FTB asking for 5K reduction just before exchange

Sid91

grumiofoundation said:

GDB2222 said:

Surely, as FTBs the stamp duty holiday does not help them? Unless this is a rather expensive house. 

There’s been such a lot of hype over the stamp duty holiday, and prices may reduce after it ends?

Indeed, not really sure why stamp duty being mentioned as a factor - in fact if OP is buying a house themselves they are the ones who would be impacted if completion doesn't occur by the end of the holiday. 

We paid £800 stamp duty on this house as first time buyers. I know its not breaking the bank but it's still money we could of done with keeping hold of!

AdrianC

Sid91 said:

AdrianC said:

Will they walk away over £3.5k?

Remember, they've spent a couple of grand to get to this point, and they're staring at the imminent removal of the SDLT holiday.

Why 3.5? They want a 5k reduction for 1500 worth of work! I think they're chancing it, thinking I didn't know what the electrician had said.

Because I understood the OP had offered £1,500 split-difference.

Mind you, I missed they were FTBs, so... <puts kettle on again>

GDB2222

@Sid91 Actually, there is some advice I can give you. Forget about the reason why the buyers are revising their offer. It really doesn't matter. Your only question is what are you going to do about it? 

I haven't  a clue how much your house is worth, but you seem to have convinced yourself that it's worth more than the revised offer. By that, you must mean that if you remarketed it you are absolutely sure that you could  get significantly more than they are presently offering.

So, do you start again with the sale process? Or, if they have you over a barrel, do you grit your teeth and agree to their terms? Or do you try and compromise? Obviously, if you do try and compromise, you'll need to decide what to do if they don't meet you part way. 

Incidentally, I'd bet that previously you were negotiating with the nice FTB couple, but now you are negotiating with Dad, who may be a far tougher nut to crack.

greatcrested

Easy.

Say no to any increase as the work is non-essential. Give a deadline to Exchange and say if deadline missed price will rise by £5K

GDB2222

greatcrested said:

Easy.

Say no to any increase as the work is non-essential. Give a deadline to Exchange and say if deadline missed price will rise by £5K

Only if you really mean that, though.

Sid91

greatcrested said:

Easy.

Say no to any increase as the work is non-essential. Give a deadline to Exchange and say if deadline missed price will rise by £5K

They won't go for that. The price they were paying is their maximum budget which I think is why they are asking for a reduction now. The 5k would take them to the offer they originally made which is a bit of a coincidence.

greatcrested

Yes but might focus their minds on the practice of gazumping/gazundering....

Blue_bell_20

Sid91 said:

MovingForwards said:

If the reduced offer is agreed, or negotiated to meet in the middle, the lender has to be advised and a new mortgage offer produced.

I'm assuming the property was valued at their offer, which took into account the condition of the property, otherwise they would have come back at that point with a reduced offer.

The mortgage provider valued it at more than they offered! This is my point, why now? 

Just to your sentence ‘the mortgage provider valued it at more than they offered’ Sid91. How do you know the mortgage lender valued it at more than the offer? Ours wouldn’t comment on a value above just said ‘we can borrow X (what we offered) for property Y. 

Just curious if some banks actually say a higher figure, or if you just mean ‘it’s been valued at least for X (offered price) so it’s likely above that’

GDB2222

greatcrested said:

Yes but might focus their minds on the practice of gazumping/gazundering....

That is a point. But, really, the OP has no duty to educate people, and it might cost him dearly to do so. 

Blue_bell_20

But for the question ‘why now?’ The survey picks up issues. They didn’t account for the 1.5k or they don’t understand if it’s a recommendation. Are there other recommended costs in the survey? Maybe they add up to 4-5k. 

You could reassure them that it isn’t immediate work that needs doing so they can save for it and fix it over time? Or you could offer to pay half towards (£750 or the whole 1.5k). The other option is just refuse, leave the ball in their court to continue or walk away. 1.5k is quite small to walk away though.