Sold as Seen???

rosysparkle

TamTam72 wrote:

What details do you want?

Have you exchanged?

lush_walrus

Whether it be land or just a general 3 bed semi, EA details are always approximate, and always there is a clause at the bottom (or somewhere) of the details that states...All details are subject to checks, blah blah blah....

Now, the situation you are in (presuming you have not exchanged) you are free to re-negotiate the price. BUT, as with all sales it is a matter of getting the vendor to agree with your request for a reduction. Legally, you stand no where in demanding a reduction in price.

So, work out what you feel the reduced area is worth to you. Be realistic in the reduction in price, the vendors are almost certainly going to have a conversation with the EAs as to what they feel is reasonable to accept.

Just try to make your arguement strong, don't say anything like 'well I wouldn't have brought it if I thought it was under 2acres'. Try having a conversation with the EA or another in the area and getting to the bottom of their opinion of what it is worth. Unless the EA are specialists in land, they would have valued as seen, just the same as you decided to buy on viewing, so it may be that their opinion is that it is still worth what you are paying.

Basically, try to pursude, rather than prove your point and be realistic about it, rather than see it as why should you pay x now that you have discovered y.

If the property is in high demand, and you go in too low and insist that is the value, the vendors could well decide to put it back on the market and chance finding a new buyer. If they are in a rush to move, they may well accept a reduction.

It's worth a try in any case, just try to aim at a reasonable level.

Debt_Free_Chick

TamTam72 wrote:

I have posted about this situation in other threads asking different questions as they arose! This one is about the 'Sold as Seen' issue which has come up this morning - I'm wondering if this is a valid, legal standpoint, that's all.

Essentially, yes. It's sold as seen. That's why you get a survey - to verify the land; to verify that any cracks are not indicative of subsistence; to verify .... all sorts of stuff.

So, yes - it's sold as seen, as far as the seller is concerned. But sold, subject to contract, as far as you're concerned. If you've not exchanged then you can back out or reduce the price without any valid reason whatsoever. It's then up to the seller to make the next move.

Debt_Free_Chick

TamTam72 wrote:

Whilst I can see your argument, when land is attached to a house, the value of it is more since it increases the value of the property. If you put the same house in a plot of, say, 1/4 acre, it is not going to be worth anywhere near the same as in a plot of 2 acres, so I believe that 3/4 of an acre IS a substantial difference.

Agreed - but only up to a point. I think it's entirely dependent on the location and the property itself. You could argue that a one acre paddock attached to a one acre garden has more value - it depends on how the buyer values it.

The details do refer to the plot size as apposed to the garden, but the house is only of average size and situated right at the front of the plot, so we're talking about almost the same thing. Regardless of whether we're talking about total plot or garden though, the fact remains that 35% of it has gone 'missing'.

It's not missing - it was never there in the first place.

Where my parents used to live, the houses backed onto open fields. In 1988 the farmer sold off a strip of land that ran right along the back of all those houses with a total area of 1 acre. He charged the residents a total of £23,000 for the acre (each paying according to their share). The reason he could charge so much is that the extra garden would increase the price of the properties. Had he sold it off as arable land, he'd have got about £500 for it. That was almost 20 years ago.

Interesting, as you cannot absorb agricultural land into "garden" without applying for change of use. Nevertheless, you are describing extra land that actually existed. In your case, the land doesn't exist.

Arguably, the missing land has no value - but you should be guided by your surveyor. What value has he placed on the actual garden and is this "a million miles away" from what you offered?

Finally - what would you like the outcome to be? If you want to pay less, then you should simply revise your offer - before you exchange contracts - and wait for the seller's response.

HTH

Willapp_2

TamTam72 wrote:

We DID the survey and this is what showed up, it's not our fault that there isn't as much land as was advertised. Are you suggesting that we should just pay the money even though a substantial amount of what was being sold is not there? Would you pay the same for a house in a 1/4 acre plot as an identical one in an acre, because that's the difference we're talking about here.

What details do you want?

The bottom line is quite simple: they are under no legal obligation to lower the price, knowing that the garden is smaller than the EA stated in the adverts. If YOU feel that this fact has devalued the property, it's your right as a *potential* buyer to lower your offer in light of the information highlighted from the survey, but it's the sellers right to accept or refuse the reduction if they want to. If they refuse then you must either pull out, or stand by your original offer.

Simple as that...

1066Kopite

TamTam72 wrote:

We DID the survey and this is what showed up, it's not our fault that there isn't as much land as was advertised. Are you suggesting that we should just pay the money even though a substantial amount of what was being sold is not there? Would you pay the same for a house in a 1/4 acre plot as an identical one in an acre, because that's the difference we're talking about here.

What details do you want?

You haven't exchanged so there is nothing to force you to buy the house. You are completely free to (a) look elsewhere or (b) try and negotiate a reduction. You can put your view forward to the seller regarding the price but he doesn't have to listen. If you've been the only viewer and he's had no other offers you may be in a strong position. If there has been a lot of competition he may laugh at you and walk away.

The question really is - How much do you want that house at that price? Try it on with the seller but be prepared to put up or shut up (so to speak).

Keep us informed.:T

TamTam72

Debt_Free_Chick wrote:

It's not missing - it was never there in the first place.

Interesting, as you cannot absorb agricultural land into "garden" without applying for change of use. Nevertheless, you are describing extra land that actually existed. In your case, the land doesn't exist.

Yes, I guess the point I'm trying to make is that if we wanted to purchase a piece of land in order to make the existing plot into 2 acres, there would be a cost attached to that, and I have been trying to ascertain what that cost might be in order to renegotiate our offer, whilst remaining fair to the vendor.

Debt_Free_Chick wrote:

Finally - what would you like the outcome to be? If you want to pay less, then you should simply revise your offer - before you exchange contracts - and wait for the seller's response.

Yes, we'd like to pay less for it! We haven't exchanged, and this isn't the only 'issue' with the house. IMO, the vendor is being unreasonable by expecting us to stick to our original offer. We'll see I guess....

TamTam72

rosysparkle wrote:

Have you exchanged?

Not yet - there have been several other issues which we have had to deal with.

bs0u0128

surely you did your offer based on visually seeing the place, not the paper details, so visually you must have thought the amount of land there was decent enough to put an offer in?

therefore what difference does it make if it is 1 acre or 4 acres? if you were happy with the sizing, the figures on paper arent really relative are they? if you were happy to offer x amount based on what you SAW visually, why kick a fuss up with, overall, equates to an amount of land thats not worth that much hassle??

pusscat

My Dad has just looked at splitting of some of his land from the house. The agents advised him that the value of the house would drop by less than £10k if he removed up to an acre from a 1.5 acre garden/paddock, this is on a £400k plus house.

The EA's advice was that it really made very little difference to the price - whether a large garden is 2/3rd of an acre or 1.2 acres is pretty irrelevant to most purchasers.

You are perfectly correct that it is your preogative to drop your offer, it is also the sellers perogative not to accept your lower offer.

HTH

Puss