Help! Chain ready for echange - our buyer putting in a last minute cheeky request...

booboomania

:mad:

We are in a chain of 3 about to exchange, working towards completing on 29th July...

All ready to go, but our buyer has just this morning announced that he wants us to pay £445 for the fuse box to be updated or else he's not exchaning today, and is going on leave for a few weeks so won't be able to exchange until late August/September. He's already made this request to which we said no as not essential work, and he already had negotiated hard on our selling price leaving us maxed out on our next mortgage.

Do we stand firm and say no or cough up (out of our 4 year old daughters savings?!) Or do we have any other option? I know it isn't alot of money, but I feel he is bullying us into paying for this...

BitterAndTwisted

He is bullying you, or rather trying to blackmail you. Do you want to risk the chain collapsing for the sake of a few hundred quid?

booboomania

No But then I also don't want to give in to blackmail, when morally I know the buyer is in the wrong.

kentmum1973

I would cough up.

Gorgeous_George

I'd probably pay it too. A wet fish under the loft insulation shouldn't cost much either.

GG

Procrastinator333

Why not try and share it up the chain?

ruggedtoast

You could offer to split the difference with him.

RabbitMad

Procrastinator333 wrote: »

Why not try and share it up the chain?

if there are 4 houses above you its £100 per house. Seems cheap to prevent the sale falling through.

Of course if you say yes the buyer may then come back and say and £613 for a new fridge

Then £278 for booze for the home warming party etc.

GDB2222

Any particular reason your buyer has left it until now? Maybe he's just had a report or something? If it's pure blackmail, I'd just say no.

hazyjo

What a horrible buyer. Just think karma and all that. I suppose I'm with the others and would say just pay the thing.

If it was just me, I'm afraid I'd probably cut my nose off to spite my face and would tell him I wasn't going to pay, and that the house would be going back on the market by the end of the day if he didn't exchange before going away. In your shoes, with kid/s, I'd probably end up just paying it though.

Grrrrr. I hate bullies.

Don't lose your house sale over it though... honestly, it's not worth it. I'm guessing you're a bit like me though. It's hard to buckle, isn't it.

Jx

nomoneytoday

I would see if you could share the £100 up the chain?
Or call his bluff back - he's probably spent more than £450 on surveys and legals?
Or pay it?