Moving house...seller taking summer house

[Deleted User]

Doozergirl said:

As soon as I saw that the summer house wasn't staying, I'd be renegotiating!  It's not okay to say 'more than likely' staying and then exclude it if your offer was based on it. 

It wasn't in the brochure, but you did ask about it.  That's a big object to use as a carrot and then pull away.  

Agree with this. The summerhouse was clearly a selling point and I would have been renegotiating this when I first got wind that they were potentially taking it. 

They've been quite clever/sneaky in saying "Its highly likely to stay" because that basically means theres still a chance that it will go, whilst giving you the impression that they will leave it therefore you didn't enter renegotiations. 

You should have really demanded a yes/no answer at the time - "Either summer house stays, or we reduce the offer by £15k, confirm in writing please". Would have been my approach, but I fear it might be a little too late for that now. 

warby68

Probably not overly helpful now but for future your offer should have been made specifically to include the summer house.
That doesn't stop you reopening negotiations now but it would have been clearer that someone was shifting the goalposts.
Even if not formally part of the offer, was there a discussion around its inclusion (I suspect not) ?

I would send a message, initially via estate agent (who will be keen to see this 4m old sale conclude) to say you're not sure you still want it without the summer house especially now you know there will be an 'ugly' concrete base left  and are considering options and see if that shakes anything up from the vendor - an offer to sell it to you or a change of mind if the vendor also wants the sale done. It is possible that they don't know at this point how important it is to you, particularly as you enquired but then didn't follow up with a condition in your offer.

If no joy with that, I'd forget anything specifically about the concrete base for now and would prefer to have a reduction so I could make good the garden in a way that suits me and not in a rushed, cheap as possible way the vendor might opt for. Extremely unlikely they'll have concrete dug out in my view.

Charrrb

Thank you all. Some of these responses have been incredibly helpful. In retrospect, we should have made the offer with the inclusion of the summerhouse rather than taking the word of the seller that it is highly likely to stay at the time. We have decided to reopen negotiations via the estate agent. We have offered £500 for the summer house to stay or we want our offer reducing by £3000. I think it is very much in our favour at the moment as the seller is moving into a new build that will be ready at the end of March and their property had been on the market for 6 months prior to our offer being accepted so I imagine they are eager for this to not fall through. It's quite a harsh situation to put them in but then, as someone has said, don't use your summer house as a dangling carrot and then inform us that it won't be included in the sale at the point of completing property inventory forms! Thanks again all!

Irishpearce26

Deleted_User said:

Doozergirl said:

As soon as I saw that the summer house wasn't staying, I'd be renegotiating!  It's not okay to say 'more than likely' staying and then exclude it if your offer was based on it. 

It wasn't in the brochure, but you did ask about it.  That's a big object to use as a carrot and then pull away.  

Agree with this. The summerhouse was clearly a selling point and I would have been renegotiating this when I first got wind that they were potentially taking it. 

They've been quite clever/sneaky in saying "Its highly likely to stay" because that basically means theres still a chance that it will go, whilst giving you the impression that they will leave it therefore you didn't enter renegotiations. 

You should have really demanded a yes/no answer at the time - "Either summer house stays, or we reduce the offer by £15k, confirm in writing please". Would have been my approach, but I fear it might be a little too late for that now. 

I think this is bad advice. There was nothing in writing or verbally that said the summerhouse was included in the sale, yes highly likely its staying is covering their backs and why not. Hindsight would be to cover items that may not be clear as staying in the offer. The buyer if they take your advice could lose credibility if they need to renegotiate for anything that comes out of surveys that warrants a reduction. 

lookstraightahead

wilfred30 said:

lookstraightahead said:

I reckon they are trying their luck to get more money. I works give them two options - either to leave it, or if they take it then they need to make the garden good. If they leave the base, surely this is leaving behind 'rubbish'.
Why are people like this! Personally I would say I'm pulling out. 

As well as not being a hole, a concrete base is not 'rubbish'

That's how I would see it. I would expect it all to be gone, or none of it. I would make that an agreement before any exchange. I'm sure the sales particulars didn't include "concrete base" 

Irishpearce26

Charrrb said:

Thank you all. Some of these responses have been incredibly helpful. In retrospect, we should have made the offer with the inclusion of the summerhouse rather than taking the word of the seller that it is highly likely to stay at the time. We have decided to reopen negotiations via the estate agent. We have offered £500 for the summer house to stay or we want our offer reducing by £3000. I think it is very much in our favour at the moment as the seller is moving into a new build that will be ready at the end of March and their property had been on the market for 6 months prior to our offer being accepted so I imagine they are eager for this to not fall through. It's quite a harsh situation to put them in but then, as someone has said, don't use your summer house as a dangling carrot and then inform us that it won't be included in the sale at the point of completing property inventory forms! Thanks again all!

What is your plan if they reject your revised offer? Walk away? Have you invested much at this point? Its really a crappy situation and I would feel annoyed as well. I hope you get the solution that works for all and can proceed with the move as soon as possible. Good luck.

Charrrb

lookstraightahead said:

wilfred30 said:

lookstraightahead said:

I reckon they are trying their luck to get more money. I works give them two options - either to leave it, or if they take it then they need to make the garden good. If they leave the base, surely this is leaving behind 'rubbish'.
Why are people like this! Personally I would say I'm pulling out. 

As well as not being a hole, a concrete base is not 'rubbish'

That's how I would see it. I would expect it all to be gone, or none of it. I would make that an agreement before any exchange. I'm sure the sales particulars didn't include "concrete base" 

Absolutely. It may not be a literal hole or rubbish but it will definitely be unsightly and not what we expect when we were shown around, and as stated in the description as, a "recently professionally landscaped" garden.

seradane

Irishpearce26 said:

Deleted_User said:

Doozergirl said:

As soon as I saw that the summer house wasn't staying, I'd be renegotiating!  It's not okay to say 'more than likely' staying and then exclude it if your offer was based on it. 

It wasn't in the brochure, but you did ask about it.  That's a big object to use as a carrot and then pull away.  

Agree with this. The summerhouse was clearly a selling point and I would have been renegotiating this when I first got wind that they were potentially taking it. 

They've been quite clever/sneaky in saying "Its highly likely to stay" because that basically means theres still a chance that it will go, whilst giving you the impression that they will leave it therefore you didn't enter renegotiations. 

You should have really demanded a yes/no answer at the time - "Either summer house stays, or we reduce the offer by £15k, confirm in writing please". Would have been my approach, but I fear it might be a little too late for that now. 

I think this is bad advice. There was nothing in writing or verbally that said the summerhouse was included in the sale, yes highly likely its staying is covering their backs and why not. Hindsight would be to cover items that may not be clear as staying in the offer. The buyer if they take your advice could lose credibility if they need to renegotiate for anything that comes out of surveys that warrants a reduction. 

Yes, but do you really have to specify everything is included when you make an offer? You don't go, I'd like to offer this amount, based on the fact there will be doors and walls and light fittings and and and... of course not. You make an offer based on what is seen when you view, and in my opinion a summer house is not something that is ordinarily picked up and moved with you when you move house, so I don't think it was unreasonable to expect it would stay.

As someone else said, the sellers are perfectly entitled to take the summer house with them, but equally the buyer is perfectly entitled to pull out or ask for a reduction (as I see they have above).

Charrrb

Deleted_User said:

Doozergirl said:

As soon as I saw that the summer house wasn't staying, I'd be renegotiating!  It's not okay to say 'more than likely' staying and then exclude it if your offer was based on it. 

It wasn't in the brochure, but you did ask about it.  That's a big object to use as a carrot and then pull away.  

Agree with this. The summerhouse was clearly a selling point and I would have been renegotiating this when I first got wind that they were potentially taking it. 

They've been quite clever/sneaky in saying "Its highly likely to stay" because that basically means theres still a chance that it will go, whilst giving you the impression that they will leave it therefore you didn't enter renegotiations. 

You should have really demanded a yes/no answer at the time - "Either summer house stays, or we reduce the offer by £15k, confirm in writing please". Would have been my approach, but I fear it might be a little too late for that now. 

Thanks for your advice. I've contacted the estate agent with an offer for them to leave the summer house for a small price or a reduction in the offer. We possibly have the advantage in that the seller is due to move into their new build in March so I'm sure they won't want the collapse of this sale!

GixerKate

If they are downsizing into a new build then its highly likely they don't have a big garden so surprised they want to take a summer house with them.

I would say that a concrete base isn't rubbish and for me I'd be happy that it was being left for me to then be able to put a summer house or something that I would be able to choose.  Just prior to selling my previous property we put in a concrete base at the end of the garden and its a lot of work, effort and money to install so wouldn't want to do that again.