Negotiation tips - vendor refusing to pay for surveyor's essential repairs

ypapandr

I have posted about this on a different thread but this focuses on the negotiation so writing under separate topic.


Surveyor's report lists essential repairs for 5,500 GBP. I asked the EA to reach a compromise and try and get the vendor to pay for key structural ones (worth 3,500 GBP). The EA said vendor has refused, my wife tried to reach out to vendor and she has first agreed to meet her next week, then pushed back and said to relay to EA as she's too busy. The vendor is very stubborn and I feel she might walk away over 3 k and we will only convince her if we meet her in person. I am thinking to ask her again for a meeting and that saying we will walk away will not work. Any views?

need_an_answer

If the vendor is unwilling to negotiate theres little you can do...either pay the agreed price or walk away before they do.

What value does your survey give for the property.proportionate to the asking price or adrift by the amount you are now asking in the reduction?

Cakeguts

ypapandr wrote: »

I have posted about this on a different thread but this focuses on the negotiation so writing under separate topic.


Surveyor's report lists essential repairs for 5,500 GBP. I asked the EA to reach a compromise and try and get the vendor to pay for key structural ones (worth 3,500 GBP). The EA said vendor has refused, my wife tried to reach out to vendor and she has first agreed to meet her next week, then pushed back and said to relay to EA as she's too busy. The vendor is very stubborn and I feel she might walk away over 3 k and we will only convince her if we meet her in person. I am thinking to ask her again for a meeting and that saying we will walk away will not work. Any views?

Find another house that doesn't need so much work done on it and that you can do to your own taste.



The vendor of this house doesn't realise that they have damaged it and that it needs repair. They want you to pay to correct their mistakes. So either buy it and then pay to correct the mistakes when it is yours and risk finding more things wrong with it or walk away and buy a different house.



Never ask vendors who have a history of doing things wrong to pay to correct their own mistakes only ever pay yourself once you own the house.



You are not going to get this vendor to let you have this house at what you want to pay for it. So if you don't want to pay the asking price and take on the risk find another house.

ypapandr

need_an_answer wrote: »

If the vendor is unwilling to negotiate theres little you can do...either pay the agreed price or walk away before they do.

What value does your survey give for the property.proportionate to the asking price or adrift by the amount you are now asking in the reduction?

the survey gives 5 k less with 5 k of repairs. 10 k is 1.7 per cent of the purchase price

Cakeguts

ypapandr wrote: »

the survey gives 5 k less with 5 k of repairs. 10 k is 1.7 per cent of the purchase price

But the risk is that because the vendors have made such mess of it you will find out that there is more wrong with it once you start to take out the "modernisations."

silvercar

It is only reasonable to expect the vendor to pay for repairs that weren't obvious when viewing, how much of the repair work was visible from viewing?

eddddy

If the seller refuses to budge, there is not much you can do.

But it might just be a game of bluff. The seller doesn't believe you'll walk away over this.

If it becomes clear that you really will walk away, then maybe the seller will change their mind.


FWIW, assuming the EA is paid on completion, they will want the sale to go though - they won't be bothered about £3.5k either way. So they've probably been pushing the seller to accept your reduced offer.

And EAs are (or should be) trained negotiators. So if the EA can't persuade the seller, you and your wife might find it even more difficult.

ypapandr

eddddy wrote: »

If the seller refuses to budge, there is not much you can do.

But it might just be a game of bluff. The seller doesn't believe you'll walk away over this.

If it becomes clear that you really will walk away, then maybe the seller will change their mind.


FWIW, assuming the EA is paid on completion, they will want the sale to go though - they won't be bothered about £3.5k either way. So they've probably been pushing the seller to accept your reduced offer.

And EAs are (or should be) trained negotiators. So if the EA can't persuade the seller, you and your wife might find it even more difficult.

The EA has been pushing against me quite strongly, I suspect on the basis that they know the vendor won't budge. At this stage, I might still try and get the vendor to meet me. After which, I might use the option of walking away.

ypapandr

silvercar wrote: »

It is only reasonable to expect the vendor to pay for repairs that weren't obvious when viewing, how much of the repair work was visible from viewing?

none of this was visible, it's chimney, roof tiles and vents.

anselld

ypapandr wrote: »

none of this was visible, it's chimney, roof tiles and vents.

Difficult to see how they can have caused 10k of damage to those items. Surveyors can be overly pessimistic. What are the actual problems?

Thrugelmir

Negotiate through the EA. That's what their function is.