will you renegotiate after offer accepted in my case?

[mamanminino]

the case being that, the property has been listed for three weeks but no offer until mine. asking price is £2K below the HR value. offers over 3% over HR value and was accepted right away. I did read the HR but not thoroughly (am FTB so not much familiar with the operation), now found out the report recommended central heating/hot water system be replaced as it already 18 years old. I am thinking if this is what the seller has in mind and therefore lowered the asking price? I do want to complete the transaction, and worry the vendor will pull off if I renegotiate. But given very limited budget, worry if the cost of replacing a whole central heating system would cost me fortune 😟. Should I propose that to the vendor? or should I just stick with plan and go ahead? All thoughts welcome.

would the £2k below cover the cost of replacing boiler/central heating system? If it covers it I would not bother to negotiate.

£2k would cover the boiler. Or do you mean it needs new radiators, pipework, tank? I doubt it after 18 years.

I am unsure tbh, the report repeatedly states the central heating/hot water system need to be replaced, and might not fit in with existing regulations. My offer is 4k over the asking price. Did I offer too much as i didn’t take into account of the boiler replacement?

Why did you offer over the asking price if they hadn't had any other offers?

So you had access to the report and did not read it properly and now want a reduction because you over offered? No I wouldnt want to negotiate with you under those circumstances unless I was desperate to sell.

I’m sorry to say that I do think your offer was too high.
before you make an offer it’s worth asking if there have been any others, what the position of the seller is ( how desperate to sell etc) whether there is wiggle room.

the seller may have factored in the need for the hot water system to be replaced in the price but… as a first time buyer NOT in a chain you are in a good position particularly if the seller is in a hurry so that could get you the house at a lower offer than someone else in a chain.

I would use the report to renogiate your offer. Found out what needs replacing exactly ….. you do have a little time now. Is it all the radiators and pipe work too?
that could easily be >10K.
then look at how much other properties similar to yours went for recently to see if the seller factored this in.

most people make their first offer a bit under asking price and below what their final offer will be eg if I had 500K and the house was on the market for 510 I would offer 495 as a first offer knowing that the seller will say no and then come back with 500.
Sellers usually refuse first offers knowing that there is more in the pit unless you offer asking price or over.

Also when the offer is accepting the second time ( hopefully) make as part of the offer the condition that the seller does not take further viewings . Good luck

I assume you’re in Scotland, in which case your solicitor will have discussed what offer to make? Did they not look at the home report and discuss it with you? If your offer has been accepted did you put conditions on it like further surveys? If not, then you might find it difficult to reduce your offer, given that you offered after you had access to the home report. You should talk to your solicitor for proper advice on this.
Our central heating radiators and pipe work are more than 20 years old, the boiler is new, no mention of it needing replaced on the home report (we’re in the process of selling).
It’s normal for the offers over price to be below valuation, ours was 20k below and our offer is above valuation. The flat we have bought was on at 10k below the home report valuation, we got it for the valuation in the end (it had been on the market for a while).

Much of the stuff you read on here about buying and selling refers to the English system, not the Scottish system. There is less room for negotiation in our system, it doesn’t matter so much if people are in chains because dates are fixed early in the process (offers come with completion dates attached) and the valuation report is supplied by the vendor and available to all viewers.

Because I read so many threads that offers over need at least 5-10% above hr value, I offered base on offers over asking price. Prior to that I had offered to another property and my solicitor said normal case to offer over 10% to be accepted. So for the current offer I took the risk to just go slightly over hr value. In any event, I do want to go ahead with this purchase but want to assess how much will it cost me fir the system be replaced? Can I just go ahead with the use without replacing?

my solicitor didn’t go through the hr with me? Or they have to?
the property is already in vacant possession, i can accommodate vendor’s timeline for quick completion, ftb, first one to make offer, inexperienced one of course.

I will discuss with my solicitor and seek his advice today.

When we bought my solicitor went through the home report herself then we had a call to discuss various issues. She then got back to the surveyor for clarification on some things (flammable materials on balconies) before we offered. Both of us had been through the home report carefully before we discussed it, it’s important to do this because it is the basis of your offer and the offer is quickly set in stone in Scotland. Is the heating flagged as a 3 in the home report?

Scottish system is different and I believe the offer price is binding given that you had access to the report prior to offer.
Wrt heating, in the 3 houses I've bought, 2 had boilers less than 10 years old which had to be replaced within 12 months of purchase when they broke down, 1 had an ancient floor based boiler which was probably as old as the house (c25 years) and worked perfectly for the 5 years we were there. Radiators in my house are at least 20 years old, probably a lot more, and while I'd like to replace them for aesthetic reasons they don't need it, radiators in general are pretty hard wearing in my experience.
Pre pandemic, standard combi boiler used to be around 2.5-3k supplied and fitted, no idea what they cost now though

So you don’t want to withdraw from the process, you want to reduce your offer based in the HR?

OK let me explain. What you read in the HR is normal for a CH that’s 18 years old . Was it a 3 on the HR or a 2? What type of boiler was it and is there a maintenance / servicing contract in place ? A boiler that has been serviced will last longer.

How big is the property and is gas / electric / oil ? Did the radiators seem rusty or damaged ?

You are VERY unlikely to be able to negotiate here because you CBA to read the HR properly. I assume you have a qualified acceptance and no doubt your solicitor has started on the conveyancing.

There is really no procedure for negotiation on the price. All you can do is withdraw your offer and make another one. Which they will almost certainly reject because you are showing you are an unreliable purchaser who will no doubt mess them around again.

Although there will be no legal or financial penalty ( I’m assuming missives aren’t concluded ), you will piss off your solicitor and the estate agent too.

So only withdraw your offer if you are sure you don’t want this property.

And stop taking advice on home buying from people on MN who live in another country with a different legal system.

@HidingFromDD

Scottish system is different and I believe the offer price is binding given that you had access to the report prior to offer

You are correct that the system is totally different buy the offer is not binding until missives have been concluded. If you pull out after this stage, the seller can sue you for any losses.

Although in a very hot market ( like nearly all of Scotland right now ), the seller may not make a loss because they might sell to someone else who will pay enough of an increased price to cover their losses.

Is the heating listed as a 2 or a 3? To be honest your offer over of 3% seems like a good deal in the current market in Scotland - obviously with caveats that I don’t know exactly where you are buying

thx for all input and thoughts. by all means I want to complete the deal but as said ftb everything first time...

yes the purchase in Scotland and it is listed 2 in HR. No service as stated in the questionnaire for past 18 years. It is a gas fired back boiler heating system.

It's really unlikely you'll be able to renegotiate now, given the Scottish system, as had been said above. So pull out or carry on really.

The asking price is irrelevant, it isn't the same as England when the asking price indicates how much the vendor actually wants. In fact houses are often listed at below HR value in Scotland as it stimulates interest. Ours was, and it's all 1s in the HR, and we paid well over the valuation in the report. And remember, the valuation in the HR takes the condition of the property, including the boiler, into account.

I'm surprised you didn't spend more time on the HR. That should have been the thing you did before booking a viewing. As a first time buyer, it's important to understand the whole process to avoid costly mistakes. Hopefully a lesson learned for any future purchases.

If you are in Scotland and have had an offer accepted with no conditions then you try to lower the price the solicitor should refuse to do this on your behalf as it's gazundering, and they can get in trouble for engaging in it. If a survey was a condition then you can get a quote from a heating installer for the required work and negotiate based on that, I believe, but not based on the HR you already had access to prior to putting in the offer. No legal experience here - just life experience from a similar situation!

FYI any amount you offer above the HR value will need to come out of your own pocket as the mortgage loan to value amount is based on HR, not the asking price or your offer. E.g. if the house is worth £100k on the home report and you have been offered a 90% LTV, but you offered £104k, you need to pay the £10k deposit for the mortgage + the £4k over asking so £14k total (plus your fees).

The value in the Home Report factors in the work on the boiler.

No service for 18 years probably means the person selling has no records.

You are overthinking this. I replacement boiler is £2-4K depending, and your property will probably have gone up that much in value by the time you take possession.
But without any other offers you may well have offered too much (in that you may have got it for less). I don't know what the HR is nor am I familiar with the Scottish system in any detail. But I wouldn't be stressing about a couple grand in the overall scheme of things and you say you love the property.
And next time read the damn report!

Back boilers are pretty old now and hard to get parts for , so you would want to replace it with a combi. You’d need a boiler, flu, some new pipework, thermostat.
The radiators are probably the same age and maybe don’t have TRvs.

Do you have £3 -4 K ish to pay for this work ? I’m only guessing of course as you didn’t say how big the property is or the type.

So if you don’t have any spare cash ( you mention a very limited budget) then it’s maybe not the property for you.

If you are going to pull out you need to do so asap and let the owner get it back on the market and stop your solicitor doing any more work on it. Speak to your solicitor today and get her advice.

And don’t offer again until you have read the HR properly, viewed the house carefully and got an estimate for any works that needs done from someone who knows more about it.

As you don’t have much experience you perhaps want to look at houses that need less work done?