Are we being mean?

Pumpkin_Pie_5

Sorry this is a bit of a long thread....

OH and I found a lovey house a while back and made an offer (well a couple of offers actually) - It was on for 288 and we decided our final offer would be 280. The estate agent came back and said if we went "half way" the owner would agree to it. So after much discussion and recalculating we rang and offered 284. Then the estate agent came back and said she wanted 285. Well we thought she was messing us about so we stuck at 284 and she finally agreed.

Now the survey has come back and there are a few things that are "urgent" - Damp proofing wasn't done properly and needs redoing, replastering where the damp has got into the front room and the front bedroom, roof tiles and a couple of other bits.

We understood that the accepted thing to do was to go halves but she won't budge.

We're in a pretty good position - We rent, we have a very large deposit and a mortgage offer in place. So I'm thinking of reducing our offer back to 280 and if she won't budge walking away - Whilst we would have loved to be our new house for Xmas, I am determined not to let my heart rule my head! Especially after reading ghekkomanic's thread.:beer:

She has made an offer on another house and they have had to wait once as her first buyer pulled out.

Given the current climate and the cost of geting all the survey things done, are we being mean if we reduce our offer now?

Thanks for and advice
Pumpkin xx

Generali

There's no such thing as a mean offer. You offered on the basis that the house didn't need much doing to it. Now you've found out that it needs work you want money off to reflect that.

If the seller gets annoyed that's their problem. They should have been upfront about the problems with the house.

House prices aren't going anywhere in most of the country, certainly not up anyway so if they don't want to sell at the lower price another place will come along soon enough.

btloptingout

Impossible to say really as we don't know the true value of the property.

If it was aggressively priced to sell @ 288 then perhapes you are squeezing the vendor too much.

Equally if 288 was toppy she might be considered greedy especially considering you position + the survey results.

In the scheme of things you are debating an amount equal to 1.4% of the price.

Are you sure your heart is not leading your head but your heart is after "a deal"?

Sorry my response doesn't provide a firm answer...... Good luck with whatever you decide to do!

Debt_Free_Chick

The alternative view is that the Seller believes that a price of £284k is fair value, even taking the work into account.

There are no "right" solutions here - it's negotiation; or accept the Seller's position; or walk away.

Pumpkin_Pie_5

Yes you're right - This could just as easily be a thread about the buyers wanting to reduce their offer on my lovely house and how I feel about that... If you see what I mean.

The estate agent has told us he thinks she was being unreasonable to not share the cost of the work with us.. But she needs every penny as the home she is buying needs a lot of work.

Oh its so hard - I want to be fair, but I also don't want to be taken advantage of.....

epz_2

remember every £1 you borrow you will probably end up paying back £3 so knocking of a couple of k will be the equivelent of months of work.

would you work for nothing for several months to save the feelings of somone you will never see again, your primary duty is to look after yourself and your familys interest and its up to everyone else to do the same.

fact is if you pull out its probably going to be february before they get another offer so say march completion, interest on 280k is £1,400 a month !!!!!!.

djbd1973

I agree with the others in that is the few grand going to make a difference and do you really want the house, especially if you have already thrown money at the project?

When I was a teenager, my parents were close to buying a house that they fell in love with, but the survey returned major works needed. They took these details to the seller to renegotiate, and the seller asked to see the survey and my parents gave them a copy thinking this was fair. The sellers took the house off the market, did the work and came back to my parents almost a year later and offered it to them at a price that was extortionate.... and through my parents trust, the sellers got a free survey that they didn't pay for.

Naturally my Dad told them to stick it, and I was quite amused to hear from friends down the road that just over a year later, the house needed underpinning because of subsidence. What comes around goes around.

My point is, if you definitely want the house, then great but if you think they might be taking the michael I would be prepared to move on.

Would you be prepared/can afford to look at other properties and spend more money on surveys etc?

Good luck

Generali

Just an idea, but what about starting with what you can afford (even if interest rates rise by, say 2%). Then work backwards, how much would it cost to have the work done (remember to add 10% on top for contingencies and low estimates), then how much can you afford after that? If you can't afford it, you can't afford it. If you can, then you get to choose whether to make the offer based on what you think is fair, not on what you think will get accepted.

AS has already been mentioned, only you really know the value of the property based on your local research. I'd calculate the total cost of having the house how I thought I was getting it, and offering that amount. 'A few thousand pounds' - gee, I wish I could be so relaxed about a couple of months worth of net salary! Just my opinion.

ginger_nuts

if they wont drop the price and you cant afford to do the repairs ,walk away .Its only a house .

PasturesNew

I would like to present two thoughts here:
1) It would have been better if your initial offer had been "Subject to Survey" clear and loud. So she could have expected you to come back with further reductions at this stage. Prices should not be negotiated after survey if they were offers and no mention of the survey findings at all.

2) Having said that.... the house was priced on what the estate agent saw of the house and with his local knowledge (*coughs: nethouseprices recent sales in area*) and what figure he felt the owner was aiming for (in order to get the business). While the items you have listed can be "taken as read" for an older property, it could also be said that the larger of these these were not known at the time of pricing/offer, and so it would be OK to go in with another offer at this stage.

It isn't after all, as if you are trying to renegotiate because it's not double glazed, there's no central heating, the kitchen is small/needs redoing and the bathroom suite is bright pink - which are all things you WOULD have known about at the initial viewing stage and would not under any circumstances be a bargaining tool.

I would make a new offer, based on what work needs doing, how much that will cost, how much disruption that will give you, how much the house means to you and how much you really want it now.

As has been pointed out, the housing market/prices are not running wild any more, so there will be more/other properties for sale in the coming months/year - and who knows, that one might be for sale still at £10k less in a year!

Good luck.