Novice in need advice re developer who is interested in our house

Penguin90

Hi

Just looking for some advice and tips.

My mum received a letter from a construction and property company. It appears to be legit. Essentially, they're offering her £445k for her home (which has a very large front and back garden and easily has enough space for 3 or 4 dwellings, perhaps more).

However, their offer is not far off the market rate - we haven't had the house valued, but other properties in neighbouring streets (which are smaller/have less land – although are in better condition) have sold for a bit more than this.

My mum is... well, distrustful of anything official and tends to rely on her own general knowledge and the advice of family/trusted friends when making decisions. I get the feeling that because she isn't sure whether this is a good offer or not, she would rather walk away entirely.

How can we get the best offer possible? Do we need to hire a solicitor to do the negotiating for us, and who pays for that? Basically, I want to know what is best practice in this situation?

davidmcn

Best to instruct a surveyor to negotiate on her behalf - someone who can figure out the development potential of the site and what the true value ought to be.

Penguin90

davidmcn wrote: »

Best to instruct a surveyor to negotiate on her behalf - someone who can figure out the development potential of the site and what the true value ought to be.

I just read her your reply and her exact words were "I'm not paying for that" - and that's the problem, she has no experience of hiring people and generally takes the view that she is being ripped off by professionals.

Would she need to pay or is it fair to expect the developer to pay the surveyor's fees?

Also, where do we even find a surveyor?

TonyMMM

She shouldn't even consider any arrangement where a surveyor is appointed/paid for by the developer.

If that is their first offer, then there will be room to negotiate for more - you are talking about agreeing a deal of probably around 1/2 million pounds .... a decent surveyor will save you far more money than they will potentially cost in fees.

csgohan4

https://www.rics.org/uk/

davidmcn

Penguin90 wrote: »

Would she need to pay or is it fair to expect the developer to pay the surveyor's fees?

Are they proposing an unconditional purchase or conditional on them getting planning? If the latter then probably not unreasonable to ask them to contribute towards professional costs.

Also, where do we even find a surveyor?

The same way you'd find anybody else - interweb searching, personal recommendations, Yellow Pages, etc.

dinkylink

To get the best price she should obtain planning permission to demolish the existing property and construction of these 3/4 houses.....might mean that this property company won't want to purchase, but someone will

Obviously would mean there is an initial outlay but also the potential to recoup a lot more than the cost of doing this when she sells

davidmcn

dinkylink wrote: »

To get the best price she should obtain planning permission to demolish the existing property and construction of these 3/4 houses.....might mean that this property company won't want to purchase, but someone will

Obviously would mean there is an initial outlay but also the potential to recoup a lot more than the cost of doing this when she sells

Obtaining all the necessary reports etc can be quite a hefty initial outlay, and a developer might not like her plans - no reason why the price ought to be less if it's a contract conditional on the developer getting planning.

Lioness_Twinkletoes

Penguin90 wrote: »

I just read her your reply and her exact words were "I'm not paying for that" - and that's the problem, she has no experience of hiring people and generally takes the view that she is being ripped off by professionals.

Would she need to pay or is it fair to expect the developer to pay the surveyor's fees?

Also, where do we even find a surveyor?

Seriously, if she's not prepared to put a bit of effort in and help herself, then she needs to either accept their offer (which will be low) or walk away.

M_Python

Does your mum actually want to move house?

BarleyGB

If it were my mother, if she was HAPPY TO MOVE id be advising:

Market price (upper range/+10%)
Share of potential development value or future profit
All moving costs