Flat buying - seller turning nasty

carpetbelly

W00t! Go you! If she wants a quick sale you've got her by the short and curlies... Well done!

There's no harm in being nice to people but the way you say she was acting I wouldnt have been surprised if she'd asked you to bend over and ask you to provide the vaseline!

Keep it up and let us all know how it goes. I love hearing about people who try to screw getting screwed right back!

Mutton_Geoff

Ghekkomanic, please don't let your heart rule your head. This is the one and only opportunity to get this right. Buy on the current terms (even with furniture at £500) then you will spend the next years unhappy in your new place once the thrill of the move has worn off.

Turn the deal around in your favour. Go back to the original price and say you don't want the furniture. You will be saving £4k. Spend £1k on your own Christmas or a weekend in a plush hotel prior to the move or whatever. Donate the other £3k to the charity of your choice to make Christmas better for plenty of people not in your fortunate position.

Shelter etc would turn your £3k into making plenty of people happier/warmer/better fed over the winter. You can move into your new place feeling pleased with the deal, you don't pay any more or less than you want to at the moment and you'll be pleased that your hot negotiating skills had such a beneficial effect on the lives of others less fortunate.

You need to take the pink goggles off, this is a hard business decision and you need to take back control of it asap!

Running_Horse

ghekkomanic wrote: »

Yes, and I've read all the posts here with great interest!

I sent a letter to the agents last Friday saying the completion date is fine, but I've changed my offer for the furniture to £500, or that I'm happy to exclude the furniture from the sale altogether. Got this email from agent:

"Unfortunately Ms ***** does not want to talk to me regarding anything legal and wants it all done via the solicitors."

So sent a letter through solicitor instead! I then heard back yesterday via the agent that the seller rejected the £500 offer, so I told the agent that's fine please pass on the message that we'll leave the furniture in that case then. Am now waiting to hear back. Happy to take the flat or not now!

At last, you've grown a pair of balls.

Now you know what to do on the day of exchange regarding price.

Stop being so polite to someone who is stealing from you and your loved one!

Would you let someone steal your kid's dinner money every day?

Sorry to sound harsh, but stop being a mug.

Doozergirl

Well done! So pleased you've made a stand.

You can easily buy decent furniture that you really want yourself for £4000 new. Much less if you look for nearly new stuff on ebay etc - massive bargains to be had! (I bought a lovely corner sofa to help furnish a flat for an absolute song and then sold it on again for more )

reformedEffortMaker_2

ghekkomanic - it's not often in the house buying/renting/selling part of this forum that everyone agrees so strongly on such matters. I would take that as a massive hint.

Try and drop the emotion related to the flat, the vendor sounds like a real 8!tch. If she really has booked flights etc, I would expect her to be a lot more flexible. I say walk away, bad karma in a house is never a good thing!

cheltenhamgirl

It's not often I post (as you can see), but,PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE take everyone's advice and drop the price. These people have messed you around, and you are in the strongest position BY FAR, especially in today's market. If you buy this flat at over the odds, in 6 months time, when prices have dropped, you will be sat on a place in possibly negative equity, looking at all these beautiful flats that you could now afford, wishing you were in one of those, or looking at flats just like yours, for £20-30k less, thinking how little your mortgage could have been, and how much more disposable income you could have every month.

I know you're trying to be nice about this, but these people don't deserve this, we are now in a BUYERS market, and obviously your vendor is too stupid to realise this.

Please don't let this greedy arrogant *@5/*# get away witht his, as they will just do it to somebody else again in the future.

God...I'm really quite wound up about this. I'm an estate agent (see, we do have morals), and if in this market, I just can't imaguine a vendor doing this, and I would certainly be advising them not to be so stupid!

So OP, please listen to everybody else, the extra 'hassle' that it will cause, will all seem worthwhile next year, believe me.

cats!

Totally agree with post above! Don't let the vendor get away with treating you both like this. She obviously thinks the market is still 2004-strong!

Buying and selling property is a business transaction, pure and simple - BUT it is also about RESPECT. Vendor clearly has no respect for you both and deserves to be put in her place.

Good luck!

Cats!

ghekkomanic

carpetbelly wrote: »

Keep it up and let us all know how it goes. I love hearing about people who try to screw getting screwed right back!

I will! And thanks for being so quick to respond carpetbelly.

cheltenhamgirl wrote: »

I'm an estate agent (see, we do have morals), and if in this market, I just can't imaguine a vendor doing this, and I would certainly be advising them not to be so stupid!

So OP, please listen to everybody else, the extra 'hassle' that it will cause, will all seem worthwhile next year, believe me.

I actually have a very positive opinion of estate agents now as the girl I've been dealing with has been very nice! And she does seem genuinely exasperated by the seller, understandably.

I think if the seller decides to accept my offer for the furniture I'll take the flat at the higher price as I'll be saving £2k on the furniture anyway, but if they exclude it from the sale I'll consider requesting the original price as this has all been such a ballache!

Still awaiting a response from yesterday though.

guppy

Running_Horse wrote: »

At last, you've grown a pair of balls.

Now you know what to do on the day of exchange regarding price.

Stop being so polite to someone who is stealing from you and your loved one!

Would you let someone steal your kid's dinner money every day?

Sorry to sound harsh, but stop being a mug.

I agree. Getting shafted leaves a very nasty taste. You seem to seriously underestimate the strength of your hand here...get the boot on the other foot, or the only person you'll be kicking is yourself.

£500 for some second hand furniture? :eek: She should be paying you to get rid of it!

As others have said, if you do go ahead, check everything, don't trust this vendor. Give an inch and you can guarantee she will take a mile...especially if she feels you have wronged her in some way.

Has your g/f made all necessary enquiries of the management company? Are all service charges paid and up to date? Has the vendor been holding back about any major repairs? This is another easy way to get shafted with a large bill.

Without meaning to sound melodramatic, I'd now be having some misgivings about buying from this lady...what if she damages the furniture/flat to spite you after exchange?

Reading about breach of contract is one thing, doing anything is about it is quite another. Any solicitor (that isn't after your money) will tell you that the only winners from litigation are solicitors themselves. If she's abroad, you've no realistic chance of recourse.

Finally, without wanting to turn this in to a debate about the housing market...have you been watching the news recently? Why dive in as a first time buyer when the market is at best dead...and at worst likely to dip very soon? I don't know your individual circumstances, but why not have patience and wait and see what happens?

I'm not an economist...but with the media going on about prices faltering practically every day, this in itself seems to have turned sentiment.

Good luck whatever you do

P.S. Why not ask the LL if you can stay two days extra? If he says no and you have the balls...just hold over for two days after your tenancy expires, making sure to pay him pro rata. Make clear why you're doing it, I doubt he will put a claim for possession in at the county court within two days...

guppy

ghekkomanic wrote: »

I actually have a very positive opinion of estate agents now as the girl I've been dealing with has been very nice! And she does seem genuinely exasperated by the seller, understandably.

I think if the seller decides to accept my offer for the furniture I'll take the flat at the higher price as I'll be saving £2k on the furniture anyway, but if they exclude it from the sale I'll consider requesting the original price as this has all been such a ballache!

Still awaiting a response from yesterday though.

Can you stop being so bl**dy nice, OP!

While I find it somewhat heart warming...its like watching a car crash!

I'm not saying estate agent's are evil, but remember they are paid and legally obliged to work in the interests of the seller at all times and owe you nothing.

I'm sure the EA is a likeable person, most successful salespeople are, but their largest source of frustration is no doubt the delay in sewing up their commission. Nothing wrong with that. Once you've laid out your hard earned, the EA can offer you nothing but shrugs...

Do excuse my cynicism anyway Don't want to depress you...just stop being so naive!