House is for sale, now the heat pump is broken

Hello everyone,

I have a really stupid situation here, maybe someone can say how they would proceed.
My wife and I bought a house in 2019. Built in 83, 200 sqm living space, not particularly insulated. The previous owners replaced the oil heating with a heat pump a few years earlier. A Dimplex LA17TU, in the cellar there is a Hydrotower HWK 332 Econ with a heat pump manager.
Now the thing is, we separated in mid 24. By now everyone has moved out, the house is empty and listed for sale.
On New Year's, my ex was in the house and noticed that there was a huge puddle in the cellar. The local heating company’s emergency service found that an external refrigerant line at the outdoor unit had burst and the evaporator inside has a hole, and the heat exchanger is defective. That was his verbal information. He wanted to make us an offer for repair or replacement. I probably don’t need to emphasize that I no longer wanted to invest large sums of money in the house.
Now this week I received the cost estimate for a replacement, which would really replace everything. A Nibe S2125 heat pump for outdoor installation, a NIBE domestic hot water unit VVM 500, heat meter, circulation pump, etc. The whole thing is supposed to cost €33,000, plus some construction-related tasks like electrical work. You would still get €10,500 in subsidies.
He would send an offer for a repair in the next few days, as he is still waiting for prices himself.

Actually, for me it’s out of the question to put that much money in again and I can’t imagine that it is really necessary/sensible to replace everything.

Are there any opinions here? I spoke with the realtor 10 minutes ago who is supposed to sell the house. He said you could also contact the manufacturer’s service department.

Regards

Your real estate agent should be able to assess whether the depreciation of the house upon sale is higher than the costs for a new heat pump.

But it also depends on whether you can find a buyer at all with a broken heating system.

But the agent should be able to assess that, that is exactly their job.

Actually, for me it is out of the question to spend that much money again, and I also can't imagine that it is really necessary / sensible to replace everything

As a buyer, I mentally deduct around 40k from the purchase price. If you install a new heat pump, the purchase price will probably go up. So you win.

In my opinion, there is no funding for replacing a heat pump. The previous owner has already received that. How old is the heat pump? It can probably still be repaired. That should be your goal.

I would rather be bothered by the fact of an unheated house during the current weather conditions...

I would contact the manufacturer and aim for a reliable and affordable repair, possibly supported by goodwill. I would not give the repair order to a heating engineer who is determined to sell me something new.