knocking down the price?

chupachups_2

Dear all,

My OH and I are buying our first home, a one bedroomed flat in Surrey.
There's no chain as we are ftbs and the owner has already moved out.
We had our offer accepted last May, but the lease needed to be extended, so it's taking really really long.

We are thinking on knocking down the price due to this, as it's taking far longer than we expected. My worry is that the flat might have gone up in value during this 5 months, and the seller will then ask for a higher price?
The valuation, done in June, stated the value of the flat to be £130,000 and that's what we are paying.
Of course, if we had known this from the start we would have offered less money or bought something else.

Does anybody know if the solicitor should have told us it was going to take so long?
Any comments will be much appreciated.
Thank you

JennyW_2

chupachups wrote:

Dear all,

My OH and I are buying our first home, a one bedroomed flat in Surrey.
There's no chain as we are ftbs and the owner has already moved out.
We had our offer accepted last May, but the lease needed to be extended, so it's taking really really long.

We are thinking on knocking down the price due to this, as it's taking far longer than we expected. My worry is that the flat might have gone up in value during this 5 months, and the seller will then ask for a higher price?
The valuation, done in June, stated the value of the flat to be £130,000 and that's what we are paying.
Of course, if we had known this from the start we would have offered less money or bought something else.

Does anybody know if the solicitor should have told us it was going to take so long?
Any comments will be much appreciated.
Thank you

are you saying you want to offer a lower price because of the time this is taking? I think your selling may tell you where to go.

Hopefully they wont increase the price of flat. I didn't increase the price of our house when we had an offer accepted in February and didn't complete until August, although I hear that this can happen.

If you're not happy with the current situation, what about looking around to see what else is available? There is nothing to stop you going elsewhere

lynzpower

Im guessing not, as Im guessing tyhat you COULD hve bought the flt with a shorter lease.

mikeywills

I always say think how you would feel if the shoe was on the other foot. It has taken some time to organise, but while obviously annoying you the house price has more than likely risen in value.
We moved back in march, and are planning work on our house, we have given a lick of paint to three rooms but otherwise nothing else, we had our house revalued a couple of weeks ago, asking for some advise on what would give us the best return to work, and were given a revalue of £60,000 more than we payed for it. I know we are in a high rising area, but I would expect approx 10% growth over 5 months, on current house prices.
So how would you feel if the vendor asked for an additional 10%, instead of your reduction. If you really want it stick with it, if its too much hassle look elsewhere.

Doozergirl

How long is the lease currently? Is the extension actualy going through or are they contesting it? Is there a particualr reason why you don't extend the lease yourselves?

I agree that your vendor may well be in a position where they could sell to someone else at a higher price, especially once that lease extension arrives. Negotiating down may not be a good idea.

chupachups_2

Thanks for your answers
I just feel a bit cheated 'cos when we made the offer, it was with the condition that the lease would be extended and the estate agent said it wouldn't take long and that in any case, we could always move in before it was sorted, as long as we had a signed document stating that.
Another flat in the same block was sold just before ours and the new owners moved in in no time (the lease situation was the same as ours).
Now I know I can't trust EAs, it's just taking so long, and in the meantime we're still paying rent
Thanks to all, I love this site

Doozergirl

Why don't you knock on the neighbour's door and ask how they dealt with it - did they buy without the extension maybe?