Purchaser requesting a few 'changes'

mathie

Hi
Would it be unusual for a purchaser to request a few 'changes' (fixes like painting house, replacing broken roof tiles etc) to a property to the tune of a few grand before signing contracts?
It's a private sale of a second hand house.
Thanks
m

Dirk Gently

You can request it alright if you want. I was going to do the same after the building survey but he agreed to drop the price some more instead which worked out better as there was nothing urgent needing to be done. Building surveys are a great bargaining tool, they make mountains out of mole hills.

I talked with my solicitor before deciding and there is an option there to make the requests of the seller if you feel you need to. Once both sides agree to all the conditions then you sign. I was happier agreeing a price though and looking after the repairs myself over time.

3DataModem

Not unusual to request it.

I think its a bit sneaky to wait until after the offer is accepted and contracts are drafted to make these stipulations.

If the 'few grand' is worth it to sell the house, then agree. If the 'few grand' is not, then refuse.

It is entirely up to you to agree with any conditions in the contract.

Dymo

people now are even requesting that boilers be serviced before signing, its a buyers market and Irish people like other country's can be very demanding when they have you in a tight spot.

Jo King

Whatever about servicing a boiler, what happens if the purchaser pulls out after the work is done and before signing the contract?

Dirk Gently

Jo King wrote: »

Whatever about servicing a boiler, what happens if the purchaser pulls out after the work is done and before signing the contract?

assuming the contract is worded properly the sale would be on the condition that work is carried out within a deadline before draw down of the loan. failure to meet the condition will make the contract void or inflict penalty.

It all depends on the wording agreed by the 2 solicitors but the contract will be signed based on conditions being met. The sellers solicitor might insert a clause that should the work be carried out and the buyer then pulls out that the buyer would then be responsible for covering the costs of requested repairs carried out by the seller.

There are a lot of requests made by each side to add or remove certain parts of the contract before signing.

Mary Hairy

clown bag wrote: »

assuming the contract is worded properly the sale would be on the condition that work is carried out within a deadline before draw down of the loan. failure to meet the condition will make the contract void or inflict penalty.

It all depends on the wording agreed by the 2 solicitors but the contract will be signed based on conditions being met. The sellers solicitor might insert a clause that should the work be carried out and the buyer then pulls out that the buyer would then be responsible for covering the costs of requested repairs carried out by the seller.

There are a lot of requests made by each side to add or remove certain parts of the contract before signing.

The o/p is raising an issue of buyers seeking works to be carried out before signing a contract. It does not matter what the wording of it is if it is not signed.

Tigger

wait till buyers start asking for 10 grand off at the last minute

crabfeet

Tigger wrote: »

wait till buyers start asking for 10 grand off at the last minute

A process known as gazundering.

ntlbell

I don't really know why people bother doing this.

if there's xk amount of work needed why they don't just deduct this from the offer?

Ronald Sherrif

Many will be borrowing a percentage of the purchase price. If the price comes down, the mortgage goes down in proportion, leaving no money to do the work. Many FTBs are not experienced at organising work to be done either and don't want the hassle of getting work done.

Victor

Its probably a lot easier and less messy to agree an amount to come off the offer price. That is the route I'd take.

What if you paint the house in the "wrong" colour white? What if the roof repair isn't to their satisfation? Who pays?

While the roof repair might be a legitimate issue, I would tell anyone asking for painting to get real. It could take weeks, cause you severe disruption and they might pull out anyway.

Ultimately, you are after the most money for the least pain. You don't care whether its €X for painting or €Y for the roof and €Z for the house. Its the cheque you get. Just make sure you get it.

Ronald Sherrif wrote: »

Many will be borrowing a percentage of the purchase price. If the price comes down, the mortgage goes down in proportion, leaving no money to do the work.

Banks tend to facilitate such improvement costs. Although I don't know their attitude in the current market.

crabfeet

Victor wrote: »

Banks tend to facilitate such improvement costs. Although I don't know their attitude in the current market.

You obviously haven't approached a bank for finance in the last 2 years. Banks don't want to know about refurbishment costs going on to the mortgage.

FoxT

Purchasers are in a sticky situation as well. They make a bid, auctioneer comes back with ' we have a higher offer' and purchaser has no way of determining if the higher offer is real or imaginary.
Purchasers will (and should) therefore push for any leeway they can get. As far as I know ( but I am not a legal person) , both purchaser & seller have a lot of leeway to push/negotiate until contracts are signed.

- FoxT

pow wow

It was (and might still be?) quite popular in the UK - I had to do it when I sold my house in England. From a seller's perspective it's usually more economical to do the work themselves as negotiating the x amount off the price is very difficult to do. Very often buyers will have no concept of how much works will cost and pluck exaggerated figures out of the air that might be twice what the actual works cost the seller to do.

If their 'demands' are reasonable I'd bow to them, particularly in the current climate. However if you haven't the time or inclination, a price reduction might suit everyone. I think asking you to paint the house is a bit much though, that goes beyond remedial works to purely cosmetic works.