Buyer trying to negotiate after exchange

Grannyk

Hi so a week has gone by and I am trying this in my lovely new kitchen!

On Monday our solicitors letter hit which outlined our buyers costs if he reneged on the contract, So mid afternoon there was a flurry of phone calls. I know that I am going to get a howl of 'Whyyyyyy!!" but eventually we settled at a figure of £20K below the contract price + costs (extra solicitors, removals and interest to our seller). The reason that we settled for this was that we really didn't want to get stuck in a really long court battle and the likelihood of us getting what we were owed in full at the end of it would have been pretty low. We ended up at the figure that I thought the house was worth back when we put it on the market. We also decided that £20K to not live next to the idiot was pretty good value!

On the legal side it seems that he would have been taken to court for all costs (all 10% deposits, estate agents, solicitors, removals, interest, depreciation, expenses etc). However, we took the view that life is short and we could afford to get free from this situation. Others might not be in such a position which makes the house buying process just terrible if you fall into the hands of one of these predatory buyers. I think our position was open to abuse because

a) our purchase was a much lower value than our sale and we can clearly afford it (he can see my company financial details on the companies house register)
b) we're honest people
c) we were invested in moving (he could see the work we were putting in with house clearing etc)

If I were to do this again I would be very wary of the quick cash offer, I'd be wary of delays (if you have a buyer get them to get on with it ASAP) and I'd trust my gut- if things are looking iffy then don't get carried away.

We live and learn.

On the personal side though, this has been very stressful, we've just about managed to keep it together with work and family but I had a bit of a temper tantrum with a client last week which was regrettable! Handling other peoples rage over the situation has strangely been stressful as well- just when you've settled your mind on something else you get a text/ email from a friend whose just heard and you're back in the anger/ frustration cycle again.

Thankfully we're now moved in (as of 28th Feb) so we can start getting some order in our lives. Thanks for your support and comments last weekend when we were trying to work out what was going on. In a parallel universe it would have been good to be able to report the we took him to court and sued the pants off him but in real life we won our freedom and he lost his reputation!

GDB2222

I'm sure that was a wise decision. Next time get a 10% deposit!

Nobbie1967

Good pragmatic decision, well done:beer:, you can now get on with your life. Even when you know you are right, litigation is long winded, expensive and fraught with risk. Almost always better to settle if you can.

knightstyle

Looking through the thread I am sure you did the right thing. In the end you are now where you wanted to be, no court, solicitors, bailiffs or other stress inducing things to go through for months and months.
Plus I am sure your buyer has lost more than he gained with all the costs, just make sure you claim for everything, even meals out because all your kitchen stuff was packed.

middleclassbutpoor

I bet the neighbour is laughing too.. he gets rid of the shame he would have faced having you next door and he has legally got away with a decent chunk of money.

You of course probably right in doing what was right for you and it’s easy from the outside to look in and not really appreciate the full situation. I’m glad you have managed to move on with your life and you can not worry about this hanging over your head.

hb2

Thanks for the update, I'm glad you are now in your lovely new home Of course, it is natural to want your buyer to pay every last penny (and more if possible!) of the contractual price but I can understand why you get this settled quickly and move on with your life.

Thrugelmir

GDB2222 wrote: »

I'm sure that was a wise decision. Next time get a 10% deposit!

Agree strongly.

diggingdude

I hope you left some fresh fish under the floor boards. Glad you are where you want go be, I couldn't have been so grown up

CarrieVS

diggingdude wrote: »

I hope you left some fresh fish under the floor boards. Glad you are where you want go be, I couldn't have been so grown up

But they might think to look under the floorboards for the source of the smell. You need to be more inventive. Best one I've heard is unscrewing the ends of the curtain poles and popping a couple of prawns in.

If I condoned that sort of thing, which I don't. But it was very funny to read about.

diggingdude

CarrieVS wrote: »

But they might think to look under the floorboards for the source of the smell. You need to be more inventive. Best one I've heard is unscrewing the ends of the curtain poles and popping a couple of prawns in.

If I condoned that sort of thing, which I don't. But it was very funny to read about.

Thats a good one. I had a case in work where the family found excrement smeared all over the inside of the chimney. That was some nasty s***