GAZUNDERED! Bullied by buyer

FactualGnome

Looking for some vindication as to how I feel about this(!) but Im also using this post as a form of therapy from the stress! :mad:

We had fully renovated our property to an immaculate/high standard so it didnt surprise us that it only took a week to sell at asking price and we in fact had two (exact) offers well over the asking price!
It felt too good to be true...

Despite going over asking price it still didnt equate to the amount of money we've spent on this renovation obviously - but what im trying to convey is our buyers are getting a good house - we're only selling due to health reasons

Basically the ONE thing we didnt get re-done - a flat roof was picked up by the buyers survey...but despite the fact it does NOT leak/causes no problems its just 'old' - its been enough to scare the buyer.

We'd actually already gotten a quote for a new flat roof - which was £750.
We gave our quote to our buyer - however they wanted to arrange their own quotation.
Fair enough, if it came in cheaper...

But they went to a large roofing company(!) and the person whom came out to our property started off by looking at the wrong roof (they had thought they were quoting for a tiled roof)...
I then found out this roofer was not the person whom would provide the quotation - the quotation would be based upon photos and measurements.

I asked this guy if he considered it an urgent job and he said no.
I couldnt believe it when the quote came in at over £2,000.
...Until I realised they had quoted for a' Fibreglass' roof.

So aside from the fact this isnt infact an 'urgent' job - the buyer had requested a form of 'improvement' rather than 'replacement' of like for like felt roofing etc.
I figured it had been a mistake...

But no, our buyer only wants fibreglass roofing and refused our offer - to fully pay for the replacement roof.
(We had thought we were being generous by offering to pay for the replacement roofing considering it wasnt urgent work etc.)

We then caved in and agreed to pay 'our' roofer for the buyers requested improvement of 'fibreglass' roofing at his quotation - which was £1,200.

But our buyer has refused this.
Stating that our roofers quote is so cheap that they dont trust the work will be done properly!

Instead - they want a price reduction of £2k on our property or they will pull from the sale - which they say is reasonable as they have had 'another' roofing quotation which estimated the work (based again only on photographs) at....get ready to laugh...£5,000!!!!!

We have no proof of this ridiculous quotation.
And whats even more ridiculous is the person that gave them this quote is based at the other end of the country and thus WONT be doing the job.
Our estate agents had actually asked if they could see an extract from the survey that states this work was urgent before they put in for a price reduction - but the buyer refused to provide it. (I know they can legally refuse to show it to us)

Basically without any 'proof' of all of this, we are being asked to lower by £2k...

It doesnt really sound a lot/worth loosing a sale over we know, but we are truly struggling to find the funds to pay our legal fees at the end of all of this.
We are going to have to borrow the money or sell our belongings.
The buyer knows our personal situation - that I am due a serious operation shortly/that our situation is stressful enough...whilst they are set to make £130k selling their property.

Granted they put in an offer over our asking price - but:
* That offer WAS matched by another potential buyer,
* We chose to go with them as they were so passionate about our house and stated they would pay higher than any other buyer to have it.
* They are getting practically a 'new' house and we are leaving a lot for them
* AND to top it off I had showed the buyer this roof and stated to them that it was the only thing we haddnt renovated - so they had seen it for themselves BEFORE they put in that high offer.

I feel bullied, they know that we will agree just to go through with the sale - or we will loose the dream house we are buying.
So we're not even in a position to demand written proof of this ridiculous quotation or the survey extract...
For all we know they wont even get the roof done, but they get away with cutting us down by £2k for no good reason really.

We're obviously worried they have done this/been completely uncompromising - so what else can they do before contract exchange?

My questions are:
1) Can we lawfully demand any such 'proof' of work, or can a buyer request a reduction in price with absolutely no reason anyway?

2) As the price is now likely to reduce by £2k - can we retract our gestures toward leaving a lot within the property thats in 'our' solicitors paperwork? (ie blinds/curtains etc)

3) I have spent the weekend sprucing up the garden, wanting to make everything look nice and fresh for our buyers, creating them an info pack and generally trying to be helpful toward them...well now I want revenge for people like this existing in the world.
What could I do to make their move as difficult as possible?

SG27

Can you not call their bluff? Say no to the reduction and IF they then decide to pull out, contact the other buyer who offered the same?

[Deleted User]

Relist the property

FactualGnome

We had thought maybe this was all just a bluff as they now regretted being impulsive for putting in a high offer.
It does seem absolutely crazy why they'd do this (risk their own sale/chain) when they were so set on our house - but the threat doesnt seem to be reducing anywhere near to a compromise.

The other buyers offer was over a month ago now, so who knows if he's even available anymore. The problem with that buyer was he was a first timer and no guarantee of the mortgage in principle being accepted so we were advised to go with the cash buyer.

Due to us wondering what the real reason is behind this(?) we're scared to risk a straight out refusal - incase they just use our response to get out of the sale, even if we then tried to claw them back with an agreement?? Hmmm

Our new/dream house is a new build - the last plot and they need contracts exchanged in a few weeks or we loose it, so relisting couldnt really happen without us loosing our new home.

kinger101

You're being too emotional. Really, you left the blinds because they're useless in another property. They're presumably in the F&F now, so there's little you can do about it.

The buyer's shouldn't really be renegotiating on the flat roof as they were aware of it's condition when they made an offer. At the same time, I wouldn't trust any workman who quote £750 for the job. I can see why the don't want them in.

You can either stand firm, accept, or make a counter-offer. They've probably incurred more expense so far, so I'd have called their bluff as soon as the roof issue was raised.

But as you already offered to get the roof done for £1,200, it's hard to back out of that. Agree to knock £1,200 off on the condition they exchange by a set date, after which, it goes back on the market.

And it doesn't matter whether they spend the £1,200 less they paid on cheese or a roof. It's won't be your house anymore.

bobbymotors

Relist. Their word is worthless.

Tell them its being relisted too up to them if they want to proceed at original price, if not goodbye.....and don't ever look over your shoulder.

moneyistooshorttomention

What have you got to lose by contacting the other buyer? Their offer may still be "on the table" for all you know.

Might as well try...

elsien

Plus who's to say that your cash buyer won't try it on again further dusk the line when you're even more invested in the sale?

HampshireH

This could be just the start of their demands.

SG27

kinger101 wrote: »

You're being too emotional. Really, you left the blinds because they're useless in another property. They're presumably in the F&F now, so there's little you can do about it.

The buyer's shouldn't really be renegotiating on the flat roof as they were aware of it's condition when they made an offer. At the same time, I wouldn't trust any workman who quote £750 for the job. I can see why the don't want them in.

You can either stand firm, accept, or make a counter-offer. They've probably incurred more expense so far, so I'd have called their bluff as soon as the roof issue was raised.

But as you already offered to get the roof done for £1,200, it's hard to back out of that. Agree to knock £1,200 off on the condition they exchange by a set date, after which, it goes back on the market.

And it doesn't matter whether they spend the £1,200 less they paid on cheese or a roof. It's won't be your house anymore.

I like this idea, counter offer.

Regarding the stuff you planned to leave you can take it all with you still. You just need to update the fixtures and fittings form which you can do anytime before exchange.

diggingdude

just relist it/contact the other buyer. Tell them they can continue with the original offer but you will be listening to other offers to exchange