Would you ask for £10k off?

[radbadger]

We've had an offer accepted on a house we're looking to buy. We got a full survey and the report came back with a list of recommended remedial works estimated to cost c. £10k incl VAT.

I can't quite tell how serious the issues are but from my untrained eye it kind of sounds like recommended but not absolutely crucial works, certainly no major structural issues. E.g. the things include a small bit of damp from water penetration where some repointing needs doing around a window; installing a grate on the ground level so it's properly ventilated; repairing some cracked bricks and pointing from natural shifting (which could have been there for decades). It's a 100yo house so I would be surprised if nothing of this sort was detected. There is a list of about 12 recommended things along this vein and the report estimates fixing it would cost c. £10k including VAT

We got the house under asking. We were happy with the price and we think it's a good one but it was at the very top end of what we were prepared to offer and I think we were the only proceedable offer they received.

So I'm not sure what is usual to do in this situation? Would you ask for ££ off? I don't want to take the piss but then again I don't want to not ask for a further discount that a reasonable buyer would ask for.. so basically just trying to work out what a reasonable buyer would do in this situation?

These are the type of repairs you could expect in a 100 year old house that has not been priced at a premium for being newly renovated. None of these sound urgent or significant on their own and are ongoing maintenance issues that are likely to have been reflected by the state of the property unless the property looked pristine and these issues were hidden.

I definitely wouldn't ask for the full £10k. If none of the things are urgent (the water penetration might be) and as expected in a 100 year old house I don't think I'd bother.

I wouldn't be impressed. The norm around asking for a reduction is some serious fault. You can try but they might have someone else in the offing to purchase

I would imagine it was priced with this work in mind. You have already got it under asking price.

You could try a lower offer but expect to piss them off.

Absolutely ask for money off. Why wouldn’t you? It’s a transaction and you need to negotiate. If the house is in a a popular location and was in demand, then the vendor may pull out. But if the demand is average, then the vendor will need to reduce the price a bit.

Agree with ChateauMargaux. You already have it for less than asking price, I don't think I would push my luck asking the vendors to pay for the work.

Ok thanks for the replies... this was kind of what I thought as well but I just wanted to sense check that I wasn't going to ask for something most people would (eg if we end up on selling it in a few years and end up getting asked for it off ourselves)

Normally you would ask for the cost of urgent work off assuming that had not already been factored in. Then often you agree to half each.

Things which are nice to have / future work you don't normally ask for a discount for as you expect ongoing maintenance in a house.

So you might ask for a discount for things like damp, problems with a roof, unsupported ceiling - things which are urgent and should ideally have been done before. Not things like the boiler is 10 years old and will need replacing in another 5.

There's also the chance we can sneak a completion through before March 31 which would save us stamp duty (if it's not extended) so I don't want to risk losing that

We knocked a further £2k off our house when we bought after the survey. From memory there was approx £5-6k worth of work to be done but only part of it needed immediate attention. Like you a 100 year old terrace we had already got under asking price. I think we could have got more off if we pushed as the house had been sat empty for at least 6 months.

Maybe see what needs the most attention and say it’s going to cost x to fix this as soon as we move so want to reduce the offer.

What about half the cost of the remedial works?
You’re in a good position being the only proceedable buyer, and they wouldn’t have accepted your offer if they weren’t happy to. It’s a transaction, they aren’t doing you a favour. Though if it’s stuff you knew about before the survey then I agree with the others that it was probably priced to reflect that.

I offered on a house (a little under asking price, but I was chain free) and the survey showed up several problems, the main one being issues with the roof which I’d have never known about otherwise. I asked for half the (average) cost of fixing the roof and they agreed.

It comes down to the house value with all the work done VS how much it will cost to do the work. If you offered under, and that price is a fair reflection of the house value in its current condition, then I wouldn’t ask for more money off.

We had an offer accepted £25k under asking. Basing our offer on a complete refurb costing £50k, house would be worth £25k more than their asking price with the work done and a fully modernised interior. Survey came back with some unforeseen issues with the roof, it needs totally replacing and is immediate work. This was not something we could have seen for ourselves on viewing the house, so we asked for further money off and the seller met us in the middle.

I tend towards the view that if a property has been fairly priced for its apparent condition, then I would only expect to negotiate (on either side of the transaction) if the survey revealed something large and unexpected. You can give it a try, I suppose, but if I were the vendor I'd probably bat back that this kind of thing was reflected in the original asking price.