Offer Accepted But Items Included With Sale Changed

horz

Hi there,

I had an offer accepted on a property in Streatham at the end of April, and after applying for a mortgage at the beginning of May am awaiting an offer - apparently the application is in the final stages of checking. I have appointed a solicitor who has received required documents from the seller, and sent for searches.

After negotiation I made the offer on the basis that all white goods were included. I have now received the Property Information form which indicates the freestanding appliances (washing machine, fridge freezer) are excluded from the sale. I spoke with the estate agent to confirm the basis of our offer and he agreed all white goods were included.

It has also come to light that service charges are approximately £2400 annually, where I had been informed these would be in the region of £1600.

I don’t have any way to contact the seller directly as the estate agent wouldn’t pass on their details. I’d like to find out whether the seller intends to remove the washing machine and fridge freezer. Once this is confirmed I initially feel that I would like to amend our offer based on the fact I will be £800 a year worse off than expected, and may have to purchase white goods in addition.

How should I take these issues forward? Should I go through my solicitor or the estate agent? I would prefer to conduct this sort of negotiation directly with the seller as it becomes more difficult when communications are passed through third parties.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Guest101

The seller has appointed a contact for you to use, so that's who you speak to.

HappyMJ

horz wrote: »

Hi there,

I had an offer accepted on a property in Streatham at the end of April, and after applying for a mortgage at the beginning of May am awaiting an offer - apparently the application is in the final stages of checking. I have appointed a solicitor who has received required documents from the seller, and sent for searches.

After negotiation I made the offer on the basis that all white goods were included. I have now received the Property Information form which indicates the freestanding appliances (washing machine, fridge freezer) are excluded from the sale. I spoke with the estate agent to confirm the basis of our offer and he agreed all white goods were included.

It has also come to light that service charges are approximately £2400 annually, where I had been informed these would be in the region of £1600.

I don’t have any way to contact the seller directly as the estate agent wouldn’t pass on their details. I’d like to find out whether the seller intends to remove the washing machine and fridge freezer. Once this is confirmed I initially feel that I would like to amend our offer based on the fact I will be £800 a year worse off than expected, and may have to purchase white goods in addition.

How should I take these issues forward? Should I go through my solicitor or the estate agent? I would prefer to conduct this sort of negotiation directly with the seller as it becomes more difficult when communications are passed through third parties.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

The seller does not have to negotiate directly with you.

You should amend your offer and be prepared for the seller to refuse your amended offer. Nothing is binding until you exchange contracts.

You would normally make a separate cash offer for any "freestanding" appliances to avoid paying SDLT on them.

You go through your solicitor to make an amended offer.

The estate agent has done all they need to do. They've found a buyer for the seller and the only thing left for them to do is take the keys from the seller and hand them to the buyer. They aren't involved with contractual matters.

eddddy

horz wrote: »

How should I take these issues forward? Should I go through my solicitor or the estate agent? I would prefer to conduct this sort of negotiation directly with the seller as it becomes more difficult when communications are passed through third parties.

The EA should be a professional negotiator, and they want the sale to complete, so I'd be tempted to do any negotiations via the EA.

Obviously, the EA will push back very hard, and tell you that you are being unreasonable.

If you refuse to back down, the EA might push the seller very hard to accept your reduced offer - because the EA wants their fee asap.

Or the EA may decide that you sound like you're going to be a problem buyer, and advise the seller to look for other buyers.


(You could revise the offer via the solicitor - but solicitors aren't negotiators, so the seller would eventually get a cold, 'matter-of-fact' letter. And it would probably be two weeks before you get a reply. Using the EA, you might get a reply in 30 mins.)

Hoploz

Neither the seller nor the EA can affect the service charges, so if there's a difference in that you'll need to decide whether you wish to go ahead or not. They are what they are, and you've discovered now, rather than when you got your first bill.

The white goods may be obtainable. It might be that the sellers circumstances have changed, they thought they wouldn't need them and now they do. It could be as simple as they ticked the wrong box, or the husband didnt think the wife wanted them. Again, nothing is signed and sealed, so ask the EA to ask them whether they definitely want them or not, or if they don't then they may decide to ask you to pay for them. (The EA is the best middleman to do this, as they will get straight on the phone and have it sorted, whereas the solicitors will write letters and wait for replies and a simple query sill take weeks to resolve.) Then you get the info the EA has told you in writing by way of an amendment to the fixtures and fittings form, which forms part of the contract.

Decide whether these things are worth losing the house over, or not.

horz

Thanks for the replies guys.

I'm fully aware that the seller can't change the service charges, but to me it seems like they weren't truthful with the EA when they advised £1600 per year when in actual fact they are £2400 per year.

The washing machine / fridge could be a genuine mistake as these are free standing appliances.

I will go through the EA, and get the seller to confirm whether they wish to keep the white goods. I will have to consider whether the service charges affect what I’m willing to apy for the property and take the negotiation from there.

Thanks!

poundsinbucks

When we had made an offer on the house we are in now, and it was accepted, I put a card in the post to the new house with my mobile number and a message suggesting we could get in touch with each other. I had so many questions the seller could easily answer but which would have been a real pain going through the EA. Direct contact was established, which benefitted both parties ;-)

HTH

Poundsinbucks x

TrickyDicky101

To be honest I would be a heck of a lot more concerned about the SC being £800 pa more than expected than whether or not second hand white goods are included in the sale.

horz

I agree, but I want to have all relevant information before going into re-negotiation - if the white goods are no longer included this puts us in a stronger position.

[Deleted User]

I'd be rather put off by the service charges as well.

HappyMJ

horz wrote: »

I agree, but I want to have all relevant information before going into re-negotiation - if the white goods are no longer included this puts us in a stronger position.

A second hand washing machine and fridge freezer would be worth less than £100 in total. It's not that important when you're buying something worth tens (if not hundreds) of thousands of pounds.

Wouldn't you rather buy your own new ones anyway? New ones would have a warranty...