Should I fix boiler prior to selling house?

A

Art

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The gas boiler in a house that I am hoping to sell is totally bankjaxed and as a result the heating is not working. I had a plumber out this morning and he informed me that the whole thing would have to be replaced at a cost of €1500. I am just wondering if I should bother replacing it given the cost involved. I am aware that the surveyor will almost certainly pick this up during the course of the survey but surely this will not cause the entire sale to fall through? The rest of the house is in very good condition.
 
Are you still showing the house or is it sale-agreed?

I wouldn't bother fixing it, there's a chance that the surveyor may not run the heating system. The plumbers estimate may not be accurate so if it comes up as a major issue for the purchaser, I would offer €750 as a gesture towards resolving it.

If you're not sale-agreed and have viewings planned, is there a separate fire in the living room that you could use to warm the place up a bit before viewings?
 
Depends on where you are, how much you're looking for, etc. My gut instinct would be that it's worth doing the repair, because a buyer's perception that there are essential repairs required can have them reduce the offer price quite significantly.
 
The surveyor shouldn't have to pick this up as you should have informed the purchaser yourself.

As you haven't been honest with your purchasers, you have two choices. Knock €1500 off the final price if the purchaser agrees or get it fixed. How difficult is that to figure out?
 
whathome said:
If you're not sale-agreed and have viewings planned, is there a separate fire in the living room that you could use to warm the place up a bit before viewings?
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Are you serious??

What would you feel like if you bought a house and moved into it and the vendor hadn't told you the heating was banjaxed ?
What has this country come to. :mad:
 
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After we bought the house I got a gas company out to check the heating system and although it was working it wasn't properly installed and about 20 years old and we were advised to upgrade it as soon as possible. Cost us a good 3 grand for the new boiler and work etc... If I had known beforehand I would have asked for some money off the purchase price. Would have helped us a big deal and it's not really that much for the vendor. I would knock 2K of the purchase price, they will save a good bit of interest this way too!
 
A reasoned argument from Ballyman yet again. I think that either the surveyor or the solicitor's pre-contract questions will flag up that there's a problem with the heating. If there are similar properties for sale in your area in the same price range with no problems then you are immediately putting yourself at a disadvantage so you should either get the heating fixed or reduce the price to reflect the work that needs to be done.

Sarah

www.rea.ie
 
Ballyman said:
What would you feel like if you bought a house and moved into it and the vendor hadn't told you the heating was banjaxed ?
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It actually happened to me on the last house I bought. I had the heating fixed, no big deal. It's buyer beware on property, it's up to the purchaser to do a survey. Vendors don't make lists of everything that needs to be fixed.
 
If someone was selling an unoccupied ex-investment property and wanted to prevent a gas heating system from being tested during a survey - could they not just call the gas company and have the house disconnected prior to the survey?

I'm not suggesting this is what Art should do however!
 

Not that I would dream of doing anything like this whathome . What do you think I am like??? Is this what the country has come to??
 
Ballyman said:
Are you serious??

What would you feel like if you bought a house and moved into it and the vendor hadn't told you the heating was banjaxed ?
What has this country come to. :mad:
Click to expand...
Perhaps it's come to people not employing the old caveat emptor rule? Personally I'd probably be inclined to come clean but there is certainly no onus on the vendor to tell prospective buyers. Buyers are buying the property as seen and it's up to them to get the place surveyed.
 

I suspect they don't apply the rule when they fall in love with a place. Whatever about small things left undone or in need of repair, I'd be worried about gas central heating. Gas is an explosive substance as well as poisonous, so I'd be very worried that the new owner might blow him/herself up, thinking they just didn't know how to use the system rather than it not working.
 
liteweight said:
so I'd be very worried that the new owner might blow him/herself up
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That old trick of lighting a match to see inside the gas pipe? I wonder how many people would start to pull a gas boiler apart themselves?

It's always advisable to have a gas heating system serviced professionally when you purchase a second-hand property.
 
It would be terrible if the faulty boiler caused a spark and ignited the gas and your house burned to the ground before you could sell it. Terrible altogether. Isn't Karma great.
 

I agree it's always advisable but lots of people have a go at things themselves particularly when faced with a big bill shortly after moving. Perhaps I'm overly cautious. I was around at the time the apartment block on Serpentine Avenue collapsed due to a gas leak in the basement. No one lit a match...it was a radiographer returning from night shift on New Year's Eve, she simply turned on the light switch. Her husband was in bed and presumed unconscious by the time she came home. They were the only two in the building and of course both died. They had left their young son with a minder for the night. Better safe than sorry I say.
 
Ballyman said:
It would be terrible if the faulty boiler caused a spark and ignited the gas and your house burned to the ground before you could sell it. Terrible altogether. Isn't Karma great.
Click to expand...

Yes-let's hope those who steal broadband and evade stamp duty also experience karma.
 
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