Should I reduce my offer?

LadyIndecisive

Steve78 wrote: »

The house is still on the market and has been on the market for a month. After the survey report when I reduced my offer( and that was a genuine reduction) they put the property on the market without telling me. I am a serious buyer, have spent on my mortgage fee, survey fee and solicitor for searches so if this deal does not happen I will lose money. I want to go through with the deal as well.

This is what the OP has said re monies paid to date. There are a fair few statements in the OPs posts which indicate the vendor is 'playing the game' possibly just as well as the OP.

TDS_2

mitchaa wrote: »

It's near the end of the day, no answer yet?

Additionally, do you stand to lose money on this if you pull out? I.e the survey cost?

Why would you walk away if this is the case?

£1k on a survey would seem to be small beer. We walked away from a property last Aug after the survey revealed flaws that we hadn't expected. Best £1000 I've ever lost.

Dithering_Dad

ad9898 wrote: »

Doesn't really matter if he has lost a few quid in this market, surveyor costs are peanuts compared to house price falls.

We all know as fact that prices are going to fall for 12 months at least, unless you have found the perfect house, there is little point buying.

Or unless you find a house price that has the next 12 month's worth of drops factored in - even more in this case, it seems.

I'm in the centre ground of this discussion, I am also of the opinion expressed by huntersc, that it's me and my family Vs the World, but I also have the belief that your 'word is your bond' and that it reflects badly on your character if you break agreements (perhaps I watched too many Westerns as a kid, where the White Man broke all his promises to the poor old Indians).

From what I read, the OP offered £235k and it was accepted. He then tried to reduced it after the survey by 29k(!) and he doesn't seem willing to say what was revealed in the survey to prompt the drop (I've asked twice). He then put in a second offer of £215K which was accepted and now he's dithering about trying to reduce them even more.

As far as we know, and given his history of agreeing a price and then changing his mind, he may reduce again if this offer is accepted. I guess it's this, that I have a problem with. He's the definition of a timewaster.

TDS_2

Dithering_Dad wrote: »

From what I read, the OP offered £235k and it was accepted. He then tried to reduced it after the survey by 29k(!) and he doesn't seem willing to say what was revealed in the survey to prompt the drop (I've asked twice). He then put in a second offer of £215K which was accepted and now he's dithering about trying to reduce them even more..

£29k does seem like an awful lot to ask off the agreed price - though it's not impossible. It would certainly irritate the vendor, but then no other buyer has rushed in, so it would appear to be simply a case of agreeing at too high a price in the first place.

The second offer of £215k was not accepted. It was rejected. The EA came back to the OP after the offer had expired. The vendor now appears desperate, and it is understandable that the OP will try and trim a few more £ off the price...

pawpurrs

I would like to know what was wrong with the house, that the survey indicated 29k worth of work that was not obvious at the offering stage on a renovation project?

I have bought many doer uppers, and you can tell most things that will need doing roof/electrics/damp etc and factor that in with the orginal offer.

Has it got subsidence or something?

stephen163

There has yet to be a situation where the buyer and seller have actually agreed a price. the first agreement was pending the survey. Second agreement didn't materialise because vendor missed the deadline (I interprete deadline differently to ultimatem - an ultimatem has an end clause clearly specified whereas a deadline, in this case, just gave a time period to the offer).

I would even be tempted to say the vendors are time wasters. Missing a deadline - holding out, delaying, dithering. Negotiation is a complex thing and it comes both ways and in different guises - protect YOUR OWN interests.

adr0ck

i think the expression tyre kicker perfectly fits the op

Dithering_Dad

TDS wrote: »

The second offer of £215k was not accepted. It was rejected. The EA came back to the OP after the offer had expired. The vendor now appears desperate, and it is understandable that the OP will try and trim a few more £ off the price...

The second offer wasn't explicitly rejected, it was accepted outside of an arbitrary timescale set by the OP. Who knows if it was the seller or the estate agent who caused the delay (let's face it, does anyone have a good word to say for estate agents?).

The OP has since decided to say that he told the EA he would 'reduce his offer' if they didn't meet his deadline. This does not tally with the information he supplied at the start of his thread and I suspect it is merely a face saving device he's just created. It just doesn't make sense: "Hullo Mr estate agent, here's my final offer of £x. If you don't get back to me within 5 days I'll make a reduced Final final offer". Hmnnnn......

stephen163

Fact is, the EA and vendor have found themselves in a very weak position to negotiate. They *did* miss the deadline and for some bizarre reason made it clear to the potential buyer that they are in an even more desperate position than it was originally thought.

Who in their right mind wouldn't try to knock them down after this circus was played out in front of you? People seem to forget that when there are literally £1000's on the line, it is ultimately more important to get the best deal for you and your family than it is to exit the situation with a halo on your head.

hethmar

Poor bloke, I bet he wished he never asked now.