Buyer is concerned about the garden…

donutandbeer

Apologies for this long and anxious rant post. 

Our buyer is coming for a last minute viewing today. We are hoping to exchange this week and complete next week. According to our estate agent, buyer is coming to “measure” but apparently is “concerned” about the garden. 
 
One of the enquiries we got from their solicitor was asking us to confirm that we will “clear” the garden. We replied saying that we will clear out our tools and trash. They didn’t raise anymore questions about the garden after that. This was roughly a month ago. 
 
Our garden does not have a lawn. Aside from the shed & patio, we have planted many plants on the side and in the middle of the garden. We were trying to be bee-friendly and never use any pesticides. There are always some weeds, but there are also grass paths that you can walk around the garden on (we cut the grass on the paths so paths are clear). We have a huge herb section, lots of edible plants like artichokes, asparagus and fruit trees, and we tried to use clover and wild strawberries as land covering. We were never that on top of gardening but we also enjoyed a somewhat wild style garden. 

Our buyer first viewed the house at the end of March. Now close to completing we have done some minimal gardening to keep the plants roughly the same as when they viewed (we also did some gardening before the viewings started). Obviously we cleared our tools and trash in the shed and garden.
 
I don’t think it’s reasonable for them to ask us to clear out all the plants/weeds if that’s what they want. We didn’t think there’s any point in hiring someone to put down a lawn before putting the house on the market because who knows what the future buyer would like. I’ve seen houses with bramble covered gardens, our garden is definitely not like that, although probably most people will want to hire someone to landscape the garden so it’s easy to maintain.
 
We priced the house accordingly (we know we don’t have a meticulous garden like some other houses in the area), got lots of offers, and chose this chain-free FTB buyer. Now we are so close to exchange and completion, and the buyer is talking about their concern about the garden again, we are worried that they are going to be difficult today. I personally don’t think anyone will pull out from the purchase solely because of this garden, it’s not like there was any promise for the garden to be like neighbours’. But there is a chain, and we certainly don’t want any more delays…
 
If this was raised at the start, and they were firm on how they wanted the garden to be, then we would just put the house back on the market because we don’t have any doubts that it’s still very popular (good schools around). But again now that everyone in the chain is ready to exchange, we really just want to get it over with.
 
We feel like they might try to gazunder us today, and we wouldn’t have much choice but to accept… I know buyers can gazunder vendors up to the last minute, and they don’t really need any real reason to do so (and the other way around as well). I’m hoping that they are just worried that there would be things left behind in the garden among plants.
 
Just really anxious, all the rooms are covered in boxes right now, a plumber is coming midday to take out our dryer and washing machine, and we have scheduled a waste collection today as well and the buyer is coming at around the same time. It’s going to be super chaotic. Hoping someone here can offer some kind words just to calm me down a bit. Thanks.

RAS

Just say no. They don't need a landscape gardener; they just need to maintain what's there until they get a feel of the place and how they want to use it. 

Generally the advice is to live with it for a year first.

Robin9

Until your buyer comes you won't know what their concerns are -  they might just want to know what grows well and what doesn't.

donutandbeer

RAS said:

Just say no. They don't need a landscape gardener; they just need to maintain what's there until they get a feel of the place and how they want to use it. 

Generally the advice is to live with it for a year first.

My instinct is to say no. I don’t think anyone will pull out solely because of our garden. But I guess they could be quite stubborn & difficult about exchanging this week. The house is owned by my husband and his brother, and the chain involves my brother-in-law’s purchase. They are understandably really worried about this chain collapsing…

donutandbeer

Robin9 said:

Until your buyer comes you won't know what their concerns are -  they might just want to know what grows well and what doesn't.

That’s true. I guess I’m trying to prepare myself for the worst case scenario. I really hope they are not that unreasonable and expect us to restore a lawn or something. 

eddddy

This is the kind of 'problem' that you're paying your estate agent to deal with.

Any good estate agent should be very experienced at saying "don't be silly" to buyers, in a very polite and non-confrontational way. Probably much better than you can.

In terms of dealing with the buyers on the day, I think I'd be very upbeat and say something like...

"I'm sure there are lots of local gardening firms who could get the garden the way you wont it in no time at all. Once you've moved in, pick a firm, tell them exactly what you want and sit back while they sort it out. They'll be able to advise you on plants, flowers, vegetables, shrubs, the best place to plant things, high-maintenance garden vs low maintenance garden, etc, etc. So you'll get the garden exactly the way you want it."

Bendy_House

Have a word with your own solicitor to confirm what 'clear' the garden is, as it's strange their solicitor would have said this specifically? But almost certainly it's the standard 'clear' it of rubbish, tools, furniture, gnomes, pots, and the half-buried supermarket trolley. This is normal, and also obviously applies to the actual house and garage too.

They should have no expectation whatsoever of the ACTUAL garden being any different to that viewed at the time of their offer.

It does sound a bit worrying, right enough, if the EA remarked "concern", but just bear in mind that you will, of course, be complying with all the requirements to clear out the property, so this is not an issue of your making.

Having said that, since you have yet to exchange, then the buyer - just like you, the seller - can pretty much do what you want if you are so inclined. And there is ultimately little or nothing the other side can do about it.

So, I think I'd (ie all of you involved in the sale) make the decision now as to how you'll respond to any attempt to renegotiate. Just HOW much 'over a barrel' do they have you? Does the EA or buyer KNOW this?

Good chance they'll be reassured when they view again, but in the event of them trying to renegotiate/gazunder, try and have your response ready. Ultimately, tho', you only have partial control over what could happen;

They are ok about continuing.
They try for a discount, you refuse, and they accept this.
They try, you refuse, they pull out.
They try, you agree, you take a hit, the sale moves on. In which case, give some serious thought as to what drop is acceptable.

You don't know the chain position of the buyer - are they also under pressure? (Ah, they aren't - they are FTB?)

The house is owned by your husband and his brother, and your b-i-l is involved in the chain? Yikes! Complicated! What about you and your hub - what would this mean to you two? Would you and your hubby be able to shrug it off and simply remarket? If so, then - this is tough - but the person who mostly needs to make a decision on how much 'hit' they might possibly have to take to not break the chain is surely your bil?

Most likely there is nothing to worry about - it'll all be fine. But, I think frank discussions now might be worth it, primarily between your hub and his bro? (And you, if this is your main residence). They are the ones most directly - and financially - involved in this, so perhaps some groundwork now (no - I don't mean 'garden', I mean financial 'planning') might be worth it, rather than wait for a response and then panic?

I mean, you and your hub and even your

donutandbeer

eddddy said:

This is the kind of 'problem' that you're paying your estate agent to deal with.

Any good estate agent should be very experienced at saying "don't be silly" to buyers, in a very polite and non-confrontational way. Probably much better than you can.

In terms of dealing with the buyers on the day, I think I'd be very upbeat and say something like...

"I'm sure there are lots of local gardening firms who could get the garden the way you wont it in no time at all. Once you've moved in, pick a firm, tell them exactly what you want and sit back while they sort it out. They'll be able to advise you on plants, flowers, vegetables, shrubs, the best place to plant things, high-maintenance garden vs low maintenance garden, etc, etc. So you'll get the garden exactly the way you want it."

Indeed it seems like it’s the estate agent’s responsibility. To be fair I think our contact is quite good at being reassuring, so I can only imagine she has already said what she can say to the buyer. I would think that the buyer’s solicitor should have said to the buyer that no one is asking their vendors to clear all weeds, but alas. 
 
Thank you for the suggestion on how to respond. I’m normally quite good at standing my ground and setting firm boundaries and I feel like I can pull that response off. Only worry is that I’m a small foreign East Asian female and the buyer that’s coming today is apparently a male (presumably older than me). I already look younger, sometimes people here think I’m still in school 😨 Ironically when I was in my home country I was always told that I look older…

Noneforit999

Chances of the buyer pulling out at this stage are slim over a garden they have already seen previously. 

They might just want to have another look so they can take better pictures to get some quotes before they move in, summer is cracking on so they might want a firm in quickly after completion to make it usable.

Norman_Castle

Depends on what they mean by clearing the garden. I'd consider that removing anything that isn't growing in the ground. A shed or similar is down to whats agreed. If they consider it a deal breaker how much work is it to cut everything down to ground level?

Wait and see what they say then find a compromise.

Bluebell1000

I think your garden sounds lovely. I hope it all goes ok today