cost of this is estimated to be £11,000 as well as the fact that it is not safe to live in until this work is done (it's currently empty). We don't have this money up front, so will need to include this in the mortgage and will also need to find other accommodation whilst the work is being done.

We still love the property, so - in your experiences, would it be fair to ask for this additional cost off of the purchase price, or if only some of it how much is fair? And how would you go about 'negotiating'? Just FYI, the other tests have come back with maintenance costs at around £4,000, but we're happy to cover this, as we had expected some works, plus these can be done whilst we are living there (drain & roof).

TIA!

OP posts:

Melliegrantfirstlady · 30/07/2018 10:48

If you have had a quotation and it has came in at 11k then get onto the estate agent. They won’t want to lose the sale so they can negotiate with the owners on your behalf

Original poster

TwentyThousandWoks · 30/07/2018 10:51

Thanks Mellie, that's what I thought - my only worry is that it was quite popular and we had someone else bidding against us, but DH thinks they're more likely to want to go with us as we're more 'guaranteed' and have already got this far.... would you tend to agree? I'm just really worried we'll lose the house!

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PickAChew · 30/07/2018 10:55

Anyone else bidding would come up against the same problem.

AnotherCrazyDaisy · 30/07/2018 11:12

Had they disclosed about the additional work necessary and priced the house accordingly? If not you can negotiate. See how much property in the area and surroundings are selling for. Unless it is bought at auction usually bids are based on 'pending the findings of a survey' so there is room to negotiate. The sale is not final until the vendor (seller) has signed on the dotted line ** so legally you can still walk away. You may love the property but be realistic. This house sounds like a money pit and it will break your heart if your budget is already stretched. Another point worth considering is: will you be able to get it insured and in the event of a claim would the insurance be valid if it is going to be unoccupied?
**Disclaimer: I am not legally qualified

Original poster

TwentyThousandWoks · 30/07/2018 11:31

Thanks both, I did think that anyone else would just find the same issues. It wasn't disclosed and it's the one thing we hadn't expected as the boiler was quite new - so we have sent a lengthy email to the estate agents with reports and pictures attached and asked for a renegotiated price... fingers crossed!! We really do love it :(

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catsbeensickagain · 30/07/2018 11:33

Perhaps worth a second opinion. We bought a house and discovered this problem afterwards. A really good firm removed every radiator and flushed them with a huge pump, then fitted a magnetic collector to the system to take out the rest of the sludge over time. The boiler was repaired and we just empty the collector once per year. Total cost £1200

shirleyschmidt · 30/07/2018 11:49

Ugh that is a massive bummer! 😩 Definitely get a second opinion, just for the sake of covering your bases. But if you feel the house is the best prospect out there for you then walking away over the heating would be a shame, as you could have moved in and THEN it went to hell, and there'd be no recourse. You just can't predict these things.

If you had known from the start that the boiler was knackered would it have stopped you wanting to offer on the house? If it's going to be your forever home, then try and look at it as investing in something brand new which (should!) last a good few years.

That said, it is more than fair to ask for a reduction, even if it's just to meet you in the middle. If the listing advertised GCH, but really it needs a total overhaul just to be habitable then you (and anyone else) would have factored that in to any offers. Am assuming you're not already paying a massively knocked down price!

Other buyers may or may not pick up the issue before completion, but you are already some way down the process so the sellers will probably be keen to keep things moving. Good luck!

Original poster

TwentyThousandWoks · 30/07/2018 12:24

Thanks Cats, will definitely be getting a second opinion! The guy did say that due to the micro-bore pipes there was no way of getting the sludge out... but he may have been winging it to get more money out of us!

Shirley, that's a great point. I think we would have still offered, but would have made a lower offer. We did get money off of the asking price, but that was based on all the work that we thought we'd need to do, and hadn't factored in the heating system costs. I think we'd have definitely offered less if we'd have known!

Thank you for all your help

OP posts:

Spicylolly · 30/07/2018 13:45

Definitely get a second opinion, when we had to put in a whole central heating system from scratch it was only 4 grand so that does seem a lot to me.

user1471530109 · 30/07/2018 13:50

Microbore is crap stuff according to my plumber mate. But I've had it in previous house for over 10 years with no problems. I inherited it. I replaced the boiler 5 years before I moved and still no problem.

I'd get a second opinion.

Vitalogy · 30/07/2018 13:55

Is it definitely a no go living there while the work is being done?

catsbeensickagain · 30/07/2018 15:28

I think it might depend what the sludge is. Ours was gunk mixed with iron from where air had got into the system so it was magnetic and the collector worked. However you could only get gunk in an open system so fingers crossed. This was the first thing our plumber tried, if it had failed we were going to locate the major pipe junctions under the floor and blast those with the pump, thankfully didn’t have to!

elfofftheshelf · 30/07/2018 15:42

Get a second option as others have said. Also, if the house is already vacant, would the vendors be willing to allow you to have the works done between exchange and completion? You'd need to find the money to do them, but this could be time (and money) saving in the long run. We did this once when we found damp in a property (renegotiated the price, and asked to do the work after we'd exchanged). Might be worth a try if you can get the price right and play around with your funding.

Magstermay · 30/07/2018 18:17

I would definitely look at renegotiating. I imagine they were keen to point out the new boiler?

Another thought is whether you could get a mortgage if the house is not inhabitable?

namechangedtoday15 · 30/07/2018 20:26

If I were the seller, I wouldn't be dropping the price based on one quotation. That (£11k) sounds a bit ridiculous to be honest.

Also who picked up the boiler wasn't working? If it was the surveyor, did they say it needed replacing immediately (i.e. its not working at all - no heating or hot water) and what was the overall value of the house (i.e. did the surveyor say even with all the works required, the house was still worth the figure you've offered)?

Doje · 30/07/2018 20:31

Get a second quotation, and then tell the seller you either want £15k off the price (to account for new boiler / work and living costs while it happens), or they fix it before you go exchange (make sure you get it checked after they've fixed it).

Original poster

TwentyThousandWoks · 31/07/2018 16:04

Thanks all, some really useful advice here!! The faulty boiler was found during a gas safety test which was recommended as a result of the survey, the Gas Safe engineer has condemned the boiler, and the test includes pics showing the warping and leakage. We have sent all of this onto the Estate Agent, and not mentioned a renegotiated price, just waiting to see what they come back with.

Have sent the test results off to a few other engineers on checkatrade to get some quotes, so hopefully it will come back a lot cheaper!

I hadn't actually thought about that Elf, that's a great shout! Discussed with DH and he said we'll keep it in our back pocket - so if they come back and say we'll meet you halfway and knock £6k off, we could potentially agree to it and say, but we'll want to get the works done before moving in....

God, I thought it was all going so well as well

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JT05 · 31/07/2018 17:12

Do try and get money off the purchase price. We bought a house with microbore CH. it was useless, old boiler still worked but gave out no heat.
We’ve just had the whole system, rads, boiler etc replaced by BG at £2000 cheaper than your quote, the price they quote is what you pay. No extras. They did it in 3 days and we’re immaculately tidy.

Original poster

TwentyThousandWoks · 31/07/2018 17:50

That's really interesting JT05! How did you get the quote from them if you don't mind me asking? And where you with them at the time? We're currently with EDF who are a bit meh but fine... worth asking them as well do you think?

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JT05 · 01/08/2018 08:42

Hi again. We rang BG sales, phone no on website. They sent a surveyor engineer who talked us through what we wanted and the best way of achieving it. There was absolutely no pressure. They then sent us an e mail with a full detailed schedule and fixed price.
We had another quote from a highly recommended Heating Company, their quote was very similar, but had some ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’ in it and we felt the cost would rise, by the end.
There were a few unexpected bits during the installation to do with the house, but all were sorted with no fuss or extra cost.
Also, of course everything has a long guarantee.
I know they’re not the cheapest, but we’ve had BG do 3 complete installations ( always buying houses with rubbish CH) , we are fussy about heat and energy use and have never had a problem.

Original poster

TwentyThousandWoks · 01/08/2018 16:00

Ok fab, thank you very much! Have had an email back from the estate agent saying they are 'speaking to the owners but i'm sure we can work it out'.... makes me feel a bit better as I was worried they'd just turn around and say get lost!

OP posts:

Dickybow321 · 04/08/2018 10:00

Any update, OP?

Original poster

TwentyThousandWoks · 04/08/2018 11:01

Hey! Yes a really good update (I think!) they've agreed to knock £7.5k off the price soooo happy as our mortgage lenders have agreed to keep the same offer with the additional 7.5k as an 'allowance' (not sure I really understand but our solicitor understands at least haha!) really happy as I had thought we were going to have to give it up!

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MessySurfaces · 04/08/2018 20:22

Brilliant! Push for getting the work done between exchange and completion, it will make life SOOOO much easier! You can paint and do floors at the same time, if that's your plan...

Original poster

TwentyThousandWoks · 05/08/2018 10:41

Yes we are hoping to do that! Fingers crossed! So relieved!!

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