Buyer wants money off for issues raised on survey

AnotherJoe

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.

That is moving into crazy town territory. Was it phrased like that? Its strange his solicitor even passed such a question on. Was there any other wording to explain what the thought process was behind that? Did you just answer "dont know" ?

I think I'm verging to where everyone else is,  pull out now, rather than what seems like an inevitable price drop on the day before exchange which might even be done vindictively not caring you'd cancel the sale and then after that, if the sale does proceed,  possible legal action when he finds out (say) your Victorian house doesn't meet current electrical standards or your ex-neighbours were in fact very annoyed about the builder who badly fixed their roof tiles and had mentioned it to you over a chat once. Even baseless legal claims can place a lot of stress on you.

And consider this, maybe you can afford a price drop but why give it to this individual? If you must, and likely you dont need to, give it to someone else more reasonable.

 

verytired11

AnotherJoe said:

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.

That is moving into crazy town territory. Was it phrased like that? Its strange his solicitor even passed such a question on. Was there any other wording to explain what the thought process was behind that? Did you just answer "dont know" ?

I think I'm verging to where everyone else is,  pull out now, rather than what seems like an inevitable price drop on the day before exchange which might even be done vindictively not caring you'd cancel the sale and then after that, if the sale does proceed,  possible legal action when he finds out (say) your Victorian house doesn't meet current electrical standards or your ex-neighbours were in fact very annoyed about the builder who badly fixed their roof tiles and had mentioned it to you over a chat once. Even baseless legal claims can place a lot of stress on you.

And consider this, maybe you can afford a price drop but why give it to this individual? If you must, and likely you dont need to, give it to someone else more reasonable.

 

Totally agree.  I think the question about the neighbours was the final straw for me and rang huge alarm bells.  I answered 'Not known' and have already put my neighbours on notice about what is happening.  It is a tight knit community around here so he will have difficulty gathering info about me, but who wants the hassle.  Not me.  I am fully expecting this individual to vindictively try to cause trouble for me if I pull out, so better to put a stop to it now before things go any further.  Fingers burnt, lesson learned and time to move on.  Just got to hope my seller waits for me to find another buyer.

lookstraightahead

verytired11 said:

AnotherJoe said:

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.

That is moving into crazy town territory. Was it phrased like that? Its strange his solicitor even passed such a question on. Was there any other wording to explain what the thought process was behind that? Did you just answer "dont know" ?

I think I'm verging to where everyone else is,  pull out now, rather than what seems like an inevitable price drop on the day before exchange which might even be done vindictively not caring you'd cancel the sale and then after that, if the sale does proceed,  possible legal action when he finds out (say) your Victorian house doesn't meet current electrical standards or your ex-neighbours were in fact very annoyed about the builder who badly fixed their roof tiles and had mentioned it to you over a chat once. Even baseless legal claims can place a lot of stress on you.

And consider this, maybe you can afford a price drop but why give it to this individual? If you must, and likely you dont need to, give it to someone else more reasonable.

 

Totally agree.  I think the question about the neighbours was the final straw for me and rang huge alarm bells.  I answered 'Not known' and have already put my neighbours on notice about what is happening.  It is a tight knit community around here so he will have difficulty gathering info about me, but who wants the hassle.  Not me.  I am fully expecting this individual to vindictively try to cause trouble for me if I pull out, so better to put a stop to it now before things go any further.  Fingers burnt, lesson learned and time to move on.  Just got to hope my seller waits for me to find another buyer.

You will probably feel very empowered by being in the driving seat again 😁

youth_leader

So sorry this buyer is causing you so much anxiety, there is actually a web site where people boast about how cheap they've managed to get properties through duping the owners.    During negotiations my buyer  actually rang my stone mason to ask how much it would be to repoint the whole house - all 264 sq m of it - I'm pleased to say my mason refused to co-operate.  

I'd remarket too, it's just too unpleasant.

badger09

Not something I'd usually advise, but if you're confident your house will sell easily, then I would draw a line under this one. Its a stressful enough process without obnoxious bullies. Your neighbours will also thank you for it!

Good luck 

verytired11

youth_leader said:

So sorry this buyer is causing you so much anxiety, there is actually a web site where people boast about how cheap they've managed to get properties through duping the owners.    During negotiations my buyer  actually rang my stone mason to ask how much it would be to repoint the whole house - all 264 sq m of it - I'm pleased to say my mason refused to co-operate.  

I'd remarket too, it's just too unpleasant.

That sounds horrible.  What's the name of the website please?

youth_leader

I'm sorry verytired11 I can't remember, I was googling something like 'my buyer wants too much money off for survey' late one winter night in 2019 and found a dreadful site where people were sharing tips on how to get buyers to accept lower offers.  It was like a Reddit forum.

Crashy_Time

eidand said:

I had the same feeling about my EA when I was selling 8 months ago. I assumed their job is to get me the best deal possible and instead they pressured me to accept low offers very quickly. In the end I held my ground and anyway. It's because they want their fee and they simply don't care about you at all.

In this  particular situation I would put the house on the market straight away. Even if you offer something to these people, they will simply come back for more reductions every day and it's just not worth it. Might as well accept it won't happen with them and find another buyer as soon as possible.

Exactly, there may be the odd exception but I think it would be an exception?