Seller wants more money for fixture that was in property description

DJ_Mike

We recently agreed a purchase, subject to contract, for a property whose garden includes a fixture stated (in the estate agent's listing) as being part of the property. However, having accepted our offer some weeks ago, our seller is just now telling us that, due to the sale price of the house being less than they originally wanted, they will only leave that fixture for an additional price. At no time in the offer negotiation was this stated so, naturally, we're now rather annoyed that something we thought was included is now being excluded unless we pony up more cash.

Is the seller legally allowed to do this having already accepted the offer for the property as described? Our solicitors (and indeed the seller's estate agent) say we should counter-argue for them to include this given it would have formed part of the conditions we made the offer under, but since this is a new situation for us I'd appreciate any insights or experiences anyone else might have.

alchemist.1

Yes they can. They can do whatever until exchange of contract.

Estate Agent may be in trouble though for advertising as such.

Justice13075

If you have to pay for this fixture tell the estate agent you will be taking that amount off their bill.

booksurr

you have not exchanged contracts and only when you do so is a definitive list of fixtures and fittings included along with an agreed price for said items. You are still at the stage of drafting the list to be exchanged so nothing is yet finalised

if your solicitor has not told you this then they are an appalling solicitor so watch out for other mistakes they may make

booksurr

Justice13075 wrote: »

If you have to pay for this fixture tell the estate agent you will be taking that amount off their bill.

I take it you have never bought a property?

fed_up_and_stressed

You need a new solicitor then ! Just think about it .. Whats the point of say a search or a survey if you were bound by the offer you had put in before then. I assume your solicitor then also has never heard of the concepts of gazundering or gazumping either !

Either party can renegotiate and propose changes to the agreement or drop out at any point till exchange. It is only at this point any agreement becomes binding. As that is the point both parties accept the agreement.

alchemist.1

Justice13075 wrote: »

If you have to pay for this fixture tell the estate agent you will be taking that amount off their bill.

Erm the OP won't be paying the Estate Agent.

Nick_C

How much do you really want this particular property? Sellers who act this way are within their rights, but I think they may be trouble. If you let them get away with this, they may well push you again for more money a few weeks down the line once you have spent further time or money.

Unless this is you dream house, I would say "include the fixture in the sale for the agreed price or we withdraw the offer".

DJ_Mike

fed_up_and_stressed wrote: »

You need a new solicitor then ! Just think about it .. Whats the point of say a search or a survey if you were bound by the offer you had put in before then. I assume your solicitor then also has never heard of the concepts of gazundering or gazumping either !

Either party can renegotiate and propose changes to the agreement or drop out at any point till exchange. It is only at this point any agreement becomes binding. As that is the point both parties accept the agreement.

Sorry, I feel I've misrepresented what our solicitor actually told us - they haven't said the seller is *legally* bound to do this. (After all, they aren't even legally bound to sell us the house yet!)

All they have said is that if the sale price was agreed without any indication the described fixture was no longer to be included, they would counter-argue it should be. Ultimately that is part of what solicitors are there for - to argue over what the buyer and seller both want out of an agreed sale price. Obviously, if the seller decides they want to remove everything including the kitchen sink before agreeing to the sale, that is their prerogative - only that that's not what we agreed to buy for the price, nor would we continue to offer that price if that were the case.

It does sound like we simply have to play the hard negotiation game - frankly, we think the cost of removing the fixture is going to be almost as much (if not more) than they are asking for it to be left alone, so I'm almost tempted to call their bluff.

Thanks for the responses!

amibovvered

Do you actually want the item? Is it easy to remove? Years ago, my vendors (otherwise reasonable in every respect) wanted to charge me for a stone trough in the front garden. I wasn't prepared to pay for it, so said I didn't want it, but when we moved in it was still there anyway - it was too heavy to move easily.

DJ_Mike

Nick_C wrote: »

How much do you really want this particular property? Sellers who act this way are within their rights, but I think they may be trouble. If you let them get away with this, they may well push you again for more money a few weeks down the line once you have spent further time or money.

Unless this is you dream house, I would say "include the fixture in the sale for the agreed price or we withdraw the offer".

It isn't our dream house - in fact it was our second choice after we lost the house we really wanted due to its seller pulling out. Our feeling is that we don't particularly want to kowtow to demands for more money for the same reason you indicate - it just gives power to the seller to squeeze us for more money later.

They are asking for just over half of what it cost to buy and install. The cost isn't huge - but for what they're asking, our feeling is that we would rather they just take it and we can buy a new one to our own taste rather than paying them more money for their old one. But then, we think the cost of removing it and reinstalling it is going to be what they're asking us for anyway!