Buyers' solicitor arguing over blinds

hazyjo

1. Ask the EA to reduce their fee by £200 (especially as it appears to be their fault).

2. Give in. I really am not one to give in and will cut my nose off to spite my face, but in this instance I would. Just sold and reluctantly replaced the broken dishwasher as our buyers wouldn't accept cash (think I offered £140). Cost nearly £500 after we'd had a plumber, an engineer and a new dishwasher/fitting/removal. Not happy, but now we're in, it's not a big deal.

For once - I'd not threaten to put it back on the market over this. If they tried it on asking for say £10k (or even £5k) off the price, I would tell them where to stick it.

It's a very stressful process, so try not to sweat the small stuff. tbh I would totally expect blinds to be left anyway. Who removes blinds?! Surely they just fit the windows at the old house!

glasgowdan

I find it unusual to hear that you're trying to squeeze £200 more out of them for something you don't need. What are you charging them extra for the carpets and wallpaper? Blinds are important to buyers so they have privacy in the initial few weeks while unpacking and getting settled. I've never heard of someone extorting more money from a buyer for blinds.

harrys_dad

It is a game of bluff and double bluff, who wants/needs the sale/purchase more. I understand the "don't lose a sale for £200" argument, but sometimes this can be just one step in a constant litany of "demands". In this case, lower price, boiler indemnity, blinds, and the vendor thinks "what next"?

I sold my last house for what was thought by all parties to be a fair price, but always made it clear that if the buyer wanted me to leave the carpets they would be £500. They intimated they wanted them, but wanted then for free. We exchanged contracts, not including carpets, but they still acted as If I would just leave them by default. The evening before we moved, with an almost empty house, I paid a carpet fitter friend £20 to lift and roll the carpets, which were duly moved and placed in the cellar of my new house awaiting a use. Three years later the smell down there left me the job of removing said rotting carpets to the tip.

Was I being small minded? Probably. Did it bother me? Not at all. Sometimes you just have to say to a buyer "enough". I do appreciate that this discussion took place after exchange so the sale was safe, not quite like the OP. I suspect the OP will say no to leaving the blinds without cash, the buyer will accept this, but just like my buyer will expect them to be left anyway. In that case will you actually make the effort to take them down OP?

Margot123

harrys_dad wrote: »

It is a game of bluff and double bluff, who wants/needs the sale/purchase more. I understand the "don't lose a sale for £200" argument, but sometimes this can be just one step in a constant litany of "demands". In this case, lower price, boiler indemnity, blinds, and the vendor thinks "what next"?

I sold my last house for what was thought by all parties to be a fair price, but always made it clear that if the buyer wanted me to leave the carpets they would be £500. They intimated they wanted them, but wanted then for free. We exchanged contracts, not including carpets, but they still acted as If I would just leave them by default. The evening before we moved, with an almost empty house, I paid a carpet fitter friend £20 to lift and roll the carpets, which were duly moved and placed in the cellar of my new house awaiting a use. Three years later the smell down there left me the job of removing said rotting carpets to the tip.

Was I being small minded? Probably. Did it bother me? Not at all. Sometimes you just have to say to a buyer "enough". I do appreciate that this discussion took place after exchange so the sale was safe, not quite like the OP. I suspect the OP will say no to leaving the blinds without cash, the buyer will accept this, but just like my buyer will expect them to be left anyway. In that case will you actually make the effort to take them down OP?

A little more information about my sale may help put this into perspective.
I am acting as an executor for several beneficiaries, and the house is a Probate sale, so not in the typical situation; there are several 'hands in the pie' who arguing over just a few quid!
The matter is somewhat ridiculous TBH.

However, this morning I have told my solicitor to amend the form and let the buyers know that the blinds will be included FREE of charge as a gesture of goodwill.

Overruled the beneficiaries and on my head be it :-)

Nobbie1967

Margot123 wrote: »

A little more information about my sale may help put this into perspective.
I am acting as an executor for several beneficiaries, and the house is a Probate sale, so not in the typical situation; there are several 'hands in the pie' who arguing over just a few quid!
The matter is somewhat ridiculous TBH.

However, this morning I have told my solicitor to amend the form and let the buyers know that the blinds will be included FREE of charge as a gesture of goodwill.

Overruled the beneficiaries and on my head be it :-)

Good decision, I don't envy your position.

AnotherJoe

Margot123 wrote: »

A little more information about my sale may help put this into perspective.
I am acting as an executor for several beneficiaries, and the house is a Probate sale, so not in the typical situation; there are several 'hands in the pie' who arguing over just a few quid!
The matter is somewhat ridiculous TBH.

However, this morning I have told my solicitor to amend the form and let the buyers know that the blinds will be included FREE of charge as a gesture of goodwill.

Overruled the beneficiaries and on my head be it :-)

Interesting, since you could also have used the beneficiaries as an excuse to depersonalize the situation and make it look liek its not you being awkward, eg "look I'd love to have given them for free but there are 10 beneficiaries all wanting the maximum and one is in outer mongolia and cant be reached until next march and we'd have to have unanimous agreement etc etc "

OTOH presumably you've thought "its ten of us so it comes down to £20 each so scr*w it lets get this off my hands"

bowlhead99

AnotherJoe wrote: »

OTOH presumably you've thought "its ten of us so it comes down to £20 each so scr*w it lets get this off my hands"

Exactly, while an executor has a duty to make best efforts to realise the assets on behalf of the estate, presumably none of the beneficiaries actually want a one-tenth share of the blinds for themselves, and just want to extract cash where practical.

The second-hand value of the blinds at a car boot sale or ebay, less expenses and hassle to sell, is not going to be close to what they originally cost to source as new items to fit perfectly into the space in the property. If the agent has said as part of his sales pitch that they were included you could understand the buyer wanting a price reduction if it turns out on the legal documentation that actually the seller doesn't want to include them after all. The options in that case are really just to say 'sorry, honest mistake, there's no reduction' and see what happens, or to throw them in as a goodwill gesture in an effort to help the sale complete quicker.

While there may not have been a 'hurry' to sell, there is clearly some tangible value in unblocking the sales value of the entire property for the beneficiaries so they can save / invest their respective share of the proceeds ASAP - rather than going back to the market and finding a different buyer over the quiet Christmas period and hoping you get offered just as much or more for the property. I'd have given up arguing the toss too!

googler

Margot123 wrote: »

However, this morning I have told my solicitor to amend the form and let the buyers know that the blinds will be included FREE of charge as a gesture of goodwill.

I've said this before on these forums, but you wouldn't be in this position if the E&W house buying/selling system were reorganised in line with the Scottish system.

The buyers would have made you an offer, at the outset, which specified what was to be included in or excluded from the purchase. A typical standard clause in this respect is as follows;

"FIXTURES, FITTINGS & CONTENTS
The Property is sold with:
(a) all heritable fittings and fixtures;
(b) all items of whatever nature fixed or fitted to the Property the removal of which would materially damage the fabric or decoration of the Property;
(c) all items stated to be included in the sales particulars or advertisements made available to the Purchaser; and
(d) the following insofar as any were in the Property when viewed by the Purchaser:
garden shed or hut, greenhouse, summerhouse; all growing plants, shrubs, trees (except those in plant pots); all types of blinds, pelmets, curtain rails and runners, curtain poles and rings thereon; all carpets and floorcoverings (but excluding loose
rugs), stair carpet fixings; fitted bedroom furniture; all bathroom and cloakroom mirrors, bathroom and toilet fittings; kitchen units; all cookers, hobs, ovens, washing machines, dishwashers, fridges and freezers if integral to or encased within matching units; extractor hoods, extractor tans, electric storage heaters, electric fires, electric light fittings (including all fluorescent lighting, external lighting, wall lights, dimmer switches and bulbs and bulb holders but not shades); television aerials and associated cables and sockets, satellite dishes; loft ladders; rotary clothes driers; burglar alarm, other security systems and associated equipment; secondary glazing; shelving, fireplace surround units, fire grates, fenders and associated ironmongery.

The Seller warrants that at the Date of Settlement all items included in the Price are owned by the Seller, are or will be free of all debt, and are not the subject of any litigation.

The Seller undertakes that the Property will be left in a clean and tidy condition at settlement,"

Whilst the standard clauses can be over-ridden by conditions included in the offer, acceptance of an offer based on such a standard clause constitutes agreement to such inclusions and exclusions, and with this agreed at offer & acceptance stage, you wouldn't be arguing about it weeks later.

ReadingTim

AnotherJoe wrote: »

Interesting, since you could also have used the beneficiaries as an excuse to depersonalize the situation and make it look liek its not you being awkward, eg "look I'd love to have given them for free but there are 10 beneficiaries all wanting the maximum and one is in outer mongolia and cant be reached until next march and we'd have to have unanimous agreement etc etc "

OTOH presumably you've thought "its ten of us so it comes down to £20 each so scr*w it lets get this off my hands"

What's more interesting is whether the OP is, or is not, a beneficiary as well as the executor. Somehow I feel they might be.

And it's hardly a gesture of magnanimous goodwill either - financial recognition (recompense) for poor communication or an inaccurate fixtures and fittings form more like.

rtho782

When we were FTBs the vendors asked for £100 for the blinds. Seemed stupid as they were made to fit the windows etc, what were they going to do with them otherwise, sell them for scrap metal?

It annoyed us but we paid it. There were other issues anyway.