Vendor not being reasonable and won’t reduce price

AdrianC

quocvo said:

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.

Certainly to such a small level of granularity as +/- £2k, which is what you're effectively looking at now...

 But did the survey valuation agree with your offer or downvalue? Or did it simply not give a valuation at all?

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.  

Indeed that is the other consideration... And there may well be synergies in addressing many of the issues at the same time as that extension.

Even if the annex is a totally separate building, I presume it's going to be hooking into the drains, so the work can be done on them while the groundworks for the annex are being done. You'll have roofers on site. You'll have bricklayers on site. You'll have chippies on site. You'll have all the trades you need to do the work - which will bring you big cost and time benefits. Sure, there's still going to be costs - but they'll be far lower than if you were trying to do the work without having the builders in anyway...

theoretica

quocvo said:

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.  

That also raises the question of whether any of the repair work might be cheaper for you because of also having the annex work done and workers on site.

Windofchange

It always makes me smile when people get wound up over a few grand in the context of half a million quid. We were in a similar position having just brought for a very similar amount of money, but not with as long a list of problems as your survey has thrown up. Our quarrel was over 5 grand, which is a lot of money, but in the grand scheme of things makes so little difference to our monthly mortgage payment that I have forgotten about it already.

We had a level 2 survey done which pointed out a few red items, and the apparently universal catch all of there might be asbestos in the walls, there might be a problem with the electrics but we can't confirm, there might a problem with the plumbing but we can't see under the floors to assess. Having moved in, I have so far found some damp on one of the walls whilst stripping back wallpaper which I suspect the vendor probably didn't even know about. I have also found some dodgy plumbing which I have fixed myself, and have had an electrician in twice to fix a couple of gremlins with the wiring. He thinks that we need a new fuse box which will be in the region of £500, but really, for all of the red items on the report, so far nothing serious has come up. 

If this house is somewhere you love, and you will be in for a long time then in my mind it is an absolute no brainer. From what you have put you're not financially stretching yourself, you know what you are walking into in terms of issues, and you are upset over a few grand which by xmas you won't give a hoot about. I'm assuming also that none of the repairs are needed right now? Do you potentially have years to get them all done? In five years time you could be sitting in your forever home with everything sorted out, or you could be sat where you are now wishing you'd just swallowed your pride. That's how I see it. 

Unicorn_cottage

quocvo said:

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.  

What?! We pay EA's to be the middleman so we don't have to get into long protracted direct discussions with the vendor/buyer. I suspect what you want would not achieve anything and in fact would stir up the situation more. 

I am selling at the moment and my original buyer walked away as I wouldn't reduce the price (although I had agreed to carry out the roofing works - his surveyor said the works would cost £3.5k and my roofer said it would cost £500). He was obsessed that he had overpaid. I put the house back on the market straightaway and got the same sale price straight away - viewings Saturday with offers from all but 1 viewer and closed the sale on Monday.

SpiderLegs

Now that we know the kind-of-relevant details on total budget and this proposed annex, doesn’t this whole conundrum sound absolutely pointless?

warby68

Having revealed your grand annexe plan and lack of suitable properties in a year, what does that now say about £5k?
Make a list of your priorities - the last £5k to £10k on the price is probably not in the top 5. Its probably more like:
- suitable property (not found any other in a year so extremely important)
- can you do any necessary work (yes as you will have the trades on site for your annex and can benefit from synergies)
- timing (how long do you want or can you wait for another property)
- is it mortgageable (yes)
- do all parties like it (yes, you're agonizing)
Note : all are about you and the property - not about the vendor.
Cutting off nose to spite face looks a distinct possibility.

Doozergirl

-taff said:

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.

I just wanted to echo this.  The survey our buyers had said that our house needs a new roof.   Half of the roof was brand new five years ago, it just used reclaimed tiles!     They didn't notice.  

I'd be very surprised if any drainage work cost £7k.   Digging holes and connecting up plastic is dirty, but not expensive. 

Treating timbers with chemicals isn't sensible in an old house.  Another one of those damp proofing industry cons.   Active woodworm is very rare.  Historic holes are usually from larvae making their way out of freshly cut timber as it dries out.  IF there is a current infestation, there has to be some rot from damp ingress, in which case you cut out and replace timber.  

Doozergirl

quocvo said:

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.  

It might eat into the budget, but surely that £150k is going to increase the value even further?  Certainly by more than £154k?   There's an opportunity there.  

GDB2222

It’s not really £5k. It’s £20k, as there’s £25k of work and the vendor has only agreed a £5k reduction. 

Let’s not lose sight of the real figures. Now, £20k may be chicken feed to some round here, but it’s quite a bit for some of us. 

“If you love the place” - well, that’s worth something, but £20k?

ToxicWomble

You have 2 options 
1) accept that they won’t budge and walk away
2) accept that they won’t budge and carry on