Vendor not being reasonable and won’t reduce price

quocvo

warby68 said:

Its not really a principle, you just want your own way lol
Its a negotiation.
Others have said what aspects to concentrate on when you're deciding and they really are more important than £6k in isolation.
If you decide you do not wish to pay the current price, I would just add keep it friendly if its a house you still really like. Leave your offer there for a little bit. Explain the extra costs are significant to you so do feel its your current best offer and understand if vendor decides to try elsewhere. Point out you're a convenient and reliable buyer in all other ways (hopefully true) such as funds and flexible timing, Try and resist the temptation to go off in a bit of a huff stating unreasonable buyer. You never know what a bit more thinking time and you looking a bit less keen will achieve or what the agent will manage in terms of persuasion when they try to go for remarketing.

I agree.  

Doozergirl

Alan2020 said:

People ask on this forum why people buy a new property from the big housing companies. Perhaps if stuff like this bothers you so much and a trivial repair is such a big deal and affecting your sleep? Just buy an NHBC backed new build from a reputable builder.
 No point getting ill over the state of repairs of an old house, it might subside or rot. Very rarely but they do!

New build houses subside as well. 😉

Rot is preventable.  

NHBC in the main could not give a flying teapot.  I'd rather choose my own buildings insurer.  

Alan2020

Doozergirl said:

Alan2020 said:

People ask on this forum why people buy a new property from the big housing companies. Perhaps if stuff like this bothers you so much and a trivial repair is such a big deal and affecting your sleep? Just buy an NHBC backed new build from a reputable builder.
 No point getting ill over the state of repairs of an old house, it might subside or rot. Very rarely but they do!

New build houses subside as well. 😉

Rot is preventable.  

NHBC in the main could not give a flying teapot.  I'd rather choose my own buildings insurer.  

Ha ha, now what will the OP do, self build. Yes true, but not healthy to get angry over stuff like this and not sleeping 

Doozergirl

Alan2020 said:

Doozergirl said:

Alan2020 said:

People ask on this forum why people buy a new property from the big housing companies. Perhaps if stuff like this bothers you so much and a trivial repair is such a big deal and affecting your sleep? Just buy an NHBC backed new build from a reputable builder.
 No point getting ill over the state of repairs of an old house, it might subside or rot. Very rarely but they do!

New build houses subside as well. 😉

Rot is preventable.  

NHBC in the main could not give a flying teapot.  I'd rather choose my own buildings insurer.  

Ha ha, now what will the OP do, self build. Yes true, but not healthy to get angry over stuff like this and not sleeping 

Stay living with parents, I think.  Self building has nearly killed me 😂

Absolutely.  Decisions made have to be about the house, not about the vendor, if they're going to be the right decision.   

AdrianC

quocvo said:

I’m hoping someone can help us think through a situation we are in because I worry my emotions and annoyance with the vendor is causing me to behave rationally.

Let's help you step back and look at it dispassionately, then.

We had an offer accepted on a house back in August.  It was listed as offers over £500k.  The EA said they appraised it at £525k and that was what the vendor wanted.  They listed it as offers from £500k to get more viewings.  

We made an offer of £509,250 and after a couple of days it was accepted.

Your offer of £510k was accepted. The rest is irrelevant marketing fluff.

We got a level 3 building survey done which threw up all sorts of potential and confirmed issues including possible anthrax.

Yes, they list ever possible scary-scary to cover their backsides, no matter how likely or unlikely.

Eventually we managed to get specialists in the check the issues after the vendor sent samples off to confirm no anthrax.  

The issues are:
1 - roof needs urgent repair.  Vendor got a quote for £12k.  

2 - timber needs treatment to protect against woodworm.  

3 - structural repairs to kitchen wall - £6k for this and the timber treatment combined.

4 - misaligned and cracked drainage and sewage pipes which require excavation - £7k.    

Assuming the quote obtained by the vendor is accurate, we are looking at £25k of repairs which was not anticipated when we made the offer.  

Did the survey include a valuation? Perhaps all that was priced in, relative to a similar property with no such issues...?

We have now offered £499k which doesn’t even cover half the quoted works but the vendor is not backing down and will only accept £505k.

So you said "£10k off", and he's offered to meet in the middle at £5k off.

The ball is in your court to accept that or walk away.

With all the extra surveys and investigations we have instructed coupled with usual buying costs, we would lose about £4k if we abandon this purchase.  We can afford his £505k ask

So your choice is simple.
Lose £4k, or pay £505k.

Given that you would be happy to pay £499k, you're basically arguing over just £2k now - less than 1/250th of the purchase price.

I recognise the vendor is under no legal obligation to be reasonable or honourable.

Reasonable and honourable are in the eye of the beholder.

You are the ones wanting to change your originally accepted offer, and he's agreeing to meet you half-way. That is perfectly reasonable and honourable, isn't it?

Given that the house has been occupied by somebody elderly who is no longer resident and not selling the property themselves (care home or deceased?), can we presume that it hasn't been updated or maintained well for years? Your comment about the windows suggests as much. If so, then would it be reasonable to assume that even a casual inspection would suggest it needs updating anyway? If so, then it's entirely likely all that work is indeed priced in.

flbuyer

Buying a house is a big investment, so I think it is normal to feel a degree of anxiety about what the right decision is.  If it is your forever place, priced in the market ballpark and you feel confident you have the resources to deal with the issues, it may be worth moving forward, but if there are likely to be suitable alternatives out there for a similar price with less issues, it may be worth walking away.  Lost survey costs are insignificant compared to the cost and hassle of continual repairs.  Then again, maybe there are just a few big items that need doing and if you have the money and accept that, it is not a blocker. For some properties, part of the deal is that they are going to need work and it is worth considering whether the price reflects that and you have the £ (and patience) to do the work.

quocvo

Thank you all for your comments which I agree with.  This is why I have come here.  

Yeah, I’ve fallen into taking this whole situation personally. The fact that I was also annoyed that the vendor has not taken my offer to talk this through amicably between ourselves to agree a compromise confirms to me that this is getting personal for me.  

In answer to some of your comments:

1 - is there currently a property which fits our criteria and within our budget - No

2 - is £530k, with repair costs factored around the market value for such a property - maybe. 

3 - Or put another way, if a similar property came into the market with none of the issues we noted for £530k, would pay that price - yes. 

4 - can we afford the repair work and possibly more as a contingency - yes. 

5 - we are not in a rush, so could we wait this out for something else to come along? - yes, but it might not come along. 

Based on that, the answer is we should go ahead.  

I will spend the day to reflect on this and decide what to do whilst trying to take the emotions out of it.

davidmcn

OP, I might have missed it, but I can't see anything about a valuation having been carried out on your behalf. How comfortable are you that £509,250 represented the market value (on the basis of what was apparent to you on your viewing)? 

-taff

I'm just going to say that as far as the vendor is concerned, he agreed on a compromise price with you to start with and now you want him to agree on a compromise that benefits you. I expect he's feeling like you are also taking the mick by reducing the price again and again. I'm currently selling a house and the buyers want me to drop my price because they say it needs a new roof. Having had someone round to have a look, it does not need a new roof. This has annoyed me as effectively they are asking me to pay for a new roof for them. Any other work that needs doing has been factored into the asking price. So that's my take on your dilemma.

quocvo

The original £509,250 price was accepted by lender. Desktop valuation was done by the lender.  Basically confirmed offer price.  

A level 3 building survey does include a valuation and was advised due to such volatility in the market, a small +/- margin of error at this price point makes the valuation almost pointless. 

As a side note, we had budgeted £150k to build a separate annex (STP) so this extra repair work is eating into that budget.  The other consideration is if we added this £150k to our budget (take it to around £650k), could we get what we want without all the work?  Over the last 12 months, we haven’t found anything.