Gazundering - what are my options?

Golden_Glow90

propertyhunter said:

Ok, so the 10 days makes a difference. You can either hold out (and risk your onward purchase), or because they essentially want to feel they have got the best price, offer them what you can 'afford' to lose.

If time was on your side, I'd say ditch these buyers and find new ones. 

Your current buyers have moved very quickly to get from offer to exchange in less than 2 months. Assume they have a good position and with no chain? 

 

We’ve offered £5000 less as that’s the maximum we can afford to lose now. I’m hoping they accept that but I’m quite anxious about them saying no and us losing our new house. That being said, we could afford the new house on less but it would be a struggle without having to go through applying for the mortgage all over again as we’d probably need to borrow slightly more.

they do have a chain but we were told it was complete as first time buyers have bought theirs and had their mortgage approved so I’m hoping that it means that they are less likely to pull out as it would affect their sale too. 

nicknameless

Three other bidders all found houses in less than 4 weeks.  I call BS on that one.

Coincidentally today we are in exactly the opposite position.  EA came back to us on a house we lost out on at best and finals about 6 weeks ago.  We have just viewed again and offered over our original offer to definitely secure.

Perhaps call the EAs bluff (if it is one) and ask to remarket.  You may find one of your previous offers suddenly resurfaces?

Hate this tactic by buyers btw.  The folk we lost out to originally have been nightmares all along apparently just demanding reductions.

Gavin83

Golden_Glow90 said:

The estate agent has said that the other bidders have found properties  now. It sounds a bit of a fix and it doesn’t sit right with me. They’re asking to drop below what the other bids were. They asked for a £10k discount, then £7.5k but I’ve said no both times. 

If I pull out, what will I owe my estate agent and solicitors though for the work so far? I feel like I’m being messed about and ideally would like to just go via the developer (can’t do part ex though as our old house is worth more than 70%of the new house) and get them to sell it but not sure if I’ll end up with even less depending on what fees I have to pay

Rubbish. Either the EA can’t be bothered doing any work and therefore hasn’t even contacted them or your buyer is a mate of theirs.

I’m sure if you told them to remarket one of the previous bidders will magically reappear or your current buyer will honour their original offer….

Personally there’s no way I’d continue this sale even if it meant losing my onward purchase but I respect most aren’t as stubborn as me.

Noneforit999

Its a difficult situation as you don't want to lose your sale considering your onward purchase is a new build.

Meeting in the middle at £5k drop seems a suitable compromise. I would play hard ball if they say no, tell them you are going to re list it. Considering the lack of available properties at the moment and people offering over asking in many cases, the buyers have likely started conveyancing already and spent some money so I would be calling their bluff. 

Its easy for others to tell you to relist the house but for the sake of £5k, personally I wouldn't want the drama of having to relist it, do more viewings.

Its not just 4 weeks, its 4 weeks from their offer which in reality probably means a 6 week delay assuming relisting and then doing viewings etc. 

powerful_Rogue

Gavin83 said:

Golden_Glow90 said:

The estate agent has said that the other bidders have found properties  now. It sounds a bit of a fix and it doesn’t sit right with me. They’re asking to drop below what the other bids were. They asked for a £10k discount, then £7.5k but I’ve said no both times. 

If I pull out, what will I owe my estate agent and solicitors though for the work so far? I feel like I’m being messed about and ideally would like to just go via the developer (can’t do part ex though as our old house is worth more than 70%of the new house) and get them to sell it but not sure if I’ll end up with even less depending on what fees I have to pay

Rubbish. Either the EA can’t be bothered doing any work and therefore hasn’t even contacted them or your buyer is a mate of theirs.

I’m sure if you told them to remarket one of the previous bidders will magically reappear or your current buyer will honour their original offer….

Personally there’s no way I’d continue this sale even if it meant losing my onward purchase but I respect most aren’t as stubborn as me.

I'd be the same as you. Would make me wonder what potential renegotiating they would try and do just before exchange.

[Deleted User]

Golden_Glow90 said:

propertyhunter said:

Normally you would gazunder just before exchange, so that the seller has more reason to accept the price reduction since they don't want to go through another 3 months of conveyancing with a new buyer. They haven't exactly thought this through. 
Also, it's been 4 weeks - I'm surprised the other bidders have found somewhere else given the lack of supply in the market, or is this not true in your area? 
I'd just find another buyer if the current one doesn't want to honour their original deal since you are only 4 weeks into the process. 

As we’re buying a new build, we were due to exchange in 10 days. This is why we’re a bit worried as we’re not going to exchange by then if we remarked but at the same time, accepting £7500 less would mean we’d be cutting it very fine with our mortgage and not leave us with anything left to buy the things we need for our new house 

Out of interest - do they know you're buying a new build and need to exchange asap? Wondering if they think they've got you in a position where you have to take it....

GixerKate

hmm, definitely raising red flags for me, no survey been done but they want to drop their price and all the others in the bidding war have all disappeared?  I'd be worried that even if they stick around (with or without the reduced offer), is this an indication of what they are going to be like through the whole process?  What else will they mess you around on?

You've probably already done it but I would suggest investigating into the option provided by the developer.  Yes the actually offer may be less but presumably you can save on solicitors and estate agent fees so might work out ok?

If you do go back to market keep your developer in the loop, they can be relaxed about exchanging in a certain timeframe providing they feel confident that you are doing everything you can.  I was in a similar boat - offered on a new build when I accepted an offer on my old place, only to have my buyer (and the next buyer) disappear and we only finally managed to complete with the third buyer we had.  We were supposed to exchange within 30 days, in fact we reserved the plot in February and only exchanged at the end of September with completion in early October!  It was very stressful and I fully believe the threats from the developer when they were saying they were considering cancelling our reservation but we managed keep it in the end.

Golden_Glow90

Thank you all. The buyers have now said that they will pay the price we asked for (5k less) but it’s made me quite anxious now about them pulling out even closer to exchange. But at the same time, I know any buyer could pull out try to renegotiate so I think I need to see it through. I’d like to say no on principle but the other houses on the development which have been released later are £8000 more than what we paid for ours so I don’t want to be priced out of a house.

propertyhunter

Good luck! Fingers crossed it all goes smoothly for exchange!

warwick2001

Gavin83 said:

Golden_Glow90 said:

The estate agent has said that the other bidders have found properties  now. It sounds a bit of a fix and it doesn’t sit right with me. They’re asking to drop below what the other bids were. They asked for a £10k discount, then £7.5k but I’ve said no both times. 

If I pull out, what will I owe my estate agent and solicitors though for the work so far? I feel like I’m being messed about and ideally would like to just go via the developer (can’t do part ex though as our old house is worth more than 70%of the new house) and get them to sell it but not sure if I’ll end up with even less depending on what fees I have to pay

Rubbish. Either the EA can’t be bothered doing any work and therefore hasn’t even contacted them or your buyer is a mate of theirs.

I’m sure if you told them to remarket one of the previous bidders will magically reappear or your current buyer will honour their original offer….

Personally there’s no way I’d continue this sale even if it meant losing my onward purchase but I respect most aren’t as stubborn as me.

I once got shown around a house by an EA, she was so enthusiastic about it. Kept telling me there was NO WAY the seller would accept anything less than way over the asking price (she even helpfully suggested I should go at least £20k over, the house was marketed at £120k). I offered asking price, it was accepted.

Turned out the seller was the EA's daughter......... 

I would just be very wary about believing an EA on face value. As others have said, it would be very unlikely in the current market that all 3 other bidders have found other properties so quickly. 

Anyway, looks like you've had some good news, good luck, hopefully it all works out well in the end