Should we try renegotiate or stay quiet?

canaldumidi

You've seen the house. Does it meet your needs? If there's a specific measurement that matters to you ("will my sofa fit in that corner?") then take a tape measure on one of your visits.

I know that in some countries square metres are used in price calculations, but not in the UK. Number of rooms and impression on viewing is what governs what people will pay and hence value).

If you raised this with the seller(or asked the EA to do so) they'll almost certainly respond "Do you want to buy it or not?"

lookstraightahead

movilogo said:

Like OP, I also compare room sizes when comparing among multiple shortlisted properties. 
There is another independent way to verify room sizes - via EPC. You can check it here. Be aware that EPC area may or may not include conservatories and loft conversion. 
https://find-energy-certificate.service.gov.uk/find-a-certificate/type-of-property 

Sometimes layout of the room is more important that actual floor space. Some houses may seem large on paper but smaller in reality and vice versa. 

Before contract exchange any party can pull out. So really it is up to you what to do.

I agree. Our very old house is side on from the road and long and narrow. There is one similar down there road which is face on so looks much bigger from the front. It has 30sqft more space but had just sold for £150k more.

I suppose ours doesn't give such a grand impression but I can live with that 🤣

woodpeckerx

lookstraightahead said:

movilogo said:

Like OP, I also compare room sizes when comparing among multiple shortlisted properties. 
There is another independent way to verify room sizes - via EPC. You can check it here. Be aware that EPC area may or may not include conservatories and loft conversion. 
https://find-energy-certificate.service.gov.uk/find-a-certificate/type-of-property 

Sometimes layout of the room is more important that actual floor space. Some houses may seem large on paper but smaller in reality and vice versa. 

Before contract exchange any party can pull out. So really it is up to you what to do.

I agree. Our very old house is side on from the road and long and narrow. There is one similar down there road which is face on so looks much bigger from the front. It has 30sqft more space but had just sold for £150k more.

I suppose ours doesn't give such a grand impression but I can live with that 🤣

That would £53000 per square meter more, that is what happens if you don't check the price you pay per sqm, must be an EAs dream.

livdawsonn

tightauldgit said:

Until you exchange you aren't committed so the only question that really matters is whether you are happy to go ahead at the price agreed or not. 

You can try to negotiate but the seller is well within their rights to say no. And equally you are within your rights to pull out of the deal if you don't feel comfortable going forward. 

I don't really understand why you feel a need to 'stay hush' - you're doing your due diligence on the property and you have found a discrepancy so why not at least ask the question? Are you afraid they will pull out of the deal just because you ask? 

It's really up to you what you want to do. Do you think the property is worth what you have offered? If you lost out on it how bad would you feel? Could you find something you prefer within your budget? There's no hard and fast rule. 

That is our main worry because we are so far down the line we don't want to potentially push the sellers to reconsider and want to pull out, although I can't see they would as they would have to start the whole process again. But that is the main thing that's playing at the back of our minds.

livdawsonn

nicknameless said:

You've viewed 4 times and now having cold feet over a 'missing' 10 sq ft?

Who really believes EA measurements other than for ballpark?

As above - if you like it proceed.  If you were my buyer and tried to haggle over a mysterious 10ft at this stage I would see you as gazundering and likely take the serious huff.  Yours may be more accommodating perhaps.

It is more the fact we in total have lost over 30sqm from what was advertised, I think the likelihood is we don't say anything as we don't want to rub the sellers up the wrong way. If it was only 10 in total I wouldn't have batted an eyelid as like you said they are ballpark and they like to be generous, to say the least.

lookstraightahead

woodpeckerx said:

lookstraightahead said:

movilogo said:

Like OP, I also compare room sizes when comparing among multiple shortlisted properties. 
There is another independent way to verify room sizes - via EPC. You can check it here. Be aware that EPC area may or may not include conservatories and loft conversion. 
https://find-energy-certificate.service.gov.uk/find-a-certificate/type-of-property 

Sometimes layout of the room is more important that actual floor space. Some houses may seem large on paper but smaller in reality and vice versa. 

Before contract exchange any party can pull out. So really it is up to you what to do.

I agree. Our very old house is side on from the road and long and narrow. There is one similar down there road which is face on so looks much bigger from the front. It has 30sqft more space but had just sold for £150k more.

I suppose ours doesn't give such a grand impression but I can live with that 🤣

That would £53000 per square meter more, that is what happens if you don't check the price you pay per sqm, must be an EAs dream.

That's why I get really cross when agents think they can put up a plan without dimensions. Although some people choose a property for the wallpaper.

People are paying a fortune per sqft at the moment so every foot is important.

layout can be truly deceptive. 

movilogo

30 sq ft = 2.78 sq meter, which is a very small amount of space. How much is this against overall area of the house? 

jimbog

livdawsonn said:

nicknameless said:

You've viewed 4 times and now having cold feet over a 'missing' 10 sq ft?

Who really believes EA measurements other than for ballpark?

As above - if you like it proceed.  If you were my buyer and tried to haggle over a mysterious 10ft at this stage I would see you as gazundering and likely take the serious huff.  Yours may be more accommodating perhaps.

It is more over the fact we in total have lost over 30sqft from what was advertised, I think the likelihood is we don't say anything as we don't want to rub the sellers up the wrong way. If it was only 10 in total I wouldn't have been batted an eyelid as like you said they are ball park.

In the UK most people don't have a clue as to the square footage of their homes. It's a moot point. If you 'feel' if it's big enough to meet your needs then it's big enough. Some houses may have more floor space than others but the layout of the rooms can make them feel pokey. 

If I was the vendor I would be irritated to hear this and would anticipate being guzundered 

lookstraightahead

jimbog said:

livdawsonn said:

nicknameless said:

You've viewed 4 times and now having cold feet over a 'missing' 10 sq ft?

Who really believes EA measurements other than for ballpark?

As above - if you like it proceed.  If you were my buyer and tried to haggle over a mysterious 10ft at this stage I would see you as gazundering and likely take the serious huff.  Yours may be more accommodating perhaps.

It is more over the fact we in total have lost over 30sqft from what was advertised, I think the likelihood is we don't say anything as we don't want to rub the sellers up the wrong way. If it was only 10 in total I wouldn't have been batted an eyelid as like you said they are ball park.

In the UK most people don't have a clue as to the square footage of their homes. It's a moot point. If you 'feel' if it's big enough to meet your needs then it's big enough. Some houses may have more floor space than others but the layout of the rooms can make them feel pokey. 

If I was the vendor I would be irritated to hear this and would anticipate being guzundered 

I agree it's too late really, but I don't understand why, especially when prices are so high, people don't check this out in the first place.

it's like new 3/4/5 bed houses with the thinnest of dividing walls increase in value as one room has been split into three small ones. Sometimes location is more important than size of house, but it's still good to know.

livdawsonn

movilogo said:

30 sq ft = 2.78 sq meter, which is a very small amount of space. How much is this against overall area of the house? 

**square metre not foot** apologies that’s me being half awake!