House price renegotiation

magga2000

Hi,

After another viewing we had found some more issues
with the house we are buying.

1.roof is leaking a bit near to central heating vent.
2.some suspicious cracks in the wall
3.some dents on the wooden floor
4.possible no building regulations for downstairs toilet(this is investigated by solicitors now)

We plan to have a proper survey done to investigate them and find out if there is maybe something else w might had missed.

Ideally would like to renegotiate the price offered before and do all the work ourselves, but we know this might be difficult. As the owner was saying that they can't sell for less then offered? Not sure if this is true. We offered the full asking price,as the house was in good location for us.And we wanted to secure it fast. They bought it from council few years back for 60k selling for almost 120k, now? How could we check how big is the outstanding mortgage on the house?
I though about asking them to proof their claims that they cannot sell it for less by providing a statement, but the EA was
saying it's their private document? Well it is but we are paying our money maybe based on false claims?

The owners are very keen to sell as the property is vacant.We would like to exchange, complete before 22.12.

I think we would be in a better position to renegotiate in few weeks. Especially if the building survey report(400GBP) we going to do will find anything else needed attention. And would give a cost to fix. I think the owners might be able to change their mind faster offer a discount closer to exchange , completion date let me know if you think that I am right? And this would be the right approach?

Best.
M

Milliewilly

How much they owe on mortgage is neither here nor there really its what they will sell to you for. They may have only paid £60K and its worth £120K now but as you have read on the news for the last few years people have been spending the equity in the increase on their homes and thats one of the reasons we are in the crunch, or, they could be sitting on a nice nest egg of £60K.

Trying to negotiate down close to exchange is a risky strategy, I personally as a seller would not tolerate it especially if you have already had a survey done. You will also potentially end up paying stamp duty if you don't complete by 31/12

Ewarwoowar2

It's your money - you can lower the offer if you want. It sounds like you have good reason.

They made £60k out of the Govt scheme. It's a buyer's market. Why should you take the hit on the repairs. Don't believe the b****hit estate agents always give about "they can't afford to take anything less". Estate agents will say anything to maximise the value of the sale. It's how they make their money. They are acting for the seller.

You're in a good position. If the sale falls through they're unlikely to find a new buyer before Christmas.

Emy1501

magga2000 wrote: »

Hi,

After another viewing we had found some more issues
with the house we are buying.

1.roof is leaking a bit near to central heating vent.
2.some suspicious cracks in the wall
3.some dents on the wooden floor
4.possible no building regulations for downstairs toilet(this is investigated by solicitors now)

We plan to have a proper survey done to investigate them and find out if there is maybe something else w might had missed.

Ideally would like to renegotiate the price offered before and do all the work ourselves, but we know this might be difficult. As the owner was saying that they can't sell for less then offered? Not sure if this is true. We offered the full asking price,as the house was in good location for us.And we wanted to secure it fast. They bought it from council few years back for 60k selling for almost 120k, now? How could we check how big is the outstanding mortgage on the house?
I though about asking them to proof their claims that they cannot sell it for less by providing a statement, but the EA was
saying it's their private document? Well it is but we are paying our money maybe based on false claims?

The owners are very keen to sell as the property is vacant.We would like to exchange, complete before 22.12.

I think we would be in a better position to renegotiate in few weeks. Especially if the building survey report(400GBP) we going to do will find anything else needed attention. And would give a cost to fix. I think the owners might be able to change their mind faster offer a discount closer to exchange , completion date let me know if you think that I am right? And this would be the right approach?

Best.
M

Its a bit naughty in my opinion to wait until close to exchange to try and get a seller to renegotiate but again it depends on your morals.

The reality is you should have had a homebuyers report done shortly after you agreed t buy which should have reported on the issues you have. Cracks can be serious and if there are no building regulations then the seller will need to get an indemnity policy and the surveyor will need to confirm that toilet was built correctly.

If I was you I would phone and advise the EA of your concerns and that your planning to get a homebuyers report(to be honest you may need a full structal if there are cracks) If the EA says there is no chance the seller will no re-negotiate based on the report then you may want to consider walking away now and saving the money on the report. it will depend though on whether you feel the property was a bargin or not.

bmunky7

It'll depend on how good the original price you agreed was and how much it would cost to do the repairs. If you're talking about £2k or something, they're likely to agree to get the deal done but too much and you'll have no chance. I've been in a position where a buyer tried to negotiate downwards at the last minute and I told them to get stuffed, and wouldn't sell to them at any price in case they tried it again. So you could risk putting them off selling to you altogether (not a problem if there are other houses you are interested in). It's only a buyers market in certain areas in others it is still very much a sellers market so tread carefully.

Catatonia

I negotiated about £5k off my current house after the survey. I expect that when I sell, the survey will throw up similar things (it's an old house, so the surveyor is bound to find problems) and I would consider taking money off. But, I would expect the survey to be done promptly after the offer being accepted, and any negotiations done straight after the survey. If a buyer tried to get me to drop the price just before exchange I'd be far more likely to tell them to get lost, as I'd feel like they were being unreasonable and trying to take advantage.

pie81

Agreed. If you want to renegotiate the price, do it asap after you've found the problems, not later.

Also, I'd suggest renegotiating only on the basis of the BIG problems - eg the cracking, roof leak and no buildings regulations (assuming these aren't cleared up by your further survey/solicitor investigations). Dents in the wooden floor is cosmetic and not really something to reduce the price over (IMO).

ccygirl

How much they owe on their mortgage, or indeed, paid for their house is really none of your business. You have agreed a price subject to survey, if the survey highlights anything you can try to renegotiate.

They don't need to prove they can't sell for less than agreed, all they have to do is decline to negotiate and find another buyer. It all depends on how much you want the house. Yes, it is your money but how much do you want their house.

Exchange of contracts binds both parties, they could pull out from the sale at any time before if they thought you were going to keep trying to renegotiate.

kinglewis

When the survey is done they will probably downvalue it anyway.. which will help to answer your question as they seller will have to drop.. otherwise they aint moving house!! If they try to sell it to someone else the next surveyor will downvalue it again. Which puts you in a great negotiating position.

If they decide to put it back on the market its a bit of a long shot that they will find a cash buyer who doesn't want a survey.

Milliewilly

No one has an issue about renegotiating from Survey as there is a justification, its the renegotiating after survey but just before exchange that I find unpalatable.

As a seller I would expect the buyer to be in touch very quickly after I had shown the Surveyor round if they were expecting a reduction otherwise I would presume the initial price was still on the table.

I though about asking them to proof their claims that they cannot sell it for less by providing a statement, but the EA was
saying it's their private document? Well it is but we are paying our money maybe based on false claims?

This is really none of your business, they sell / you buy at a price thats acceptable to both parties. Whether they owe £100K or 1p is irrelevant. You can't reduce prices on property because you are jealous at how much they have made over the years. Would you pay more if they were in negative equity and they wrote a letter saying they needed £X to clear their debts?

If you are having a mortgage the valuation surveyor will have the final say anyway unless you have a large deposit to make up the difference.

magga2000

Thanks for all advice we should do the full survey bulding report ASAP
and try renegotiate if somthing costly or serius would came on it.
Otherwise we would just try to go for the house. And hope all will go
well till completion.

Best.
M