offer accepted but condition for no reduction post survey

G_M

farmerboy wrote: »

How is it not enforcable? I know its not in law, but they own the house and are making their position clear they won't go any lower. So in a way it is enforcable as you would either have to continue or walk away.

unless they are bluffing of course.

Buyer might proceed, have survey, find problem and reduce offer despite the 'precondition'. Seller might accept rather than lose the sale. The precondition might simply be a means to try to ensure the original price is maintained.

there are of course other possible reasons for the condition:

* mortgage on property is 100%. If price is dropped seller might be in negative equity and unable to sell
* seller might be dependant on the agreed price to afford their onward move. If price is dropped, seller can't buy and decides to stay put
* seller might be in no hurry to move, have low motivation. eg inherited property. Low overheads (no mortgage, no council tax) so willing to wait till right price comes along

hi123

thanks for all suggestions
when i said unenforceable i meant both parties can walk away
seller would not have lost anything but i will lose survey charges etc

the house is not morgaged ,vendors have had it for more than 30 years and are downsizing to a much smaller property/living with relatives
i am not bluffing,i will have to walk away if precondition stays as i do need mortgage in proportion to the price i am paying and rest of my cash i need for modernising
awaiting response from vendors as they are out of country for next week

ognum

hi123 wrote: »

thanks for all suggestions
when i said unenforceable i meant both parties can walk away
seller would not have lost anything but i will lose survey charges etc

the house is not morgaged ,vendors have had it for more than 30 years and are downsizing to a much smaller property/living with relatives
i am not bluffing,i will have to walk away if precondition stays as i do need mortgage in proportion to the price i am paying and rest of my cash i need for modernising
awaiting response from vendors as they are out of country for next week

So now you are both making stupid preconditions, neither is enforceable.

They take away their ultimatum, you get survey try to negotiate, they say no, then what.

Just get on do the survey if you like the house and proceed from there instead of all this foolish foot stamping.

AdrianC

hi123 wrote: »

i am not bluffing,i will have to walk away if precondition stays as i do need mortgage in proportion to the price i am paying and rest of my cash i need for modernising

That has nothing whatsoever to do with the precondition.

All the precondition says is that when you get your survey back, any attempt to reduce the price will result a "No", so don't bother asking.

So - if your survey reveals more work than you thought, your choice is to walk away or continue at the same price. You can, of course, ask for a reduction - but you know in advance what the reaction is going to be, and you know in advance that the vendor will think you're a bit of a !!!!.

KRB2725

There will be a lot of vendors that won't renegotiate after survey, it's just that these one's have been open about it.

You withdrawn from the purchase & find another house where vendors don't have the precondition. You lower your offer after survey, they say no. What then?

You walk away from this house that you want (where there may be no issues anyway) to end up in potentially the same position?

If I was the vendor of the current property, the response you've gone back with would lead me to think it was your intention to lower your offer.

hi123

emmatthews wrote: »

There will be a lot of vendors that won't renegotiate after survey, it's just that these one's have been open about it.

You withdrawn from the purchase & find another house where vendors don't have the precondition. You lower your offer after survey, they say no. What then?

You walk away from this house that you want (where there may be no issues anyway) to end up in potentially the same position?

If I was the vendor of the current property, the response you've gone back with would lead me to think it was your intention to lower your offer.

And i think by insisting on the clause vendor is expecting some nasty discovery
I had not thought of renegotiating but became more worried aft the conditional acceptance
mistrust on both sides probably not a good start to house buying

kinger101

Even if as a vendor, you'd never reduce the price in a million years, it's a stupid thing to come out with. You might as well keep silent and cross that bridge when the results are back. The buyer is more likely to progress the sale if they've already spent £800 on a survey. If it were for say £2K of unexpected work.

If people want to sell "as is", they can stick it in an auction.

hi123

kinger101 wrote: »

Even if as a vendor, you'd never reduce the price in a million years, it's a stupid thing to come out with. You might as well keep silent and cross that bridge when the results are back. The buyer is more likely to progress the sale if they've already spent £800 on a survey. If it were for say £2K of unexpected work.

If people want to sell "as is", they can stick it in an auction.

Exactly what i felt
why insist on something you can always do anyway ,
its me as a buyer who would loose his costs of survey etc
its only led me to have mistrust and almost expecting problems on survey

ognum

hi123 wrote: »

Exactly what i felt
why insist on something you can always do anyway ,
its me as a buyer who would loose his costs of survey etc
its only led me to have mistrust and almost expecting problems on survey

Maybe because they want to be honest and up front with you. Your offer is 10% below asking so they need you to know they won't drop any further.

Seems to me you are objecting to their honesty.

G_M

A further possibility is that the vendor has already experienced (or heard of) buyers trying to renotiate after survey for silly things.

Let's face it - if you regularly read threads on this forum you'll find endless examples of FTBs who read a survey and panic. Many FTBs have no idea what is to be expected, what is a minor issue, and what is major. Some even expect an old property to have absolutley zero defects.

'Electrics don't conform to current standards' (they never do)
' Roof needs attention' (2 slipped tiles)
'high damp reading' (electric meter reading condensation, or 1 blocked gutter)

etc etc

Many buyers try to renegotiate price based on the above. If seller knows there is nothing wrong with the property, but does not want to get into arguement/discussion over stupidities, that might explain the condition.