Buyer wants money off for issues raised on survey

verytired11

doingitanyway said:

I had this issue. I could have pulled out and put the property back on the market as my solicitor advised me 'they would see sense' as an indemnity insurance was not required. However we reached a stalemate so I found out how much the costs was. It was £300 so I agreed to pay half just to protect the sale. It worked. £150 was a small price to avoid starting the whole damn thing all over again with new people!

Maybe check how much the insurance is?

We haven't even got to the stage of negotiating for any indemnity......the £10,000 just relates to repair issues and 'getting the house up to building regs'!!  He will be asking for further money off for the various indemnities as his next step .  He is undertaking a calculated and aggressive campaign.  Anyway, I have told my agent to put my house back on the market on Friday if he doesn't accept what I have offered for the repairs by the end of tomorrow.  I am a reasonable person, but the buyer is not, so it's time for him to decide if he wants the property at the agreed price or not. 

ss2020jd

doingitanyway said:

I had this issue. I could have pulled out and put the property back on the market as my solicitor advised me 'they would see sense' as an indemnity insurance was not required. However we reached a stalemate so I found out how much the costs was. It was £300 so I agreed to pay half just to protect the sale. It worked. £150 was a small price to avoid starting the whole damn thing all over again with new people!

Maybe check how much the insurance is?

Yes, completely agree. My solicitor didn’t try to convince me not to or argue as I just said I would agree to it to save time and delays. 

AnotherJoe

verytired11 said:

doingitanyway said:

I had this issue. I could have pulled out and put the property back on the market as my solicitor advised me 'they would see sense' as an indemnity insurance was not required. However we reached a stalemate so I found out how much the costs was. It was £300 so I agreed to pay half just to protect the sale. It worked. £150 was a small price to avoid starting the whole damn thing all over again with new people!

Maybe check how much the insurance is?

We haven't even got to the stage of negotiating for any indemnity......the £10,000 just relates to repair issues and 'getting the house up to building regs'!!  He will be asking for further money off for the various indemnities as his next step .  He is undertaking a calculated and aggressive campaign.  Anyway, I have told my agent to put my house back on the market on Friday if he doesn't accept what I have offered for the repairs by the end of tomorrow.  I am a reasonable person, but the buyer is not, so it's time for him to decide if he wants the property at the agreed price or not. 

Make sure the EA also passes across the info that if your buyer attempts a last minute gazunder you will kill the deal because that's his next step I bet.

lookstraightahead

The thing is op, even when and if you complete, they sound like the sort of person that will try to sue you for something. I would personally tell them you refuse to sell to them and move on. Honestly I wouldn't want to sell to them now.

davilown

Op

seriously, this buyer sounds like the person who will drop the offer by £10,000 on the day of exchange. Don’t offer them anything.

If fact, just put it back in the market now. You can do this and don’t feel pressured by the EA. As you’ll probably be past your minimum period for the EA, give them their 2/4 week notice just for good measure.

verytired11

lookstraightahead said:

The thing is op, even when and if you complete, they sound like the sort of person that will try to sue you for something. I would personally tell them you refuse to sell to them and move on. Honestly I wouldn't want to sell to them now.

This is exactly how I feel. I just don't want to sell to someone so unpleasant.  But it's nerve wracking going back to square one when we have got so far and I can actually easily afford a price drop because I am downsizing and have made a huge profit on this house over the last 20 years. I am delighted with the offer and would probably have agreed a £5k reduction for a nice buyer.  I feel really sick with anxiety and keep flip flopping. I agree that he  may agree to my offer now but then try to drop it again just before exchange to get back what he seems to think is his money and that he will try to sue me after completion.  His latest legal questions asked me if my neighbours had had any problems with works on their houses.  NOT works that caused a problem to my house, but works that caused a problem to them!!!  He is just fishing for things to sue me over.

warby68

Go with your gut - this one is more trouble than he's worth

verytired11

davilown said:

Op

seriously, this buyer sounds like the person who will drop the offer by £10,000 on the day of exchange. Don’t offer them anything.

If fact, just put it back in the market now. You can do this and don’t feel pressured by the EA. As you’ll probably be past your minimum period for the EA, give them their 2/4 week notice just for good measure.

Thanks. I was also considering sacking the agent.  There are honestly so many people looking to buy in this area I could probably go to another agent and they would already have 5 serious, proceedable buyers they could send round for a viewing the next day.

lookstraightahead

verytired11 said:

lookstraightahead said:

The thing is op, even when and if you complete, they sound like the sort of person that will try to sue you for something. I would personally tell them you refuse to sell to them and move on. Honestly I wouldn't want to sell to them now.

This is exactly how I feel. I just don't want to sell to someone so unpleasant.  But it's nerve wracking going back to square one when we have got so far and I can actually easily afford a price drop because I am downsizing and have made a huge profit on this house over the last 20 years. I am delighted with the offer and would probably have agreed a £5k reduction for a nice buyer.  I feel really sick with anxiety and keep flip flopping. I agree that he  may agree to my offer now but then try to drop it again just before exchange to get back what he seems to think is his money and that he will try to sue me after completion.  His latest legal questions asked me if my neighbours had had any problems with works on their houses.  NOT works that caused a problem to my house, but works that caused a problem to them!!!  He is just fishing for things to sue me over.

Think about what a great situation you are in (other than the current issue of course). I would personally feel less anxious once I had made the decision to rid myself of this bully, the house sale you can deal with by a shiny new start (and probably complete more quickly with a new buyer). You've got enough money to make choices.

Mickygg

davilown said:

Op

seriously, this buyer sounds like the person who will drop the offer by £10,000 on the day of exchange. Don’t offer them anything.

If fact, just put it back in the market now. You can do this and don’t feel pressured by the EA. As you’ll probably be past your minimum period for the EA, give them their 2/4 week notice just for good measure.

I agree with this. The signs are there for them to drop the offer close to exchange. I wouldn't offer a penny off in this market.