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Should I tell my buyers to get lost and start again?!
miniloopie
Posts: 129 Forumite
I could do with a bit of advice!
Basically we accepted an offer on our house at the end of August from some first time buyers. They wanted to move quickly so we found a property we wanted within a couple of days and had an offer accepted on it. Unfortunately the chain on the property we were buying fell through. Our buyers threatened to walk away multiple times saying they absolutely had to move by a certain date. Eventually we got that sorted out and everyone was happy.
Meanwhile we've had an offer accepted on another house - and our buyers drop the bombshell that they want £4k off the price of the house based on the survey... !
I asked for a copy of the survey to see what warranted all that money - they said the house needed £6k worth of work but they were only asking for £4k. The summary of the survey indicated that no urgent work was required. It said the heating should be serviced (already done) and there were a few bits of maintenance that should be done soon after occupation (chimney repointing, replace some external woodwork - that sort of thing.).
Our estate agent agrees that we dont have to reduce the price based on what the survey says but our buyers have said they'll walk away if we dont...
So, do we tell them to stuff it after all the probs we've had and try to find another buyer (what I've nearly done many times!) or is the market such that we should try and hang on to our buyers, give them some money and swallow our pride??
We really want this other house but not at any cost - and are worried that further down the line our buyers will find something else wrong and threaten us again!
Any thoughts are most welcome - sorry its so long - but Im getting so stressed out about it all now I thought Id see what you all think! Thanks!
Basically we accepted an offer on our house at the end of August from some first time buyers. They wanted to move quickly so we found a property we wanted within a couple of days and had an offer accepted on it. Unfortunately the chain on the property we were buying fell through. Our buyers threatened to walk away multiple times saying they absolutely had to move by a certain date. Eventually we got that sorted out and everyone was happy.
Meanwhile we've had an offer accepted on another house - and our buyers drop the bombshell that they want £4k off the price of the house based on the survey... !
I asked for a copy of the survey to see what warranted all that money - they said the house needed £6k worth of work but they were only asking for £4k. The summary of the survey indicated that no urgent work was required. It said the heating should be serviced (already done) and there were a few bits of maintenance that should be done soon after occupation (chimney repointing, replace some external woodwork - that sort of thing.).
Our estate agent agrees that we dont have to reduce the price based on what the survey says but our buyers have said they'll walk away if we dont...
So, do we tell them to stuff it after all the probs we've had and try to find another buyer (what I've nearly done many times!) or is the market such that we should try and hang on to our buyers, give them some money and swallow our pride??
We really want this other house but not at any cost - and are worried that further down the line our buyers will find something else wrong and threaten us again!
Any thoughts are most welcome - sorry its so long - but Im getting so stressed out about it all now I thought Id see what you all think! Thanks!
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Comments
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Personally I'd tell them where to go, I would bet that they are either calling your bluff, trying it on. Or they plan to pull out anyway and are just looking for a valid excuse.:A
:A"Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid" - Albert Einstein0 -
I expect that as FTBers they have stretched themselves to the limit to get the house.
So for them to then have to fork out on work that needs to be done might be step too far, hence the request to drop the price.
If the estimate is 6 grand then, as has been said on here before, maybe the costs should be 50/50.
If you ask me it's entirely down to how confident you are in being able to get another buyer.
If it was me I'd offer no more than a grand, bearing in mind the next buyer may come back with the same survey results and the same request.
But it's all about negotiating."A goldfish left Lincoln logs in me sock drawer!"
"That's the story of JESUS."0 -
Can you get some money off the house you are buying and pass this cost up the chain?
The survey on my dad's house came back with 9k worth of work. So he droped 6K and got 3K off the house he was buying so everybody was 3K down.0 -
As there is no urgent work required, there is no need for any buyer to start spending moneying on repairs as soon as they move in. You might want to make a good will gesture of knocking a £1000, or maybe £1500, off the agreed price, but no more than that."You were only supposed to blow the bl**dy doors off!!"0
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You could get the work done yourselves instead. What you're describing doesn't sound like anything near to £6000
They may no be trying it on. FTBs are notoriously twitchy. Looks like you've found yourself a goodun.
It is quiet out there. You may need to be prepared to wait. I'd try and get around it with minimum cost to myself.
Do you have the full list of what they say needs doing?Everything that is supposed to be in heaven is already here on earth.
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Unfortunately since you agreed a sale in August the introduction of HIPS has put more houses on the market than normal - combined with interest rate rises and Northern Rock fiasco and suddenly it's become a buyers market...they know that and they're obviously trying it on...and who can blame them!
it's possible also that they may have even seen a house they prefer - but having already spent money on surveys, solicitors fees etc they want to see what they can get out of you before moving on....
The timing seems a bit odd though...I'm surprised that they've only just brought up things from the survey they must have had done weeks ago..
Try not to take it personally (swallowing pride, giving them money etc...) it's business and they're just playing the property game...you have to decide whether to play along or not..ie do you really want to move!
To be fair they may also be pretty fed up having to wait for you to find somewhere - even though it's not you're fault the chain fell through on your own purchase - that's not much consolation to them....you could have offered to go into rented accommodation to keep the sale going through....
you could still do that now to speed things up a bit but tell them you want the original price and see what happens (it'll put you in a stronger position on your own purchase too not being in a chain.)
Unfortunately, they can pull out at any time (and so can you) it's time the whole house buying system was tightened up.....
andy0 -
They have already paid for the survey so are going to be reluctant to withdraw.
I suggest you tell the agent that the boiler has been serviced and as that no urgent work has been identified and the condition of the chimney and external woodwork was visible at the time they made the offer that you are not prepared to negotiate.
However, so both of you feel you have got a good deal you could offer £1000 which is the more reasonable cost of the maintenance?
R.Smile
, it makes people wonder what you have been up to.0 -
It's a buyers market at the moment. Good for them - not so for you I'm afraid.0
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Thanks to everyone who replied!
I think really we are feeling rather manipulated by them (I know its all about playing the game!) especially since the survey didnt pick up anything that really needed attention, certainly not before completion.
I agree that as a FTB it is a daunting thing, and you dont want to be ripped off - but I really dont think they are being 'done' in any way! Though I do think they've really stretched it to buy the house...
We did think about moving into rented accomodation but with two toddlers in tow its not so easy and Im worried about being stuck with a 6 month rental agreement?
We really do want to move - we love the house we've seen and dont want to lose it... so we've offered £1000 as a goodwill gesture and now waiting to see if our buyers accept... fingers crossed they will negotiate since even if we wanted to we couldnt find £4k!0 -
Just bare in mind that your buyers have spent good money buying your house so far, they are unlikely to walk on a whim.0
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