Gazundering or just nervous FTB ?

YozDag

On the eve of exchange of the sale of my property my buyer suddenly announced they wanted 5% off the price "due to the survey".

At first I thought - classic gazundering attempt, but then thought might as well read the survey just in case....

All the survey says is a few minor issues (internal door needs adjusting, roof tile missing etc..) - easy fixes. But then for some strange reason the surveyor put a generic comment at the end that the buyer should "hold back 5% of the purchase price to cover 'latent defects and contingencies that have not been revealed'"- what exactly is that supposed to mean? To me it means 'things that may or may not be needed in future, no-one knows' - a bit of an odd thing to write.

Has anyone else ever seen such a generic price dropping statement from a surveyor.....

Genuinely confused as to if I have a cynical seasoned buyer (presenting as a FTB) hellbent on gazundering (in which case they can take a hike!) or a naive FTB who simply latched on to a loaded statement poorly worded by a surveyor.....

Any opinions? Ta.

davidmcn

Never seen that before, and it doesn't mean the property is worth 5% less, just that there should be a 5% retention for vague unknown contingencies. Perhaps it was intended to relate to specialist reports of some sort? In which case you can invite the buyer to bring in their other surveyors to clarify matters now - retentions are a pain even if they are for specific matters.

Caz3121

did the survey include a valuation? how does that compare to the selling price?

SmashedAvacado

that approach is typically only taken on a new build - not on an existing property. What type of property are we talking here?

hazyjo

Have they got a very small deposit? With no experience of paying a mortgage and house maintenance in what may be a static or falling market, I expect their surveyor (who I'm guessing is doing the valuation for the lender?) is being cautious. What are prices in the area doing?

AdrianC

5% retention "just in case I missed anything"?

Rearrange these words into a well-known phrase or saying: Off. Sod.

YozDag

It did, it listed as 5k below offer price agreed - they based it on RightMove average prices in the area (although my place it at the higher end of the 'range' so I think the offer is about right value wise).

Oddly, mortgage valuation was bang on the offer price without issue....

NB - This is for a leasehold flat (approx 20 years old).

quantumlobster

YozDag wrote: »

It did, it listed as 5k below offer price agreed - they based it on RightMove average prices in the area (although my place it at the higher end of the 'range' so I think the offer is about right value wise).

Oddly, mortgage valuation was bang on the offer price without issue....

NB - This is for a leasehold flat (approx 20 years old).

OK, now we are definitely in "rearrange these words: up bum stick your it" territory. For an older (much older) property, it kindasorta makes sense. But 20 years old? Still practically brand new!

Crashy_Time

People are getting jumpy about finances in general.

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/metro-bank-tells-customers-their-money-is-safe-after-whatsapp-rumour-spirals-out-of-control-a4140476.html

SmashedAvacado

A retention for this sort of thing only works where you have a an expectation of condition ie a new build as otherwise it is impossible to agree what was expected / latent / should have been picked up by the survey. The legal work / dispute that would follow would likely cost more than the retention amount

As seller I’d be asking the buyer to check with his surveyor that this wasn’t a mistake - using the wrong form of report