Whose responsibility for negotiating items included in the sale?

[Deleted User]

We are having a lot of back and forth with our seller regarding items to be included in the sale. The estate agent has been handling the negotiations but now responds to every question with “have you asked your solicitor about this”?

As we have no direct contact with our seller, should we be negotiating items in the sale with our estate agent, solicitor or both? When going through solicitors it usually takes a week to get a response by email and phone calls always go to voicemail or a team member who has no ability to progress matters, other than to pass things on to the named solicitor on our case.

trex227

If your solicitor will even get involved in the negotiation (they might refer you to the EA) as you have said doing it this way will delay the transaction.

How much back and forth has been going on?? Sounds like the EA is getting fed up. How many items are you negotiating about?

AdrianC

labrajaws said:

We are having a lot of back and forth with our seller regarding items to be included in the sale.

Can you define "a lot", and what form these negotiations are taking...?

D.L

How much back and forth can there be about negotiating items? I think EA should be doing these "negotiations" and then the solicitor will get the actual fixtures and fittings form as part of the conveyancing process. But I completely understand if the EA is annoyed about any more than maybe a couple of back and forths about items to be left/taken away. 

What exactly are the disputes over and how much money are these objects worth (or how much does it cost to remove them if the dispute is that way)?

[Deleted User]

The problems began when we lowered our offer after the bank valuation came back 12k below our offer, and the surveyor valued 2k below our offer. We dropped our offer by 2k to match what the surveyor said was the ceiling price for this “type of property” which I think was his way of referring to an ex-local authority property. The seller then listed various items on Facebook marketplace that we had assumed were included in the sale as they were on the fixtures and fittings list. We flagged this up to the agent and our solicitor, and they then produced a new fixtures and fittings list with prices against items they wanted to sell to get some extra cash. These were a fireplace, fire surround, fitted blinds in about 5 rooms, and some garden toys. We agreed to pay an extra sum for these items. However after they sent photos of some items to our solicitor, we discovered some are broken and unusable (e.g. a ripped trampoline, broken swing and rusty goalposts). They’ve already threatened to put the house back on the market if we don’t agree to pay what they want. So yes, I suspect the estate agent is getting fed up but I thought sales negotiations were part of their job.

trex227

If I were in your position I would call their bluff and tell them you don’t want the items (if they’re broken are they really going to take them? Also fitted blinds might be hard to sell to someone else). Just make sure anything that could be dangerous e.g. if it’s a gas fire, is safely removed. And make sure anything that involves safety is clarified by your solicitor.

davidmcn

labrajaws said:

after they sent photos of some items to our solicitor, we discovered some are broken and unusable (e.g. a ripped trampoline, broken swing and rusty goalposts). They’ve already threatened to put the house back on the market if we don’t agree to pay what they want. So yes, I suspect the estate agent is getting fed up but I thought sales negotiations were part of their job.

Negotiating about rusty goalposts isn't really part of the job of either the estate agents or solicitors! I wouldn't be paying separate sums for anything which is junk or bespoke to the house.

[Deleted User]

davidmcn said:

labrajaws said:

after they sent photos of some items to our solicitor, we discovered some are broken and unusable (e.g. a ripped trampoline, broken swing and rusty goalposts). They’ve already threatened to put the house back on the market if we don’t agree to pay what they want. So yes, I suspect the estate agent is getting fed up but I thought sales negotiations were part of their job.

Negotiating about rusty goalposts isn't really part of the job of either the estate agents or solicitors! I wouldn't be paying separate sums for anything which is junk or bespoke to the house.

We’ve said we don’t want the broken items, but fitted blinds we do need ASAP as one room is a conservatory that will be used as an office, due to enforced working from home for the foreseeable future. We know it will cost a lot more to have new items fitted after moving in, but still feel the vendor is being unfair about charging us for these items when they are of little use to them or anyone else.

Sistergold

Why not tell them to put the house back on the market? They are wasting your time. The valuation is what you have offered and it does not mean you now pay for things you were not to pay for initially otherwise now you are back to paying the first offer you had made. Sounds like they are not really people you want to deal with. 

[Deleted User]

Sistergold said:

Why not tell them to put the house back on the market? They are wasting your time. The valuation is what you have offered and it does not mean you now pay for things you were not to pay for initially otherwise now you are back to paying the first offer you had made. Sounds like they are not really people you want to deal with. 

We still want the house, and there is little else available in the area that meets our needs. 2 other houses on that particular street sold within days before lockdown, although they were cheaper than this one. So we don't want to risk losing the house and we dont want to overpay for it either. 

m0bov

They might make a mess of removing the fireplace. I'd offer your original £2k less price, with the full fixtures...take it or leave it. They should be thankful of even having a buyer given plague.