HVAC and water heater is out of warranty

[Brendan Seals]

So, this 3 bed room, 900 square feet, home I am planning on buying HVAC and water heater is out of warranty. I believe the Hvac is 23 years old and the water heater is 15 or more (as I remembered). The seller wanted 74,000 for it and and I asked for 68000 on it and we came to 70,000. I am thinking that those items alone could cost 4,000 to 12,000 and plus there are other problems of repainting (there was a smoker that lived there) and other electrical modification I have too do. It all together cost up 13,000 15,000 to rehab it and be good for renting. So, it would I be wrong in going down 65,000? I would have to pull out a little more for the money to fix it. What would you recommend?

[JD Martin]

My prediction: you lose this deal over what you're thinking. If you want a brand new HVAC and water heater, you generally buy a brand new house, or one that's been renovated. If I were the seller, I would assume you were taking the 23 year old HVAC and water heater into account when we settled at 70, and I would consider it bad faith for wanting to go to 65 and I would walk on the deal. 

In other words: your assumptions on replacement cost for those items should have already been considered when you settled at 70. I assume you got an inspection and that's where this is coming from, and I would suggest it would probably be better to become more learned on systems before making offers than just waiting for inspectors to tell you the obvious and hope to beat down the seller on price. If the systems work, I don't think you're justified asking for money off unless 70 is already a premium price.