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

Ath_Wat

m4ry444 said:

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. 

What do you think the cost is of fixing  the joists?  If this is going to stop a mortgage then clearly everyone would have to account for it.

lisyloo

does all the work need doing immediately e.g. presumably you are quite happy living with the roof as it is. Surveys are always quite risk averse to cover the surveyor.
if I took my car for an mot I’d get half a dozen advisories that I’d do nothing about.

We had an issue that lost a sale about an asbestos roof on a garage.
the professional removal recommended wasn’t necessary and loads of people living with the same type of garages.

bottom line is what you think is reasonable before you walk bearing in mind the issues won’t disappear.
this buyer appears motivated at least.

MobileSaver

m4ry444 said:

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. 

I learned this morning that a friend of mine finally got fed up with their ever-demanding cash buyer and so put their house back on the market last week; literally within 24 hours they had accepted a new full-asking-price offer.

In your shoes I would be probing the EA for their views on your local market but be aware that the EA has a vested interest in you selling quickly even if it's for £10k or more less as the difference it makes to their commission is minimal.

With so many original offers it's clearly a good property in a good area at a good prices so personally I'd be telling the buyers to sling their hook and would have the house back on the market already. Remember that every thousand pounds you agree to knock off the price is a thousand pounds less in your pocket; I'm sure you like most people could really make good use of that money with the cost of living going the way it is.

Mr.Generous

I'd also consider this OP, If you had a new roof, a rewire and a load of other work done how much MORE would you have marketed it for?

The buyer is chancing it, and most people who offer less like this are probably expecting you to negotiate and reject the first offer and then settle somewhere between the original offer and the revised one. Property prices are still rising in most areas, have a long think before you give up that much cash.

m4ry444

MobileSaver said:

m4ry444 said:

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. 

I learned this morning that a friend of mine finally got fed up with their ever-demanding cash buyer and so put their house back on the market last week; literally within 24 hours they had accepted a new full-asking-price offer.

In your shoes I would be probing the EA for their views on your local market but be aware that the EA has a vested interest in you selling quickly even if it's for £10k or more less as the difference it makes to their commission is minimal.

With so many original offers it's clearly a good property in a good area at a good prices so personally I'd be telling the buyers to sling their hook and would have the house back on the market already. Remember that every thousand pounds you agree to knock off the price is a thousand pounds less in your pocket; I'm sure you like most people could really make good use of that money with the cost of living going the way it is.

The buyers surveys has valued it for 11k more than we had it on for. And all the offers were over our asking prices. It's a very desirable property

m4ry444

Ath_Wat said:

m4ry444 said:

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. 

What do you think the cost is of fixing  the joists?  If this is going to stop a mortgage then clearly everyone would have to account for it.

They've had a quote around 4k. Considering covering that but nothing else 

aoleks

Leaving aside some other factors, such as communication between two parties involving estate agents who are not the brightest people and the fact that we don’t know all the details, I think it’s a simple case:

Buyer made an offer on the assumption that the house ia in good shape. Some things are only revealed at the survey stage. If I make an offer but then it comes to light that I need a new roof, then I don’t want that roof to cost me a penny.

This is not about new vs old, our roof is 60 years old, but is in mint condition. Likewise, if the electrics are not 100% safe and up to scratch, they need replacing.then so be it.

A house is only worth what people are prepared to pay for it, so the whole discussion around value is irrelevant. You need to decide if it’s worth risking the deal, given there’s a chance you’ll end up with less money from another buyer who might ask for a reduction for the very same reason.

Jude57

Just to point out what may be obvious to some posters but Regulations on electrical safety change periodically as better practices are developed and as installation requirements change. When new Regulations come into force, technically every installation not complying (that's every domestic property in the country) becomes obsolete. That's not to say it becomes dangerous at all, but an experienced electrician will always discuss this with potential clients, while their formal report will set out what is required to bring an installation up to current Regulatory standards. If an installation is found, on inspection, to be unsafe, the electrician doing the inspection is obliged to render the installation safe, up to and including disconnection to make safe.

I know this because I asked my ex to fit some additional sockets in my rented flat (I'd have got the Housing Association's approval first). He had a look at the installation, which had been partially updated two years earlier, and said he wouldn't touch it because it didn't comply with the latest Regulations and he'd have to bring it up to that level first which would be very expensive. He confirmed that everything was safe to use, just not up to date. I now get an annual electrical safety check via my landlord and it's still quite safe, over ten years later even though it's not compliant with the latest Regs.

lisyloo

aoleks said:

Leaving aside some other factors, such as communication between two parties involving estate agents who are not the brightest people and the fact that we don’t know all the details, I think it’s a simple case:

Buyer made an offer on the assumption that the house ia in good shape. Some things are only revealed at the survey stage. If I make an offer but then it comes to light that I need a new roof, then I don’t want that roof to cost me a penny.

This is not about new vs old, our roof is 60 years old, but is in mint condition. Likewise, if the electrics are not 100% safe and up to scratch, they need replacing.then so be it.

A house is only worth what people are prepared to pay for it, so the whole discussion around value is irrelevant. You need to decide if it’s worth risking the deal, given there’s a chance you’ll end up with less money from another buyer who might ask for a reduction for the very same reason.

The last bit I agree with.
the problems will still be there on subsequent sales.

i don’t agree you should expect certain items to be brand new and modern when you buy a second hand property.
if something old gets replaced with something new then that is know as “betterment”.
for example if you crashed your car you would definitely not get a brand new one as a replacement (unless you’d specifically paid to insure that risk).

at the same time if the buyer isn’t happy with the deal they walk away and the “problems remain”.

maybe there is some middle ground?

aoleks

lisyloo said:

aoleks said:

Leaving aside some other factors, such as communication between two parties involving estate agents who are not the brightest people and the fact that we don’t know all the details, I think it’s a simple case:

Buyer made an offer on the assumption that the house ia in good shape. Some things are only revealed at the survey stage. If I make an offer but then it comes to light that I need a new roof, then I don’t want that roof to cost me a penny.

This is not about new vs old, our roof is 60 years old, but is in mint condition. Likewise, if the electrics are not 100% safe and up to scratch, they need replacing.then so be it.

A house is only worth what people are prepared to pay for it, so the whole discussion around value is irrelevant. You need to decide if it’s worth risking the deal, given there’s a chance you’ll end up with less money from another buyer who might ask for a reduction for the very same reason.

The last bit I agree with.
the problems will still be there on subsequent sales.

i don’t agree you should expect certain items to be brand new and modern when you buy a second hand property.
if something old gets replaced with something new then that is know as “betterment”.
for example if you crashed your car you would definitely not get a brand new one as a replacement (unless you’d specifically paid to insure that risk).

at the same time if the buyer isn’t happy with the deal they walk away and the “problems remain”.

maybe there is some middle ground?

that's exactly what I'm saying, it's a negotiation, not an emotional game where people are "chancing" it. this is not about betterment, it's about hidden defects that were not clear at the viewing stage. the example gave earlier, with the car, is perfect:

if you sell a car, I would expect it to work properly. I offer £1000 on the assumptions that it will last, but if it turns out, after a mechanical inspection, that it needs a new clutch, than it's not worth £1000 to start with. no need for new parts, just no expensive defects that would cost a lot to repair.