I think I've just been gazundered....

chadwickthecat

Hi all,
My husband and I bought our first house 10 years ago, and have been there ever since. It is a really unusual 18th century detached cottage 10 minutes walk to the sea. About 6 months ago, we decided to sell up and move to a slightly bigger house nearer to work.

We got an offer of £140,000 from a first time buyer without a chain, which we accepted (we were on for £140,000-£155,000). We then made an offer on a property we wanted, which was accepted. Everything was going according to plan, and we should have exchanged contracts last week, but our buyers were starting to slow things down.

A few days ago we got a call to say our buyers want to reduce their offer by £6k. My first response was to wonder whether they were being reasonable, but the more I think about it, the more I think they're just trying to pull a fast one and gazunder us.

They say they need to spend £12,000 on the house, and want us to meet them half way. According to them, they need to buy a new roof and replace all the windows. However, 2 independent roofers came round last week (at their request) who said that although the flat roof may need repair soon (£500-£800), the main roof was fine, but they might need to think about repairing some bits in 3-4 years. The windows comment is a mystery to me - there's nothing about it in the survey.

Problem is that we haven't got any space to reduce. We need the £140,000 in order to get the deposit for the new house. The only way we could drop would be to go into our overdrafts. I'm torn between thinking maybe they have a point, and thinking they're just trying it on. If they're trying it on, there's NO way I'm prepared to get back into the red in order to buy them a roof they don't need.

To be honest, it's not like we're completely in love with the house we've made an offer on, and since we went on the market, there have been questions raised over how safe our jobs are (we're upsizing so our mortgate will be 3 times the cost when we move). I just want the whole nonsense to be over with.

Any experience of this on here? We've told them we can't reduce and are waiting for their response.....

zappahey

It sounds like you're not too worried about the whole deal falling through, so you are in a position to take a strong stance.

Point out that the house was priced to reflect the current condition and they can take it or leave it.

G_M

Call their bluff.

Remember, they've invested money in surveys, legal fees, mortgage application, so if the deal falls through THEY will be out of pocket.

The reasons they give sound totally unreasonable. Just say "The price was agreed. Take it or leave it". Do this via your solicitor or EA in writing. At the same time get your solicitor to put a deadline on Exchange since they are messing you about.

carefullycautious

I would be more worried about this statement


'there have been questions raised over how safe our jobs are (we're upsizing so our mortgate will be 3 times the cost when we move'

I would not want to be in the above position in this climate

be careful

Tr1pp

Stick to your guns, why accept 6k less when 1) you cant afford to reduce, 2) your not overly enfused by your new house and 3) you now have job stability worries. seems like you are in a good position to tell them to do one as your clearly not in desperate need to sell. If they pull out then its not so bad as only downside seems that you need to wait a bit longer to upsize (might work out better if the market takes a further dip)

If there is nothing wrong with the windows and the survey listed no concerns either then it would appear that the buyers just want to upgrade them themselves, in which case this should have been taking into account when they made their initial offer, NOT afterwards.

the roof - a bit trickier as this isnt something you can really inspect properly when having a look around but if the survey said all is fine then except the 5-800 quid maintenance then again tell them to do one.

key to this i suppose would be what valuation came back when they had the conveyoncer out. I dont know if you also get a copy of the report that their mortgage company gets (doubt it) but i dont see why the buyers would want to reduce their offer unless their conveyor came back with a value with a 6k difference.

seems like they are trying to pull a fast one.

maninthestreet

Ref: the windows - are they double glazed? If not, the buyer probably wants to replace them will DG - of course there is no urgent need to replace them, they just want DG and expect you to help them pay for it.

chadwickthecat

Wow -they were quick responses!
They had a full structural survey, and their surveyor said the flat roof needed immediate replacement and the main one was at the end of it's life. The 2 roofers they sent round on Monday said the flat one will probably need looking at in 6 months or so (est £500-£800 to replace) and the main one maybe in a few years (est £5k to completely replace, but it wouldn't neccessarily need replacing).

I have no idea what the windows is about - apart from the bathroom, they were all replaced about 15 years ago with double glazing.

I've just spoken to the EA who's spoke to the wife. She wants to discuss it with her husband but apparently said "Is there really no way they could reduce at all?". Interestingly, she also claims the roofer hadn't told her the main roof didn't actually need replacing...

poppysarah

got a url? 140k and 10 mins from the sea sounds fab!

anjb

chadwickthecat wrote: »

Hi all,

We got an offer of £140,000 from a first time buyer without a chain, which we accepted (we were on for £140,000-£155,000).

I'd say that the property was marketed fairly and the offer was accepted based on the condition of the property.

Defo call their bluff. They are playing there FTB hand and seeing how desperate you want to move.
Sounds like you're not that enthralled.
Actually go back to them and say that you'll now sell the house to them at 142-146k.
That'll learn them. :rotfl:

paul1964_2

chadwickthecat wrote: »

They had a full structural survey, and their surveyor said the flat roof needed immediate replacement and the main one was at the end of it's life. The 2 roofers they sent round on Monday said the flat one will probably need looking at in 6 months or so (est £500-£800 to replace) and the main one maybe in a few years (est £5k to completely replace, but it wouldn't neccessarily need replacing).

If I was buying and my surveyor told me the main roof "was at the end of its life" and a flat roof "needed immediate replacement", I definitely would not go through with the purchase unless this was reflected in the sale price.

Windows are a completely different issue. Your buyers knew the condition of the windows before they made the offer.

We got an offer of £140,000 from a first time buyer without a chain, which we accepted (we were on for £140,000-£155,000).

If you call their bluff and they are not bluffing, I guess you may be waiting a while for another offer this good.

chadwickthecat

paul1964 wrote: »

If I was buying and my surveyor told me the main roof "was at the end of its life" and a flat roof "needed immediate replacement", I definitely would not go through with the purchase unless this was reflected in the sale price.

You're probably right, and I think if I was in their position, I'd try and get a reduction too. They're 1st time buyers and could genuinely be terrified by the prospect of having to buy a new roof. The problem we have is that the house was priced really low to begin with (even their structural surveyor said it was a bargain as it was) - although the 'word' of a surveyor doesn't mean much to us anymore!

Our problem is the only way we could drop further would be to borrow from my 80 year old motherinlaw :embarasse (and that would come with a whole heap of issues). Although borrowing is never a good position to be in, having to because there are genuine issues with the house is completely different from being forced to because someone's trying to stitch us up. I genuinely don't know what's reasonable!

Carefullycautious - you're tru to your namesake and absolutely right! The house we're buying has loads of things we need to spend money on, and if we drop, we're going to be absolutely skint, with a huge mortgage in a increasingly dodgy market.