Cold feet - FTB overpaying

MsACam

Hi all

I’m a FTB who bid on first home back at end of June on the written confirmation that it was chain free and we’d move by end of August. Turns out it’s not chain free and we’re still waiting for the chain to finish its due diligence (it collapsed so had to build up again). Problem is it was key for me to move in autumn as I had lots of spare time and therefore bid accordingly. Now with supply having dried up the seller has me over a barrel but I want a £15k discount on the £920k price. It’s the most expensive house in the area and it was justified in summer but now it isn’t.
what would you do?

ACG

I think your post is a bit of a contradiction. 

You want a discount when you are the one over the barrel. 

If there were 2 houses and 1 buyer, you can push for a reduction. 
If there were 1 house and 2 buyers, you are not going to win that one. 

Supply and demand, at the moment there is more demand than there is supply, things have only slowed because the supply has slowed. I have a list of 10 people on my desk looking for properties who keep checking in every few weeks saying they are struggling to find anywhere. 

steve866

What was the asking price?

MaryNB

£15k is less than 2% of the accepted offer. If you think you're overpaying you should be asking for a lot more off.
What was your lender's valuation? 

MsACam

MaryNB said:

£15k is less than 2% of the accepted offer. If you think you're overpaying you should be asking for a lot more off.
What was your lender's valuation? 

£875, done in late June, desktop. But lender was still happy to lend the full amount (ie same rate as would be if they lent 75% of £920k). But I know that a near identical house (except had bigger bathrooms instead of bigger bedrooms) with same aspect and sq footage 3 roads down sold for over £940k in September. Yet a semi detached house on same road with same aspect and sq footage, but not as nice kitchen/diner extension sold for £900k in September. So I’m super confused (appreciate a house is only worth what people say etc etc but also don’t want to actually lose any money when I come to sell in 7-9 years). 

MsACam

steve866 said:

What was the asking price?

Offers over £900k

MaryNB

MsACam said:

MaryNB said:

£15k is less than 2% of the accepted offer. If you think you're overpaying you should be asking for a lot more off.
What was your lender's valuation? 

£875, done in late June, desktop. But lender was still happy to lend the full amount (ie same rate as would be if they lent 75% of £920k). But I know that a near identical house (except had bigger bathrooms instead of bigger bedrooms) with same aspect and sq footage 3 roads down sold for over £940k in September. Yet a semi detached house on same road with same aspect and sq footage, but not as nice kitchen/diner extension sold for £900k in September. So I’m super confused (appreciate a house is only worth what people say etc etc but also don’t want to actually lose any money when I come to sell in 7-9 years). 

With those 2 houses you're talking about +/- 2% of your offer. That isn't a significant amount at all. If the seller rejects the discount would you pull out all together? Even the lender's valuation was only about 5% less. I've read that +/- 5 % is the standard margin of error for a valuation.

MsACam

I’m tempted to pull out as they’ve behaved unconscionably - lied about moving into a rental and being chain free and then said that there’s only one house in the world they’d be prepared to move to, and generally have been hideous to deal with (getting them to respond to queries has been incredibly painful and expensive as they give half answers and don’t provide paperwork until you ask several times). They said FENSA certificate for wood burner is not their problem and they haven’t had it swept/maintained. No guarantees or contract for underfloor water heating installation. And they refusing to pay for the £2.5 stamp duty relief I would have had if completed before end of Sept…

So I’d be tempted to pull out as feel they’ve acted immorally… cut your nose off to spite your face comes to mind, I know. 

Problem is we met them in person on first viewing (pre offer) and then more recently when we came to revisit the house after 4 months and they showed us round everything, talked through various plans they had for garden and inside (some of which we will borrow) so in person are nice but via email and through solicitors are horrible. And I don’t exactly cuddle fluffy toys for a living so come across plenty of aggressive people but they’re up there with the worst.

But they bought it for £725k 2 and half years ago and put in about £120k (kitchen extension, new kitchen, Cristal doors, rewiring downstairs, new double gazing throughout) so it’s not like they aren’t making a nice profit so I feel should pay for the extra rent that I’ve paid at least.  

MaryNB

MsACam said:

I’m tempted to pull out as they’ve behaved unconscionably - lied about moving into a rental and being chain free and then said that there’s only one house in the world they’d be prepared to move to, and generally have been hideous to deal with (getting them to respond to queries has been incredibly painful and expensive as they give half answers and don’t provide paperwork until you ask several times). So I’d be tempted to pull out as feel they’ve been immoral… cut your nose off to spite your face comes to mind, I know. 

Are there any other houses you'd be willing to offer on? 
My sellers changed their story a few times (new build ready to move into, new build with no completion date, they've formed a chain) but at least the sale only took 4 months in total. Nothing else has come up in my area that has even been close to that house (which is now thankfully mine) so I'd probably still be renting a year later if I pulled out. 

You could leave your offer on the table and tell them you are looking elsewhere since they're taking too long. 

canaldumidi

There is nothing unusual in what you describe. That's why property buying/selling is described as one of the 3 most stressfull life events.

"the written confirmation that it was chain free and we’d move by end of August" is pretty meaningless since a) things change and b) people are often over-optimistic and c) people often don't really know and d) they often lie.

You can only do what is in your own best interests at each specific point in time. Given the curent situation, what is in your own best interests? To withdraw and find another property? To wait patiently and hope things progress? To make a lot of noise, and threats and/or demand a discount (which might result in the seller withdrawing in retaliation)? Something else?

macman

All your grievances are simply not relevant, and nor are you entitled to a discount because of them, even if they genuinely are the vendors from hell. 
No one can tell you what to do, because only you can decide how much you want this property, and what you'll pay for it, and only the vendors can decide if they'll let it go for less, and if so, for how much less.
By all means drop your offer by £15k, no doubt they'll tell you to go forth and multiply. In which case, you swallow your pride, or look elsewhere. Or, they'll grudgingly drop a little bit, and you negotiate a compromise from there. 
This is all perfectly standard when buying and selling property, so don't personalise it. You don't need to be best friends, you just need to find a point of agreement.