Engineer found fault. Who has to pay?

We went sale agreed on a house 4 months ago, at the time we got an engineer to do an inspection. In his report he recommended a test be carried out. Anyway at the time I told my solicitor who said that he would put it as a condition when he got the contracts. To make a long story short we spent about 10 weeks chasing vendors for contracts and after we got the contracts we were looking for a closing date which took another couple of weeks...I had presumed that their solicitor was aware of this test etc but when we eventually went into sign contracts last week I just happen to mention it again to my Solicitor who said he had mentioned it to their solicitor at the start but had never heard anything back and with all the tooing and froing sp? with contracts and closing dates it had obviously fallen by the wayside. This wasn't much good to us obviously, but in about 24hr we had arranged for a company to go to the house and carry out the test (which we also paid for) anyway the Test showed there is a problem, which can be fixed but will cost 2.5K. Rang my Solicitor who contacted their Solicitor who proposed that they pay Half and we pay Half. Now I don't think we should have to pay any of it and also I think we could be awkward and insist that the problem be rectified before any money passes over. But instead we are willing to go ahead with the purchase and get the work done ourselves (this is going to be quite a big and messy job) I think the least they can do is give us the 2.5K off the asking? They have delayed this sale from there end for months and now they are giving out that we are delaying them, if it wasn't for all the delays from their side I doubt we would be in this position now. Anyway are we right or are we wrong to insist on the full amount??

Thanks in advance

In the grand scheme of things you are talking about €1,250.00 While this is a lot of money it is only a very small percentage of the overall cost of the property. Yes you can insist they pay it all but as it was not a condition of the contract they can equally turn around and say they wont even pay half. Take it or leave it.
Is it worth lossing this house over?

There's always stuff to do with new houses, so just because an engineer spotted it, doesn't necessarily diminish the value of the house, I would think.

It's really down to how big a deal this house is to you. Ask for the full amount if you are prepared to walk. I wouldn't think there's a 'right' or 'wrong' position in this, strictly speaking. It's more a negotiation tactic. I personally think that negotiating at the final contract stage is too late.

On balance, I'd say splitting the costs isn't a bad deal, as both parties have already sunk time and costs in to this transaction, and it's in both your interests to wrap it up and move on.

It was their fault contracts weren't sent (according to their Solicitor he was to hold off sending them) and according to my Solicitor the problem with the house was pointed out to their Solicitor back in January. They really have messed us around from beginning to end.

The way I see it is we have to get the Job done which is very inconvenient (it will involve digging up paths etc) it's not a job that can wait cos eventually it could lead to Subsidance, and we have to fork out €1,250? I know this amount doesn't seem much but with all the other expenses that go into purchasing a house it all adds up to alot. At the end of the day if the house does fall through because of this it was obviously not mean't to be. It's been a battle from start to finish with them calling the shots and we are kind of sick of it at this stage. Sorry just needed to vent

(the following is purely a speculative argument for example purposes)

Taken into account all the talks about house prices going a certain way,
let's say this house is now worth less than the sale agreed price of 4 months ago. In the mean time, report shows that repair must be carried out at cost of €2500.

In such a case, I would have no hesitation in lowering my offer by at least €2500.

But... as usual, the golden rule is to be prepared to walk away if you do not get satisfaction.

Have you signed the contracts and if so has your solicitor returned them?
Basically it boils down to whether you are prepared to loose the house over €1,500.00???

Contracts are signed but haven't been sent back because of this, also they haven't been signed by vendors yet only us. There are another 4 houses (the same) for sale in the estate with no offers on them. TBH I do think they are getting more for the house than they should be in this present climate.

BTW thanks for all your views.

They are trying to see if the builder will do it but won't be able to get onto them until Monday (builders hols this week) I don't care who does it once it done for us, there isn't anymore delays and we don't have to fork out. If the shoe was on the other foot I might see if builders could fix it too but if they couldn't/wouldn't or they could but it would delay things further then I would just lower the sale price and be done with it. If the builders can fix it but it will delay things further we have decided we are just going to pull out, we have decided to give it until next Friday and if things aren't sorted one way or the other by then we are gone. Then they can put the house back on the market with the other 4 in the estate which have no offers on them. We really can't afford anymore delays from our side, we will probably continue to sell our house and go and rent for a while, at least then we won't be under pressure when buying another house and also we will probably get the same one for cheaper. Also we will have money in the bank and the interest will probably pay the rent.

"it could lead to Subsidance".


I would walk now, or put in a lower offer by 10k at least.

Watch RTE tomorrow night at 9.30pm and then make up your mind. You are in a very strong position and if you are not happy do not buy. The people selling the house will quickly find out that it is a buyers market and the last four months may well have seen the real value fall by €5,000 - €10,000. With four other houses on the market in the same estate, I think your mad to put your money into a house where they may be structural problems. Buyers need to understand that they are in the driving seat and every month that they wait their position will get stronger.

Lower your offer to the current value of the other houses on the street, minus 2.5k or whatever it will cost you to do the work.

If the seller is prepared to lose a sale over this, in the current climate, they deserve what they get!

With 4 other houses in the same estate, why not delay the deal on your current one while you "reconsider" and put in lower offers across some/all other 4? You might even get one of the others to drop by 20 or 30k after they watch Prime Time tonight!