Issues found in building inspection

[ptrixs]

Hi everyone,

I've just had a building inspection done on a property that we are purchasing. There were minor issues found but there are 4 things that concerned me.
1. Shower leaks into bathroom through tiles
2. Some roof tiles were found to be slighly lifted where there are some water splash mark inside roof
3. Hot water tank is close to reaching it life time expectancy and may need replacing soon.
4. Oven cooktop exhaust fan doesn't work.

I've already negotiated 9K of orginal purchase price at the time of exchange. Is it possible to now ask for further reduction in the price since the above will cost me some $$ to fix or these things are normally acceptable due to the purchase of an older house (25 years old)

[Simon]

It is quite possible to ask for as much off as you like.

Whether the vendor is willing to negotiate further is another matter.

I think I would try to negotiate further if I thought there might be room to move - esp if you are confident there wont be another higher offer in the meantime.

All the best,

[Sunstone]

Dear Ptrixs,

Yes Simon is right you can always ask for a discount.

But if the negotiation did not go the way you wanted it to I would consider these items relatively minor issues. If it was a good deal originally, then these items would not significantly change that.

Enjoy the journey.

Cheers,

Sunstone.

[geoffw]

Shower leaks can be damaging- they could be leaking into a walp as well. For that, I'd try to negotiaite a retile (or re enamel) of the shower area.

The other items I would not have thought of as negotiable items. Talk with the inspector. (try to negotiate, but don't expect anything!)

I'd wait for the hot water to expire before I actually replaced it. They can often last a lot longer than their expected life. But budget for it.

[skater]

Geoff is right, the only area of concern would be the shower. I'd ask the building inspector for a quote to fix this & then try & negotiate. I had a similar problem on a building, the inspector gave me a quote of $10k to fix. I dropped my offer by $10k and told the Real Estate Agent the vendor could contact the inspector for the details. They agreed, then after settlement I got a plumber out to do the work & it only cost me $500. :)

[harrywyborn]

The shower is the only major concern. Just make sure you get it properly wet sealed as well. Dont just retile again other wise you will have the same problem again.

[Jacque]

Having shelled out $4000 to replace my "leaking" shower (do a search on these two words and read away!) early this year, I would advise taking a closer look at the problem. Megasealing is, in most cases, a short term bandaid solution and can sometimes mask bigger and more expensive problems. This shouldn't prevent you from buying the property, but just be aware that water damage can be costly.
Happy negotiating!

[Gee Cee]

Well Only after a day with the babies a few years back :p

As mentioned by everyone else most of the mentioned problems are quite minor. A whole new rangehood will only cost a few hundred dollars. Hot water syatem up to around $1000 depennding on size.

But leaking shower can be a real expensive repair.If the home is on piers and joists has the inspector looked under the house. A expensive problem can be if the leak has existed for many years. The timbers , joists etc may be rotted through and require replacing. I had the same problem in my own home.
In the end I gutted the shower completely. Replaced the wall studs and bottom plates that had rotted out. as well as joist timbers below. Had the base wet sealed proffesionally and re-fitted the shower. Just make sure before you do all this where the actual leak is coming from. You would not want to do all this and then find the leak was coming from behind the wall and caused by a leaking tap :eek:

Gee Cee

[ptrixs]

The inspector told me that we could do the megasealing as an interim solution. The problem is basically that water is going though the tiles into the bathroom floor. The only damege so far is that there is water damage at the door frame. The house is also built on a concrete slab.