Are nonfunctional appliances a deal breaker?

[Carolyn Guertin]

I made an offer on a bungalow with an income suite downstairs last week. The basement unit only needs some paint and a few other touches to be rentable -- and I was counting on that income to keep the place afloat while I work on doing more extensive renovations on the main floor. 

I had the walkthrough with the building inspector today. The house passed with a few issues: some small electrical problems, a fireplace that is unsafe and needs to be removed, and the celebrated brick barbecue deemed a fire hazard. I can live with those revelations, but the shocker is around the appliances. I knew there was no fridge in the main floor unit, but thought that I was getting one (extremely small) fridge, two stoves, and a washer and dryer. The inspection revealed that the gas stove upstairs doesn't work (it has never even been connected) and the dryer downstairs caught fire while being tested. So now instead of having to buying just a fridge, I'm also looking at buying a stove and a dryer as well. My question is can I negotiate the price down by way of compensation (and, if so, how much?) or are there other ways to ease the blown budget? Or should I just walk away? 

Thank for sharing your thoughts. 

cg

[Maricela Chavez]

Really? Appliances? Is there no real value in the property? Are you over paying for the place as it is? I can't imagine appliances ever being a deal breaker. Ask for an allowance to replace these items. Or ask seller to replace items with comparable appliances. I'm not sure where you live. I live near Atlanta Georgia. Appliances would not be a deal breaker. It also depends on the price point of the property. Whether you got any money off list price, closing cost etc. I bought a mid century modern ranch, we bought it for 30k below asking price because we felt it was way over priced! We had major issues with place. Our windows are basically inoperable. We also knew we were being a majorly
Outdated property. Seller did nothing! So many variables to be considered. Good luck.