Advice for asbestos fence/blocked pipes

I signed a contract for a house early this week, and just did a BnP inspection today. Overall, there were no major structural issues. However, this is all brand new to me and there are several issues I hope to get advice for:

Firstly, I was informed that the back fence (~19m, shared with the neighbours on the other side) is made of asbestos. There are a few cracks in it, and we were thinking of replacing it. Would it be fair for us to try and negotiate the sale price down to pay for the removal of asbestos and a new Colorbond fence? The inspector suggested that we could just build a new fence on our property line itself and not deal with the asbestos – would this be feasible?

Next, it was suggested that we get a plumber to do a health check on the downpipes, as one corner of the house appears to be “heaving” a little, possibly due to excessive moisture in the soil (caused by broken or blocked pipe coming off the downpipe). Do you guys think this is a deal breaker? I assume the costs of the check/repair would probably be in the $500 to $1000 range?

 

I replaced an asbestos fence about 23m long.
About $1300 for removal and $2400 for timber lap and cap fence.

Got it done through different people, as opposed to a single mob (works out cheaper as the if you get one mob to do it, they outsource the asbestos removal anyway and then add a premium on top)

 

I’ve also had a cracked water wastage pipe replaced (at the junction point where my pipe joined to Sydney water). This involved digging up the road too. Cost $8k. Bulk of cost was due to having to dig up road.

Cost really comes down to access. Mine had to hand dug so that added to the cost. If I had good access they would have used a dingo which would have been substantially cheaper.

 

Would it be fair? Probably not but.....the vendors may come to the party or not. This is pretty common in WA, so they may not wish to negotiate. Remember also that the cost is shared 50-50 with the neighbour - and they may not be interested either.

Look I know people do that but it's poor form in my opinion. If you are going to do a new fence, do it properly and get rid of the old one, which as it weathers, becomes a bit of a hazard releasing fibers.

No, not a deal breaker to get the report. It may become a deal breaker if the plumber says it will cost a fortune to fix and the vendors won't come around when you try to renegotiate on this point.

 

Building a new fence without removing the old fence will not absolve you from contributing to the cost of the asbestos removal.

If the fence is generally in good condition apart from a few cracks, simply paint over the cracks to seal the asbestos, which is totally harmless unless disturbed.
Marg