Negotiation

catgirl2

I'm trying to decide whether and how much to negotiate on the flat I'm buying. What do you think of my options below?

I'm close to exchange and not at all keen to go through the process again but the costs are much higher than expected - the details are in my earlier post so I won't repeat them here. My heart says "do it and be done with it" but my head is still very much in two minds about whether I should go through with it.

Option 1. is to ask for them to pay the roughly 1000 for urgent gas and electrical work. I think I'd walk away if they didn't agree. OK that may not be strictly rational, but since I'm in two minds about the whole deal at least it would make my mind up, plus it would just make me angry if they didn't agree to that. 1000 is small compared to the price but right now it would make a difference. It seems a reasonable seller would agree to this. Downside is maybe they'd try to negotiate back on that, I'd get angry and walk!

Another option is to ask for 5 or 10k off, citing all the maintenance that's coming up soon, and the fact the survey says it's worth 10k less than the price we agreed. One part of me says that takes the price closer to where it should be based on recent sales and property condition. Another part of me says the seller will just abandon me for another buyer - I don't know too much about them though he's buy to let and I know he wants to buy another place with the money soon. Yet another part of me says I should try my luck.

The other option of course is to not negotiate.

I suppose my biggest question is whether the seller might walk away just at the suggestion of significant negotiation, say 5k, at this point. Or even at 1k. Taking the current London insanity into account...

Thanks again for all answers, big or small, good news or bad!

catgirl2

Sorry to post again, but does anybody have any advice? Or just personal opinions on what you would do...

Thrugelmir

If your heart isn't set on purchasing the property, walk away.

Late negotiations rarely go down well.

PerpetualStudent

I'm pretty new to this game too - but from what I've experienced buying a flat in London over the past few months, there's always someone ready to step in with a easier/higher offer than yours - was your offer accepted right off the bat? Do you have any idea if other offers were made, and roughly what for (yes, allowing for the fact estate agents can lie through their teeth)?