Final Inspection on a Unconditional Property Sale

oliman on 30/09/2017 - 19:36

First time house buyer, would really appreciate any advice

I bought a 20 year old 4 bed room house and visited for the final inspection today, and found following problems.

1) Air conditioner and dish washer were not turning on, and they were advertised as a feature of the property on the ad.
2) one of the ducted heating point was barely throwing the hot air. It was advertised that property had ducted heating.
3) Garage remote was missing (remote garage door was advertised)
4) 1 of the light dimmer was not working and other one was broken.

On our first inspection of the property, we did not checked those things in such detail as they were mostly advertised to be property features. The property agent advised me today after the final inspection send an email about those things to conveyancer so he can follow up with the vendor.

The COS had no special conditions mentioned about those problems.

This was a un-conditional sale, because i was confident about my finances being approved and building was solid was inspected few months go by someone else with no problems.

Are those problems pointed out the responsibility of the vendor to fix? Can they legally say NO on fixing those issues? The settlement is due in 3 days.

Financial

Comments

  • JimmyF on 30/09/2017 - 19:47
    +2

    we did not checked those things in such detail as they were mostly advertised to be property features

    Its sold 'as is', so if you failed to check, then…..

    1) Air conditioner and dish washer were not turning on, and they were advertised as a feature of the property on the ad.

    Does the contract say that are working items? If not. Sorry, you'll have to get them fixed post purchase

    2) one of the ducted heating point was barely throwing the hot air. It was advertised that property had ducted heating.

    and it does have ducted heating. Again, its 'sold' as is. So did you test these BEFORE putting a offer in?

    3) Garage remote was missing (remote garage door was advertised)

    Really as above, but yeah should have one. If not they are sub $50 each to buy new ones and train

    4) 1 of the light dimmer was not working and other one was broken.

    You know what I'm going to say right?

    This was a un-conditional sale, because i was confident about my finances being approved and building was solid was inspected few months go by someone else with no problems.

    Have you seen the inspection report? If not, it means nothing then!

    • oliman on 30/09/2017 - 20:23

      Does the contract need to specify all house electronics to be in 'working order'?

      If the contract does not mention any faulty electric appliances, then do we need to accept that they are faulty?

      • JimmyF on 30/09/2017 - 20:41

        If the contract does not mention any faulty electric appliances, then do we need to accept that they are faulty?

        If the contract doesn't say they are to be in working order, then yes, you accept them as they are.

        The contract will say something like "as is", as in, as it was inspected when you put your contract in.

        • bn030687 on 30/09/2017 - 21:20

          JimmyF is right

  • Ocker on 30/09/2017 - 20:04

    Are you for real?????
    Such (relatively) petty issues in the big picture of things are giving you grief????
    I have answered my own question - you are not for real.

    • oliman on 30/09/2017 - 20:24
      +5

      Yes every dollar counts for me buddy. If i have right to claim something, I will, big or small.

      • Cheeper on 30/09/2017 - 20:42
        +1

        I agree with Ocker here… the matters you mention are not major ones.
        Are you prepared to delay the settlement until another date over this?
        Dimmer and remote are cheap fixes.
        If AC would not turn on why did you expect air to come out of vent?
        Shout yourself a new dishwasher $500?.

    • cloudy on 30/09/2017 - 21:34
      +1

      No way, if they are advertised on the listing, OP should expect them to work. I don't understand why OP should expect less due. Settlement should still be possible with either agreed adjustments of value or written agreement for reasonable timeframe for fixes. IE: fixes done by end of year.

      • MrFrugalSpend on 30/09/2017 - 21:59

        Caveat emptor…, soz
        Google it

      • JimmyF on 01/10/2017 - 11:24

        yeah doesn't work that way…… second hand houses are like cars. They are sold 'as is'. Working or not.

        • cloudy on 01/10/2017 - 11:31
          +1

          That's fine, so long as its not advertised. But if stated, it needs to be working. You can't have a remote garage door without a remote. Im fine with the lights not working or something else if it wasn't listed as a feature and OP didn't chrck or accepted it upon signing. But listed features are listed for a reason.

          If we accept properties can list whatever it wants without function or truth every house can list everything with no basis. Buyers won't even read listings anymore, and agents won't write listings and the intrigity or advertising fails.

        • JimmyF on 01/10/2017 - 13:19
          +1

          @cloudy:

          Often a house is listed with a pool or spa, but not working……

          You must be new to house buying…. Its been this way for decades, agents lie, list wrong things, owners tart up houses enough so they sell.

          Its like saying the house must sell in the price range! hahaha

          As someone said above, its very much a "Caveat emptor" when buying houses.

        • Slippery Fish on 03/10/2017 - 08:45
          +2

          @cloudy: my house has an invisible pool/tennis court, you push the button on the wall and they flop out your bum ready for use.

          Please pay me 6.3 mil

        • cloudy on 04/10/2017 - 13:35

          @Slippery Fish:

          Thanks for supporting my claim :)

  • James987 on 30/09/2017 - 21:23
    +2

    No house is perfect. When you look around, I'm sure you will find more problems. Back to your question, ask your lawyer. That's why he gets the $$$ or even the real estate agent. There is a possibility that you can deduct funds from the purchase to fix these problems, but that is for your lawyer to look into. IMO you are purchasing a home. These fixes are probably less than 0.5% of the cost of your house, big deal…..

  • CheapSticks on 30/09/2017 - 21:31

    I think there is no harm in pointing out these things to your solicitor/conveyancer and ask him/her to note as something that came out of your inspection - propose an amount to cover those things. If you are lucky and they go out of their way, they may agree to adjust some amount.

    Otherwise just have to take it mate. Delaying settlement will cost you more money and pretty much nothing to gain.

    '#Beenthere

  • SnoozeAndLose on 30/09/2017 - 21:33

    You buy what you see, they are working or not it should take into consideration when you pay the 10% deposite.

    Final inspecrion is for ypu to check all fixture and feature are there.

    If you get some deduction from the agreed sale price, it is just a bonus for you.

  • tsunamisurfer on 01/10/2017 - 01:28
    -2

    Can I ask the OP why he did a final inspection after committing to buy a place un-con?

    • oliman on 01/10/2017 - 03:28
      +1

      Final inspection has nothing to do with contract being un conditional.

      As far as my common sense works, what is advertised in property ad, should work.

  • oliman on 01/10/2017 - 03:30
    +2

    The vendor just acknowledge in the email that the air con never worked on that property. Why did they advertised it then as the property feature?

    I have instructed my solicitor to get them to fix it…

    • Fake News on 01/10/2017 - 07:35
      +2

      Or you can get your solicitor to negotiate for a price reduction based on the faults- I wouldn't be trusting them to actually fix it properly…

    • varunynr on 01/10/2017 - 11:06

      Hey Oli,

      Congratulations for the property. What you said doesnt seem like a big issue. Get some quotes for the work and ask your convayencer or lawyer to reduce from the final price. You will be surprised it works sometimes. As you said worst case raise it, and let them feel ashamed and embarrassed at least.

      Good Luck.

    • JimmyF on 01/10/2017 - 11:25

      Did they say WORKING AC?

      • cloudy on 01/10/2017 - 11:33

        Surely you are just trolling now

      • oliman on 01/10/2017 - 11:35

        no, but never sadi a broken AC also :(

        Usually property managers mention about any obvious fixtures if they are not in working order. The agent said there is nothing wrong with the property or fixture when asked on the day of first inspection.

        • JimmyF on 01/10/2017 - 13:22
          +2

          Correct I'm sure it didn't say broken AC, but it also didn't say working AC. It said AC unit and you got a AC unit.

          I'm sure it didn't say working oven or stove, or running water, or working hot water too.

          You need to test all these things before putting your offer in.

          Really from what you have listed, the most costly thing to fix is the AC, the others combined are sub $500 to fixed. The AC is $2-3k for a new install.

          and no @cloudy, I'm not trolling. Its the way these things work. People like you and the OP assume something should be working, but unless the contract says "House includes a working AC unit" you have no leg to stand on!

        • cloudy on 01/10/2017 - 23:09

          @JimmyF:

          How many properties where anything listed states "working" as a pre-fix to the description? In ANYTHING in life?

          Even when you search gumtree, you are more likely to find listings describing an item as "for parts" or "broken" than something that says "working".

          I've been to properties where the agent has specifically called out the broken oven, that came with the property. So I respectfully disagree that this is "how things work"

        • JimmyF on 02/10/2017 - 10:10
          +1

          @cloudy: You can disagree if you like, but that is how it works. If you had an agent that called out things that didn't work, then great for you!

          Go to whirlpool, there are a hundred threads on the same thing. xyz isn't working after buying. The answer is all the same, "Caveat emptor".

  • Candour on 01/10/2017 - 10:56
    +1

    get a good lawyer. hope yours knows the ins and outs of disputing at this late stage. otherwise ask him to recommend someone else. a conveyancer may not be enough. you could have outcomes which might allow you some recompense or even being able to void the contract if there was a fundamental breach of terms. (I am not a lawyer and this is not specific advice. it is without prejudice).

  • chumlee on 01/10/2017 - 11:47

    Your best bet is to work out how much to fix the problems then agree to deduct from property sale price.

    If you don't settle you risk penalties and loss of deposit. How much do you want to spend on litigation vs cost of fixing the problems?

  • nikey2k27 on 01/10/2017 - 15:29

    check on void the contract over the items. but it can backfire on you.

  • SydBoy on 02/10/2017 - 08:08
    +1

    solicitor send email with broken item to be fixed or reduce final amount by $3000 to vendor's solicitor…vendor agreed to reduce amount….or fix it.

    key here is to estimate how much is to fix those item…. sometimes they will counter offer you with lower price then simply ask them to fix !!!… also talk to solicitor about deposit you paid as it is important to get that back on the event transaction doesn't go ahead….if you are loosing money by breaking contract then you can go ahead and fix it if you think it is worth investing into those fix.

    all item advertised should be working unless explicitly mentioned in the contract….good luck

    • oliman on 02/10/2017 - 11:47
      +1

      My conveyncer is now following up the problems with the Vendor so they can fix it. Fingers crossed….

      • nushydude on 03/10/2017 - 08:39

        Let us know the outcome of it. Good luck.

  • oliman on 03/10/2017 - 10:22
    +3

    This is the outcome…

    The vendor has denied to my convyencer's request of fixing air con and dishwasher by saying that this was never working even when they bought the property 4 years ago.

    I then spoke to agent on phone and asked him why did the he advertised those fixtures in the property ad when they were not working at all? He replied by saying that the vendors never told him about those fixtures to be faulty and generally told him that everything is fine about the fixtures. Remember that I asked agent about any faults in property or fixture on the day of first inspection and he confirmed that everything is fine based on what he has been told by vendor.

    I explained agent's response to my convyencer and he asked me to get agent's explanation in written email so it can be used to further pressure the vendor in fixing those issues. I emailed agent to confirm it, but the agent replied with a generic answer asking me to follow up this issue with my convyencer. I emailed the agent again and asked to reply me in Yes or No if the vendor mentioned any problems about those fixtures while reviewing the property ad. The agent did not replied yet and I am assuming he wont.

    Me and my convyencer thinks that the second option for me would be filing a false advertisement case with Consumer Affairs Victoria, against the agent. I will do that tomorrow if I dont get any response from the agent.

    There are so many things to check in 30 minutes of property inspection, and one would consider the fixtures mentioned in the advertisement would be available and working.

    • SydBoy on 03/10/2017 - 23:27

      how much deposit you loose if you didn't settle ?

      • oliman on 04/10/2017 - 10:39

        I have already made 10% deposit which is 53k.

        • SydBoy on 04/10/2017 - 11:58

          well thats big sum of money you paid so you should take legal advise as many has said in the forum….and the person should be qualified and experienced in local property market.

        • oliman on 04/10/2017 - 17:49
          +1

          @SydBoy: I have decided to lodge a small claim instead in the court against the vendor themselves for misrepresenting their property.

  • Candour on 03/10/2017 - 16:42

    unfortunately you cannot trust anything as sellers (and agents) are driven by money. Your experience is common. is your 'conveyancer' a lawyer? if not he may not know how to give you proper legal advice on your rights. if you do not settle then you have some bargaining power. the agent will be more amenable to compromise. agents try not to hear too many things wrong from vendors so they get off the hook.

    you need to get proper legal advice which your conveyancer may not be able to give.

    otherwise itemise the differences, quantify them, and negotiate a lower settlement.

    the seller did not give you full disclosure. he can't make excuses.

    a lawyer who knows real estate law (not just conveyancing could advise on your rights and chance of success.

    it seems a copout to ask you to go to consumer affairs.
    they can't work magic unless you have a case.
    your conveyancer needs to have more than just thinking you can file a case.

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