Conditions with offer

Suspicious Dave

Hi,

I've been making offers on a property for the last couple of weeks, back and forth to EA with another bidder (so haven't stated any conditions of my offer). EA just told me that the other bidder isn't going to make another offer so my last offer is with the seller. The house isn't in great condition, old/broken furniture, rubbish in garden, old broken shed, filthy carpets, blocked drains, mould on bathroom roof/wall. Should I just say now to EA that my offer is conditional of these things being removed or should arrangements be made for these after they've accepted my offer?

Henry Ford III

Having made the offer, it's likely that seeking to retrospectively include conditions will jeopardise your position.

TwoShedsJackson

And be prepared for them to say they'll do all that stuff and then find it all still there when you get the keys, they will figure what can you do?

sarkozy

In my experience, you make an offer on the house - essentially, you 'see through' all that muck to see your 'dream home'. You base your offer on what you feel its worth (you're strongly advised even before making an offer on a house to have an architect or someone like that see the place).

When you have your offer accepted and you put your booking deposit down, it's worth mentioning to the EA the state you'd like the place in when (if) you obtain it.

When you get to the necessary stage, your solicitor should ask you what state you want to receive the house in. At this point, you can specify things like: rear yard/garden cleared out, all furniture/effects removed, carpets removed - typically this will not include fixed units, but can include free-standing kitchen units/appliances.

If this is wrong, others can correct me, but this is what we've done (though we're yet to close).

housetypeb

It seems to me that you are buying a fixer upper and so what you see is what you get,your bid should reflect that fact. I wouldn't be making conditions in such a case.

sarkozy

Yes, you offer what you think it's worth, and for a fixer-upper, you need to get a ballpark figure for what it would cost to do that on top of the purchase price. Then you'll know if it's truly worth it by comparing houses for sale in the same area that have fairly recently been done up.