Advice needed on pulling out of a property purchase!

Guestty23

Hi

I have been in the process of purchasing a property for 4 months. The searches carried out found that there were many issues with the property including damp, situated on a flood plain, incomplete deeds, missing documents for use of septic tanks etc.

Subsequently we lowered our offer after being messed around and the reasons mentioned above. The Seller took £7000 off the purchase price of the property due to market price drop. However we felt that the seller had not considered the issues with the property and we then asked for another £5000 off the price of the property. The seller has not responded to this offer and it is getting really frustrating so we are tempted to pull out of the deal. Do you think this is sensible or are we being cheeky asking for another £2500 - £5000 off the price of the property?

MX5huggy

Do you want the house?

What is the total price we are talking about?

Would I pull out for 2.5K on a house I wanted I don't think so.

carlsberggal

Depends on the purchase price really - if the property is say only worth £100,000 another £2500 - £5000 could seem a bit steep.

Has your lender said they would hold back some of the mortgage until works had been done? If they have, that could be a valid reason

poppysarah

If you're not happy pull out.

If there are genuine issues (How much does the insurance cost? If it's flooded then you should triple check you can actually get insurance on it to start with) then you need to reconsider.

Guestty23

Well the mortgage lender aren't holding any money back they are suggesting that the works should be carried out to maintain the property. The original offer was £130000 which has been reduced by £7000 to £123000. We have fallen in love with the property but have a nightmare 4 months attempting to purchase it, and there are a lot of risks involved for a first time buyer with this house. The insurance isn't going to cost any more normal insurance will cover the flood risk, however there are missing parts of the deeds and you have to access the property over private land.

MORPH3US

Loads of other houses out there, if you're not happy, ditch it....

BTW our searches came back and said our house was built on a flood plane.... however that was before the houses were built, and part of the development included the developer building flood defences and drains....

I spoke to people living on there and they said they had never even seen a big puddle, nevermind a flood.

Robert_Sterling_3

It is your call. A lot of us have nightmares when buying and selling our house.

hethmar

If you arent happy now (and the title of your thread suggests you arent) pull out.

whathavewedone

It's your call. If the mortgage company are prepared to lend the money that suggests they think the current price is fair. Honestly in this market especially if they thought the property wasn't worth the money they would reduce the valuation. Most sellers wouldn't be prepared to reduce further if the bank reckons the house is worth the money, even though some works are needed - it means they think it would be worth more if the works were done.

But if you're not happy pull out. You might pay more for a house in mint condition though. Depends on whether you want the hassle/are in love with the house etc

Guestty23

According to our solictitor who has never seen the house and does not know the area where the house is situated we will be in negative equity straight away if we pay the asking price. However the house is situated in a sought after area which doesn't tend to be affected as harshly as some areas. I think I should take my own instinct on it I believe the property will retain its value, hence I have just answered my own question. Thanks for the help guys!

oldone_2

Guestty23 wrote: »

however there are missing parts of the deeds and you have to access the property over private land.

Don't walk away from this property - run like mad.
I had exactly this same problem and my solicitor pointed out that the owner of the private land could at any time in the future demand a kings ransom to gain access to the property.
I walked away, and subsequently learnt that the final purchasers had many many problems - not just access. Missing parts of the deeds may be just carelessness, or someone try hide nasty suprises for the purchaser.