building and pest inspection

hi, I have a contract on my house which is subject to building and pest inspection. The inspection has just been done. The buyer's solicitor says they will accept the building and pest condition of the contract on the basis the following is attended to prior to settlement by a qualified tradesperson at my expense:

1. repair loose tiles around the pool area

Now, they are wishing to settle ASAP, so I don't want to accept to repair the tiles and then find I cannot get a tradie to perform the work in time prior to settlement and then find I'm getting penalised for delaying the contract settlement.

I have considered getting a few quotes and forwarding them on to the buyer and saying I will deduct $x .... but I don't want to agree that I will repair the loose tiles and therefore take liability for the tradie's work etc, or worse, have to micromanage the tradie/new owner to gain access to the property after settlement.

What's the best wording for what I want to do to acknowledge that I will pay for the work but the buyer can organise the tradie at their own convenience, and myself not being held responsible for the tradie's work.

Would something like this work:

I cannot agree to repair the loose tiles around the pool area. However, I have obtained quotes for the repair and I offer $x as financial compensation, to satisfy building and pest condition of the contract.

 

wording of a contract is legal advice so best to ask your lawyer. Your suggested wording is not recommended

 

Why not just counter offer to reduce the price by $x to go unconditional on b&p?

 

Thanks, i am happy to reduce my price by whatever the quote comes in at, i just need to make sure that my reduction in price doesn't make me still liable for the defects they wish repaired. But i don't wish to sound arrogant or hostile about it!

 

They want to settle early.

Agree on the condition that the repairs are not done but the price is reduced by xxx, and the buyers accept the property “as is”.

Your solicitor will do the correct wording.
Marg

 

Agree. your solicitor should do this as part of the cost involved in transfer

 

I know. But initially I said told conveyancer I cant agree to fix loose tiles because I cant guarantee they will be fixed before settlement (since I'm relying on a tradie to turn up etc), and agent told me buyer was ready to tear contract up!

So have to word my offer (to conveyancer) in such a way that the conveyancer doesn't just convey my intentions as arrogant or hostile!

 

This is a legal matter. Nice has no legal definition that i know of. Why are you so scared of everyone else in this?

Give them something extra. If they want early settlement you might be saving on interest anyway.

Contact with your conveyancer doesnt have to be a short email. Call them or meet them, tell them exactly what you want and ask them to repeat it.

 

Buyer is quite emotional / keyboard warrior (according to the agent) and if gets a hot head the contract could be torn up! Have to tread carefully without offending buyer

 

Why are you speaking with the agent? Once you have provided the contract to your solicitor just deal with them. The agent is irrelevant.

 

The agent is messing with you. First rule of property - don’t believe everything the agent says!!

The buyer wants the house. The buyer wants to settle early.

The buyer wants to vary the contract. You won’t sound “arrogant or hostile” by doing it in legal talk.

Leave it to your solicitor to talk to the buyer’s solicitor.
Marg

 

If the buyer wants to settle early, they want the house. And they have a schedule.