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Outbid by Dodgy Buyer
JonnyBeef
Posts: 5 Forumite
About a month ago I offered £250k for a house that was on for £270k but was never likely to beat the stamp duty limit.
Today I have found out that someone else has offered £255k which includes £5k for fixtures and fittings. I would match this bid but there is no way the stuff in the house is worth this much so it would be a con. The house belonged to an old guy and everything needs replacing.
I feel a bit annoyed losing out to someone who is willing to lie in this way.:mad:
I don't really have a question but just wanted to get this off my chest.
Cheers,
Jon
Today I have found out that someone else has offered £255k which includes £5k for fixtures and fittings. I would match this bid but there is no way the stuff in the house is worth this much so it would be a con. The house belonged to an old guy and everything needs replacing.
I feel a bit annoyed losing out to someone who is willing to lie in this way.:mad:
I don't really have a question but just wanted to get this off my chest.
Cheers,
Jon
0
Comments
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Include £6k for fixtures & fittings and offer £256k.0
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It's business, don't take it personally.
You're either willing to pay or you're not.0 -
That could possibly be investigated, know someone its just happened to.0
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If you play the game know the rules.........and how to bend them ;-)0
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It's quite common to offer a reduced house selling price but bump up on the fixtures and fittings to avoid stamp duty threshold.
It's okay, provided the value of the fixtures and fittings is reasonable (ie, £5k sounds fine, £20k would not be and would attract the taxman's attention).Anger ruins joy, it steals the goodness of my mind. Forces me to say terrible things. Overcoming anger brings peace of mind, a mind without regret. If I overcome anger, I will be delightful and loved by everyone.0 -
I've asked my solicitor about this before and he doesn't recommend it at all. There's a big difference in the rate of stamp duty at that limit and a sale of 250k plus fixtures and fittings may well arounse suspicion.MFW 2019#24 £9474.89/£11000 MFW 2018#24 £23025.41/£15000
MFi3 v5 #53 £12531/
MFi3 v4 #53 £59442/£393870 -
It is very dodgy behaviour. When we sold our house (still in process of going through) I'm sure we had to sign something to say we weren't accepting cash or anything as part-payment that would lower or avoid Stamp Duty.
That would be tax evasion...0 -
Well it is only tax evasion if the fixtures and fittings don't exist and it's being used as tax avoidance only, otherwise it's a perfectly acceptable arrangement.
Just make sure what the paperwork says is in the house, actually is, and the agreed amount is reasonable for the items in their current condition.0 -
I would be angry at the sellers rather than the new buyers, if they had accepted your offer and now have dumped you. It's not uncommon for houses to go for £250k + fixtures and fittings, but I have only seen it slip past when the amount was less than £2k. £5k may arouse interest from taxman...especially if "someone" bought it to their attention...Don't see the point anymore in offering advice to people who only want to be agreed with...0
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tax man looks at all sold prices "just over the 250k limit" as routine
Its really really not worth going down this road I'm afraid.....
can back first statement with eg's etc if anyone interested0
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