Trying To Reach Agreement On House Needing Roof Work

[mrdogcat]

Hi,

We recently put an offer for £295k on a house on the market at £310k, the vendor then came back to us saying the roof needed work (tiles I think) and the guttering and fascia needed replacing and that they'd fix all the problems without going through a survey if we paid them £305k.

Sounded a bit weird so we politely said no.

Agent then got back to us and said they'd accept the original price of £295k but we would have to fix the roof etc ourselves. More or less putting us in the same boat, albeit we will definitely have a roof to fix (that could be less than 10k) where initially it was just hearsay.

Not really sure what to do. I don't think the property is worth any more than £300k and don't want to have an offer accepted which, when a home survey has been done, reveals more work they aren't prepared to pay to get fixed or allow for a lower price.

Is this normal in the house selling world where sellers aren't prepared to fix problems with the house?

Thanks for any advise and help you can give me everyone.

[Wurzel Of Highbridge]

You could build a nice new detached house for that kind of money.

[mmt]

95% of asking and they want you to fix the roof on top. Buyers should exercise self-control and just say no in these circumstances. I'd go back with a £285 offer. If not, there is always going to be another house.

[panholio]

95% of asking and they want you to fix the roof on top. Buyers should exercise self-control and just say no in these circumstances. I'd go back with a £285 offer. If not, there is always going to be another house.

A lot of these type of statement on this site and I agree in principle.

But how do you balance that with a family and a wife who has "fallen in love" with the house? I'm finding that balance difficult at the moment.

Apologies OP this doesn't help your situation.

[montesquieu]

We got £40k off the asking just because of the state of the place. To put it right it probably cost us about £50k, £10k of that we would have spent anyway.

My view now is that houses with problems generally aren't worth paying the money for: it's cheaper to buy already sorted/with decent plumbing/boiler/in a reasonable state of repair and decor.

It's also my experience that with nicely turned out houses, the opposite applies - sellers can't recoup anything like the the money they've lavished on them.

The latter sell quicker but the work involved to get them to similar condition is not reflected in either price.

[Wurzel Of Highbridge]

We got £40k off the asking just because of the state of the place. To put it right it probably cost us about £50k, £10k of that we would have spent anyway.

My view now is that houses with problems generally aren't worth paying the money for: it's cheaper to buy already sorted/with decent plumbing/boiler/in a reasonable state of repair and decor.

It's also my experience that with nicely turned out houses, the opposite applies - sellers can't recoup anything like the the money they've lavished on them.

The latter sell quicker but the work involved to get them to similar condition is not reflected in either price.

I learnt that the hard way too after spending years of my time & lots of money 'restoring' a house. You never ge the investment back, that's why landlords etc. let their properties fall into disrepair.

After all during a bubble it's the price of the land that's high - the underlying price of the bricks, mortar, windows and insulation could be depreciating against rising land prices.

Better to buy a done up house during a slump, much better deal.

[The Knimbies who say No]

I think this is what is defined as 'maintenance'. Spending that is required to preserve the value of the house, not to be added to some tab and billed to the next person to buy it.

[renting til I die]

95% of asking and they want you to fix the roof on top. Buyers should exercise self-control and just say no in these circumstances. I'd go back with a £285 offer. If not, there is always going to be another house.

Agreed. Go back and say thanks for letting me know about the roof but that the £295k offer was made before the knowledge of the crappy roof was known. So the new offer is £285k.That's so you can fix the roof that they have so kindly made you aware of!

[renting til I die]

I learnt that the hard way too after spending years of my time & lots of money 'restoring' a house. You never ge the investment back, that's why landlords etc. let their properties fall into disrepair.

After all during a bubble it's the price of the land that's high - the underlying price of the bricks, mortar, windows and insulation could be depreciating against rising land prices.

Better to buy a done up house during a slump, much better deal.

Again, totally agree. If you were to take the hours of labour that some people pour into doing up their homes and pay a fair wage for all that work, a lot of the house price rises wouldn't even pay for the labour, yet alone the materials. Well, unless you take London, then these part time decorators would be on £100 an hour!

[renting til I die]

I think this is what is defined as 'maintenance'. Spending that is required to preserve the value of the house, not to be added to some tab and billed to the next person to buy it.

Bang nail head!

[sisyphal]

They want 98% of asking price and don't want you to have a survey done?

Sounds highly irregular to me, I'd probably turn my back on it.

But given that you're still interested, I'd forget numbers for now, you need facts. Get a builder/roofer/joiner type to look before a surveyor.

They may do it as a quote, they may give the whole house a once over for a fee (cost me £50 cash for that in the NW).

You're likely to have to get a builder in at some point anyway (surveyor will likely just give you the "Obtain quotations before legal commitment to purchase for the overhaul of the roof" cut and paste anyway, plus all the inspect timbers stuff).

Then revise your offer given what the builder has told you ... then if accepted get a surveyor.

[Wurzel Of Highbridge]

Just a thought on this one, and I don't know how applicable it is from the 10k estimate.

It might be a good oppotunity for an attic conversion if it's possible & you're getting the roof done anyway.

[renting til I die]

Just a thought on this one, and I don't know how applicable it is from the 10k estimate.

It might be a good oppotunity for an attic conversion if it's possible & you're getting the roof done anyway.

Would be looking at about £25k for an attic conversion. Of course this depends on the type of house, pitch of roof etc.

[mrdogcat]

So I asked for the quotes from the vendor. Looks like the work will cost 10k to fix and it's removing and placing the guttering, downspouts, felt, laths, and tiles with new.

I'm tempted to go 50/50 on the costs and up my offer to 5k... or do you think I should I hold firm and say 'no, I'm sticking to my original 295k offer and you need to fix the roof'.

The house has been on the market since October last year, we love the house but just don't want to pay too much... obviously.

[Wurzel Of Highbridge]

You won't regret paying an extra 5k/10k or a house, but if house price fell 20% then you would regret overpaying by £60k! If you really want the house you will regret losing it over £5k if nothing else comes along.

Failing that pick a side flip a coin, best of 5.

[19 year mortgage 8itch]

I tell you what, as you're feeling so generous, why not put an uplift clause in the contract? Then, when the value inevitably goes up, you can pay the previous owner for the honour of once living there.

[mrdogcat]

I tell you what, as you're feeling so generous, why not put an uplift clause in the contract? Then, when the value inevitably goes up, you can pay the previous owner for the honour of once living there.

Lol. So the general consensus is that we stand our ground and get her to fix the roof?

I've a friend who does roofs so I've asked if he can go around to give us/them a quote so we'll see from there.