Buyer wants to reduce offer after I've signed and sent contract

m4ry444

lisyloo said:

How much are they expecting you to cover? The full £23k?
i would understand them wanting a reduction, but expecting you to cover everything so they get a new roof and electrics is not reasonable.
a common starting point might be 50/50

can you tell us how much they’ve dropped their offer?
how does the new offer compare with the others and EAs/your view of market value now you have full visibility of defects? 

Dont throw your your toys out the Parm, take time reflect and try to be objective
you don’t need to answer emails immediately
are they serious?
are they being reasonable?
is the new offer ok given the defects?
is there room for negotiation? (They probably haven’t given you their bottom line).

They've dropped it by 18k which puts the offer 2k above our lowest offer. They said they're serious and this is shown how much they've paid already in surveys and tradesmen. The EA didn't have much to say about it really. 

RAS

Which of your previous bidders are still in the market?

Ath_Wat

macman said:

Ath_Wat said:

macman said:

Ath_Wat said:

macman said:

Ath_Wat said:

macman said:

So, if I understand correctly, they now want to reduce their offer, not because their multiple surveys have found any defects in your property, but because they have found that the building works they want to undertake are now going to cost more than they would have done a few months ago (now there's a surprise). And they expect you to finance their shortfall?
FTB's: you've gotta love 'em...
As a previous post says, Arkell vs Pressdram most certainly applies here.

It's not a matter of financing their shortfall - they may well have made a genuine mistake in their estimation of costs and realised they have over offered.  As I say, while annoying, they would be fools to carry on and buy it at the original price if this is the case.

I wasn't suggesting they should. But equally, the vendor is under no obligation to reduce. There is no right or wrong here, either party can walk away. Or they can compromise. Only the OP can decide what to do.
You could equally well say that the OP would be a fool to reduce the price that it was presumably valued and marketed at. There is no suggestion that the house is not worth the price previously agreed.

Well no, because almost everybody reduces the price it was marketed at.  That's just a starting point for negotiation.

The OP would only be a fool to reduce the price below what they reasonably expect they could get from somebody else.

The negotiations concluded, or should have, when the buyer's first offer was accepted by the vendor.
The buyer has miscalculated and wants the vendor to compensate him for this.
He can certainly ask, but he shouldn't get.
The offer was accepted in May, and now, in late August .they want to renegotiate.

"Compensate" is entirely the wrong word.  

The deal is not finalised and the buyer has realised they made a mistake. They don't want to continue with the current deal, but think it is worth saying they would with a different one. It happens. Presumably they are perfectly prepared for the deal to be called off.   

I'd be quite happy to substitute 'pay' if that makes you happier? 
Given they have so far paid for 10 inspections, they appear to have invested a great deal in this property, so I doubt they'll walk away. After all these surveys, they haven't reported a single alleged defect that would devalue the property.
There is only one way to find out though.

It's not "pay" either.  it's changing the deal,.  Nobody has to pay or compensate anybody, they can just call it off.

If I say I might give you £1000 for a car, subject to looking at it, and when I look at it I find there is no engine in it so I offer you £100 instead, I am not asking you to pay me or compensate me at all.  I am changing the deal subject to something that has changed.  You are at liberty to accept or reject the new deal.

The same applies even if I just change my mind, because the initial offer is just a provisional offer, subject to any changes that might occur in any way.  That's all an offer on a house is.  It's annoying if someone pulls out of the original proposed deal for little reason, but such is the system.  The fact that they have offered a revised deal instead of just saying they don't want to proceed at all seems to make it worse in some people's eyes, but I am not sure why.

comeandgo

So they went in at highest bid and now want to reduce it to lowest amount.  I know what I’d do.  

lisyloo

m4ry444 said:

lisyloo said:

How much are they expecting you to cover? The full £23k?
i would understand them wanting a reduction, but expecting you to cover everything so they get a new roof and electrics is not reasonable.
a common starting point might be 50/50

can you tell us how much they’ve dropped their offer?
how does the new offer compare with the others and EAs/your view of market value now you have full visibility of defects? 

Dont throw your your toys out the Parm, take time reflect and try to be objective
you don’t need to answer emails immediately
are they serious?
are they being reasonable?
is the new offer ok given the defects?
is there room for negotiation? (They probably haven’t given you their bottom line).

They've dropped it by 18k which puts the offer 2k above our lowest offer. They said they're serious and this is shown how much they've paid already in surveys and tradesmen. The EA didn't have much to say about it really. 

Ultimately it’s up to you, but you are paying your EA handsomely so they should offer their advice wrt market value in light of the defects.

personally I don’t think £18k is reasonable or for them to expect a new roof and electrics.
id need to look at the defects in more details but I’d be looking to get closer to 50/50.

m4ry444

I've requested the full reports for the issues so will see if I get them through. Then have a proper conversation with the EA. The roof and the electrics clearly look old to anyone so I don't think they needed a report to tell them that.

Ath_Wat

m4ry444 said:

lisyloo said:

How much are they expecting you to cover? The full £23k?
i would understand them wanting a reduction, but expecting you to cover everything so they get a new roof and electrics is not reasonable.
a common starting point might be 50/50

can you tell us how much they’ve dropped their offer?
how does the new offer compare with the others and EAs/your view of market value now you have full visibility of defects? 

Dont throw your your toys out the Parm, take time reflect and try to be objective
you don’t need to answer emails immediately
are they serious?
are they being reasonable?
is the new offer ok given the defects?
is there room for negotiation? (They probably haven’t given you their bottom line).

They've dropped it by 18k which puts the offer 2k above our lowest offer. They said they're serious and this is shown how much they've paid already in surveys and tradesmen. The EA didn't have much to say about it really. 

How much is it below the highest offer you received apart from theirs?

m4ry444

Ath_Wat said:

m4ry444 said:

lisyloo said:

How much are they expecting you to cover? The full £23k?
i would understand them wanting a reduction, but expecting you to cover everything so they get a new roof and electrics is not reasonable.
a common starting point might be 50/50

can you tell us how much they’ve dropped their offer?
how does the new offer compare with the others and EAs/your view of market value now you have full visibility of defects? 

Dont throw your your toys out the Parm, take time reflect and try to be objective
you don’t need to answer emails immediately
are they serious?
are they being reasonable?
is the new offer ok given the defects?
is there room for negotiation? (They probably haven’t given you their bottom line).

They've dropped it by 18k which puts the offer 2k above our lowest offer. They said they're serious and this is shown how much they've paid already in surveys and tradesmen. The EA didn't have much to say about it really. 

How much is it below the highest offer you received apart from theirs?

It's 13k below. 

k12479

m4ry444 said:

So had feedback. They reckon there is £23k worth of repairs.


I'll give them the joists in the cellar have rot which need repairing to have their mortgage released. 

Is this from your buyers/estate agents? I don't think you've mentioned if your buyers are buying with a mortgage or with cash and planning on refinancing later, but if the former surely this scuppers their purchase anyway (unless they expect you to fix this before sale)?

m4ry444

k12479 said:

m4ry444 said:

So had feedback. They reckon there is £23k worth of repairs.


I'll give them the joists in the cellar have rot which need repairing to have their mortgage released. 

Is this from your buyers/estate agents? I don't think you've mentioned if your buyers are buying with a mortgage or with cash and planning on refinancing later, but if the former surely this scuppers their purchase anyway (unless they expect you to fix this before sale)?

Apologies. I read the thing wrong, there's been a lot of information! They're waiting on a new mortgage that will allow this to be fixed after moving, not a requirement before