Hello
we would love some advice on price negotiations for a house we are in the process of buying.
the house is a semi in a desirable Oxfordshire village.
Offer accepted £600k (full asking price). We were the first to see it, then they had two viewings and condition of our offer was it as taken off the market.
the house needs a lot of modernisation as it hasn’t been updated for about 50 years. The gentleman who was living there has gone into care and half the house is owned by his late wife’s estate (1st marriage) so there are two separate families involved; one side will get half the sale proceeds (to be divided between two children) and the other half will be used for the gentleman’s care home fees.
we could see when we viewed we needed a full survey so that’s what we got (level 3 RICS).
The survey split issues into three parts 1) minor 2) needs looking at but not immediate and 3) serious immediate issues.
the surveyor suggested we get additional reports from various professionals (electrician, structural engineer, roofer, damp, asbestos inspector etc). We have not got all the additional reports (and paid over 1.5k for them).
just concentrating on the level 3 issues, the additional reports/surveys and quotes have said there is 75k worth of repairs needed (not renovations, just repairs to make it safe and compliant with regs). We were a bit shocked but it needs a whole new roof for example which is the majority of the above sum. It need a whole new rewire and asbestos removal which is surprisingly expensive.
so now we need to go back to the agent and negotiate. We really do want the house. If the work was done we couldn’t afford a house in the villiage but, that said the work required to make it safe is extensive and expensive.
anyone else buying it will find the same issues and we are only concentrating on the most serious issues in the survey. We have used the agents preferred surveyor and only sought quotes from trades he or the agent recommended.
i should also state my DH is quite handy with DIY and has renovated houses before so we are not as put off as other buyers may be. It would be our forever home (maybe) and we are in our late 30s so have time. We would have to remortgage in a couple of years to do the major works and would make good until then.
we are in rented after selling out house so we are good buyers they hopefully don’t want to lose.
so, thanks for reading this far…..what would you ask for discount wise given the quotes and survey results?
we were thinking all of it less the VAT, so 80% of the quotes. Will they laugh at us? Is that too cheeky?!?
any advice on how much to ask for or how to praise it would be so appreciated.
house buying is so stressful!!!