Seller increases asking price after 10 months when they have caused the delay in exchange!

BV88

Hi Everyone,

We made an offer in April 2021, full ask 475k, we had no chain as already sold our existing home. The couple we are buying from are elderly and moving to a different part of the UK to be near their children and according to the Estate Agent very nervous and stressed about the house buying/selling process. Since our offer was accepted in April we moved quickly and had all searches, paperwork and  mortgage offer done within 8 weeks. HSBC down-valued the property at 464,000 but at the advice of the Estate Agent we decided to just put up the extra cash ourselves as they thought it would spook the vendor out of the sale.

Since then the vendor has been in three purchases that have almost gone to exchange, then they have pulled out at the 11th hour citing very minor issues with the property or they wanted a reduction from their seller for various survey issues that they were not given so pulled out of the sale. We do not need the property to live in right away as I am currently on assignment abroad so decided to stick with them. We have had to re-do all our mortgage paperwork due to the length of time that has elapsed. 

Today, almost 10 months after our offer was accepted, we had a call from the estate agent. The vendor will pull out and re-list the property unless we increase our offer to 500,000. The agent was pretty distraught about making the call and you could tell very embarrassed. Apparently they are being 'advised' by their children that because of the changes in the market we have to pay the extra despite the delay being 100% on them.

What would you do in this situation? Emotionally we feel royally taken advantage of. The market is clearly cooling where we are with multiple properties being reduced and not selling but its possible they could get 500,000. The extra 25,000 for us is not ideal but we could pay it.

After they pulled out from the third property we sort of moved on emotionally as did not consider them serious sellers. I am thinking of agreeing to the increase to 500,000 as an 'option to purchase' but then seriously looking for somewhere else (made more difficult by not being in the UK for the whole year). If I do not find somewhere else then I can decide a few weeks before exchange if I really want the property, pulling out just before exchange if I decide I do not want it. I would never normally do this to a seller but we don't owe these people any courtesy now. 

We were planning on doing a major development to the property to make it what we needed but now thinking that just buying a house at a higher price that meets our needs is more sensible. 

Appreciate your views...

penners324

You go back to them and state you wish to exchange and complete in the next 2 weeks or you will withdraw.

Meanwhile start viewing other properties.

You can ask the estate agent to tell the vendor that they're being ridiculous 

newsgroupmonkey_

Pull out. And suggest that the Estate Agent charges fees to them before dropping them like a hot potato.

There are clearly other people like this see

@Esper who proposed doing something similar.

Chandler85

Pull out, find another house.  Tell them it doesn't matter what the price of the house is any more as the vendors clearly don't want to sell, are they going to come back in 6 months and ask for more again.

Skiddaw1

I'm with @penners324 . Call their bluff and if they won't play ball, move on. If they've done this to you they'll do it to their next buyer (when they eventually find one).

greensalad

I'd go for your second option and rather than pulling out, start looking for something else but keep them on the hook. You may find after spending some time looking around that you can't find anything similar and maybe the extra money won't seem so bad. Or you might find another home that works and you can drop them. As you've said yourself, awful behaviour normally and wouldn't dream of it but with a seller like this you owe them nothing at this stage. Let them get done over at the last hurdle if it suits you better. 

prowla

Well, from the seller's perspective a year has passed and now the house is worth more.

From the buyer's perspective, the seller has demonstrated that they don't consider agreements to be binding and so, on the basis of reciprocity, you could change your mind and walk away anytime you like too, eg. if you found another place.

rexmedorum

Emotionally this is hard. Realisticly it's starting to sound doubtful it's ever going to happen with this one and I'm not sure agreeing to 500k is going to ultimately help. If you do really want it you could throw in another 5 or 10k, but I think it's a bad idea to just bend over backwards and accept 500k, as that signals to them that they can probably push for even more at the 11th hour. Personally in your situation also with not needing the house urgently, I would simply tell the estate agent to let you know if they change their minds and want to prceed at the originally agreed price, while of course starting to look elsewhere.

kazwookie

Get looking, and pull out, stuff them for taking so long.

I had all this with elderly vendors, I got caught up in the 1st lockdown, then the vendors refused to move.  My money down the drain, (searches, and a very cross EA, but hat was nothing to do with me)  but in the end I found a better property for less money. As far as I am aware the  vendors are still in the property and it is off the market.

[Deleted User]

Pulling out seems be be a knee jerk reaction. Surely setting a deadline for exchange gives this situation one last chance (however unlikely). I dont think offering more is a good idea.

Flugelhorn

I hate messing people about but if this happened to me I  would be so tempted to agree to the 500K and then on the day of exchange knock it back down to 475K