Help! buyer wants price reduction rather late on!

sooty&sweep

Hi

Has the buyer's mortgage survey identified concern about the roof or is it something they''ve identified themselves. ?
If it's not in the mortgage survey and they''ve chosen a roofing company they''ve worked with before I'd be concerned that they'd influenced what went in the report. Personally I'd either get a second opinion from another roofing firm to check the validity of the quote or tell them no. They''ve already invested money in buying your house through paying for surveys etc so may be worth calling their bluff.

Jen

chickaroonee

Definitely ask to see the surveyor's report.

Going4TheDream

Sponge wrote: »

Agreed. Say the current price reflects the current condition.

I think they're trying it on. The roof may well need a few minor repairs (most do ), there's no way for us to know, but it may well only need a few hundred to sort. Anything more could just be 'betterment' and unreasonable for you to pay for, even slightly. I think their expert has inflated the price to put the frighteners on you, with a view to negotiate a lower, but still too high, price/discount.

Consider getting your own person in to give it a once over. You could get this done in a day or two. (I've done it.)

I agree with this, If they had a survey done (not just the mortgage valuation survey) then the roof would have been picked up on and any mortgage offer would have reflected this?

The mortgage company seems to think the property reflects what they are prepared to lend and if the roof was very bad they would have perhaps offered less or held a slight amount back pending the repairs being carried out and you would have already been advised of this?

MissMoneypenny

Do you want the sale to go ahead? If yes, then you will need to speak to the buyer to try to sort some middle ground. Keep calm, and don't demand to see things or else you will just get their back up and then they may end the sale. They have already let you see a copy of the report and this was a firm used by your agent, not one of their friends.

They are concerned about the extra cost of repairs that need doing and now you need to sort what is lowest they will take to get this sale to go ahead. You already know that the highest it will take to get this problem sorted, is 5k.

Then get your solicitor involved when you can go to them with some options that you and the buyers mutualy sorted. I wouldn't want the delay (or the charges) that using a solicitor at the 'what can we do to sort this' stage, would cause.

If the sale falls through because there is a problem with the cost of roof repairs, then you will almost certainly find yourself back at this place again with your next buyer and the one after that; until you get a buyer who misses the roof repairs.

I hate selling property; it can be so stressful as the buyer has the upperhand.

Hermoine

reheat wrote: »

Firstly, and very importantly, why are you not doing all this through your conveyancing solicitor?! You could end up in all sorts of a pickle by agreeing or disagreeing with anything off your own back, or via the EA! And your conveyencer should be able to help assist with the way to go. Are you on a fixed price conveyancing agreement?

If the reduction is for work to be carried out then it's not a new offer as such, just an agreed amount tacked into the existing agreement, which didn't impact our timescales when we bought our house and agreed to go halves on woodworm treatment needed in roof space.

Your buyer could be genuine, or could just as easily be pulling a flanker to get more money off. Firstly I would ask via your conveyancer to see a copy of the quote please, which is a very reasonable thing to ask. As much as anything else this lets them know you are not going to just blindly run where they point you. And it also susses whether they really have had a quote done. If it's a roofer they know, who's to say he's not done an inflated quote anyway, and might be in for a back-hander?! Ask your conveyancer if you should get your own quote done?

Then if the numbers really are as stated, offer £2000 off - again via your conveyancer! Even though you might be prepared to go further, need to give buyer the strong impression that that is it - no debate about it (even though if they bargain hard you might really be prepared to debate it). And needs to be done so as not to turn buyer right off.

But if you do this without your conveyancer's involvement you might spend money you didn't need to spend, or cause aggo you could have avoided.

My solicitor is aware that this is happening - but the initial approach about the need to do the work came from the buyer via the estate agent, who also found the roofing firm and sent me a copy of their report. They seem to have been talking to the buyer quite a bit and have a sense of what the buyer is like - so I want to talk to them again (the person who's had dealings with the buyer was off on Friday), and also talk to my solicitor again.

Hermoine

MissMoneypenny wrote: »

Do you want the sale to go ahead? If yes, then you will need to speak to the buyer to try to sort some middle ground. Keep calm, and don't demand to see things or else you will just get their back up and then they may end the sale. They have already let you see a copy of the report and this was a firm used by your agent, not one of their friends.

They are concerned about the extra cost of repairs that need doing and now you need to sort what is lowest they will take to get this sale to go ahead. You already know that the highest it will take to get this problem sorted, is 5k.

Then get your solicitor involved when you can go to them with some options that you and the buyers mutualy sorted. I wouldn't want the delay (or the charges) that using a solicitor at the 'what can we do to sort this' stage, would cause.

If the sale falls through because there is a problem with the cost of roof repairs, then you will almost certainly find yourself back at this place again with your next buyer and the one after that; until you get a buyer who misses the roof repairs.

I hate selling property; it can be so stressful as the buyer has the upperhand.

Thank you - I do want the sale to go ahead, because otherwise my purchase is unlikely to happen and I'll be back to the beginning again having wasted quite a lot of money in legal fees, mortgage fees etc etc.. And that is a good point that future buyers will probably pick up on the roof next time round. It would just have been better if I hadn't reduced the price so substantially beforehand! I would say that I'll learn from this experience, but I am really hoping not to move again for quite some time!!:(

ValHaller

ognum wrote: »

It has to be your call. I would however say that I will drop xk but this is providing contracts are exchanged within 5 days otherwise the price reverts.

Thanks. You have convinced me - this is a carefully crafted gazunder. Such a roof survey follows on straight after the original survey. Not after dragging things out for weeks. Because I think that the ultimatum to exchange contracts has already been anticipated and their legal work is in place so that the contract would be exchanged very quickly once the gazunder was accepted.

I am with kingstreet. Ask to see the mortgage report and valuation. If the valuation of the property corresponds with the agreed price then I would be putting the property back on the market.

MissMoneypenny

Hermoine wrote: »

It would just have been better if I hadn't reduced the price so substantially beforehand! I would say that I'll learn from this experience, but I am really hoping not to move again for quite some time!!:(

If you hadn't had reduced the price, then you could still be looking for a buyer. You will never know. Don't let it stress you out (too much). Opportunities always look bigger going, than they did coming.

MissMoneypenny

ValHaller wrote: »

I am with kingstreet. Ask to see the mortgage report and valuation. If the valuation of the property corresponds with the agreed price then I would be putting the property back on the market.

Why would you demand that from the buyer and risk putting their back up and ending the sale or any chance of negotiation? You can get your own up to date valuation done to see if the house is worth more than being paid and then decide if you think it would be easy to find a buyer at that price. Although they are only just a valuation and not sold prices.

Or you can use the various sites (for free and instantly) to see what flats have actually sold for in the area. i.e http://www.nethouseprices.com/

AlexMac

Sympathies Hermione; I can't add to the advice from Reheat (agree, refuse and risk the sale, negotiatecompromise) and others who suggest going back via your lawyer, hopefully with their constructive advice; after all they've seen it all before and this is nothing new. It's regrettable that in the current 'buyers' market it's easy for people with no financial interest to advise you to talk tough, but harder for you to do this! At least it's not an example of the worst kind of 'gazundering'; forcing a reduction via last minute brinkmanship games for no reason at all.

In similar circumstances a few years ago, when after agreement on a price, our buyer got a full structural survey from a mate with RICS which rubbished our house to justify a price-drop, my OH wanted to tell them to stuff their offer. In the event I suggested we compromise and in the end, we split the difference after we rebutted some of their points and conceded on others. Luckily, you are already taking a more balanced and philosophical approach. And it never hurts to sleep on it, as you have to, before agreeing a way forward with your conveyancer next week. Good luck