Buyer trying to guzzunder us.

Bo&aro

VintageHistorian wrote: »

Honestly, 5 weeks isn't much in the grand scheme of things, it took our vendors agents that long just to issue the memoranda of sale. 15 weeks in then it might be a problem, close to exchange then it would be a problem, but you're still only just off the starting blocks.

I'd refuse it, and to give them a shock I'd inform the agent that you want your property back on the market by Tuesday morning. Stick it up with an open day for Saturday if possible (you'll get more people through the door), but it should focus your buyers minds on how far they want to play this game.

Thanks for the advice. I genuinely felt this we be a quick process as dealing with an investor. Did not take into account he has no emotional tie to the property unlike us and the house we have fallen in love with.

Bo&aro

G_M wrote: »

Tell your estate agent

a) to put the property back on the market

b) to tell the buyer the price is non-negotiable

c) and to tell the buyer you'll continue the sale to him if:

i) he confirms he is happy with the price as originally agreed and
ii) he demonstrates his commitment by completing a survey within 5 days
iii) and that if he does i) & ii) above you will then take the property back off the market

Thank you for this. Very good advice. My gut instinct tells me he will simply walk. Which at the end of the day is far better for us. I may well be copying and pasting this off to our EA in the morning.

AnotherJoe

Bo&aro wrote: »

Thanks for the advice. I genuinely felt this we be a quick process as dealing with an investor. Did not take into account he has no emotional tie to the property unlike us and the house we have fallen in love with.

Not only that he has no emotional ties to you, it’s a pure business transaction and a method he can try with multiple sellers, eventually he’ll find one that caves in and get his next deal at well under market price. If it’s not you it will be the next person he tries this with, if not them,the next one and so on. It’s a simple strategy with an almost guaranteed payback as long as he’s not ina rush.

Probably he justifies it (if he thinks he needs to) because it saves him the extra SDLT he’s paying each time. And if he has any conscience he probably satisfies that by telling himself that it helped you buy the property you wanted and that also it was your free decision, you weren’t obliged to take his offer.

From your POV the danger is even if you are utterly desperate to buy your ongoing purchase, if you crumble now you have the danger of him demanding a further reduction the day before exchange. In a way you are lucky he didn’t wait until then but did it early on.

Incidentally this is why it’s not always advantageous to be a cash buyer people don't always trust them even if they are buying a residence for themselves.

P.s he may not conduct a survey so making him do one doesn’t help you and in any case the cost is trivial,compared to the reduction he is asking / might ask in future.

I didn’t do a survey on my last house, as a cash buyer I had no mortgage company making it mandatory. I don’t know what other mechanism you can use to ensure he won’t try a last minute gazunder,, it might be better to simply keep it on the market until exchange, if he is genuine and a real cash buyer he can move much faster than people who need mortgages and searches (I don’t bother with searches either it wasn’t necessary) he can just get on and get it done.

n217970

Bo&aro wrote: »

Unfortunately we are in a rush as I’ve stated and risk loosing the house we are in the process of buying.

I had the exact scenario, investor buyer dropping the price all the time putting my purchase in jepordy. I actually think he had insider information as the timing of his drops at key moments in my purchase were impeccable - literally the phone would ring with his new "offer" and as I hung up my vendors estate agents would ring to advise of some progress (he had professional links to a number of local estate agents). Anyway long story on the third attemped drop I told him and my own EA to Foxtrot Oscar. Lost the purchase but bought somewhere much better in the end. It's part of the game unfortunately.

The only advice I can give is that when you go back on the market insist on no investors. They don't care about the house just profit. Find someone who wants the house as thier home and they will be much more interested in buying it.

Crashy_Time

ACG wrote: »

I would rather cut my arm off with a blunt rusty knife than deal with someone like that.

Dont acknowledge it.
Call the agents and ask them re-list but to not go back to the buyer.

If they come back chasing for an update, maybe suggest they offer what was agreed and put £5k in to a solicitors account where if they play daft games again, they lose it. What happens if they back down and then play daft games again a day before exchange?

Who would agree to that, there will be plenty of sellers out there ready to drop 15k for a sale? To the OP, if you have other better offers take them, if this is it and you need to sell take this one.

PokerPlayer111

AnotherJoe wrote: »

Not necessarily. They may well think its worth it or more otherwise why did they offer the price in the first place. More likely they also think they have the OP over a barrel.

They may well have offered more in the first place due to estate agents pushing the sale. People pay too much for stuff all the time and regret it just as people try to get stuff for cheap.

Its all speculation, only thing we can be sure of is what is the offer.

If the property is worth the asking price just put it back on the market, the fear of losing buyer is making me think it might not be worth asking price.

luckypotato

Put the property back on the market immediately - remember this guy was only your second viewer. Under no circumstances negotiate. Hold your nerve. Good luck!

GreenSnake

So did this would be buyer give any reason for dropping their offer by £15k?