On what grounds could I reasonably request a reduction in price?

lookstraightahead

sidneyvic said:

Why offer a price then try knocking the seller with any little excuse....

I had a buyer do this once and house went straight back on the market, no discussion.
They ended up writing directly to me with an apology asking me to re-accept their original offer.

Why offer a price you are not willing to pay ????

I agree with this, although in the current climate a buyer has to question whether they just got caught up in the momentum of the recent past and has come to their senses.

personally if I decided to ask for a reduction I would definitely want one and would be happy to walk away anyway, so a seller remarketing wouldn't really bother me. 

Camboudica

eddddy said:

If I was the seller, I'd concentrate most on the buyer's mortgage valuation.

My argument would be: if the property is in poor condition (e.g. aging roof, rotting windows) and a mortgage valuer values it at £300k, they feel it's worth £300k in that condition.  So I would push back hard on an offer below that valuation.


And I would take less notice of a valuation provided by a surveyor who was instructed by the buyer. They tend to value low (and quote 'top-end' repair costs) as a tactic to help buyers negotiate a lower price.


(But if a surveyor found problems that wouldn't have been obvious to a mortgage valuer - perhaps I'd take a softer view.)

I agree that if its blatantly obvious then you take it into consideration when you make your offer. 

But there are a lot of situations when only a desktop valuation has been done by the lender, and then a survey brings up legitimate issues the buyer wouldn't have known otherwise, and the lender wouldn't have seen as they're only looking at EA photos and local data. In that case a buyer has every right to negotiate. 

LegallyLandlord

BigBoss said:

I've just had a survey done and in anticipation of its receipt, I just wanted to know what things would enable a buyer to, reasonably, ask for a reduction in price? I'm thinking things like servicing of electric/gas if there is no evidence of recent checks etc...

Looking for simple one word answers here e.g.  "damaged roof"

There are other things that can help to highlight real life problems that might cost money to fix afterwards that might not be in the survey  (I know from experience!)

I'd download the full Energy Performance Certificate (google EPC checker gov and you'll find it - can't post link as newbie). That will tell you the work that needs doing to the property to improve the energy efficiency, which the survey might not highlight.

Check the age of the boiler - will it need replacing? Is there a full service history? If it hasn't been serviced for a long time, you may well need to replace it.

Is the fuse board new? Is there an EICR (electrical installation condition report) which highlights work that needs doing?

Look for damp patches, cracks, signs of recent decorating covering up problems. Have a chat to the neighbours - they might know!

Hope that helps.

Suzanne

blinko

Don't forget even If this is the case regarding additional work , the vendor can just say no and if there property is BMV then you have little wiggle room .

I'm buying now and it needs at least 6k of work including boiler , surveyor mentioned snell of gas and it's got a terrible repair history .

Vendor refusing to give anything off , yet property is BMV 

Painful situation , but three thing are never straight forward 

lookstraightahead

LegallyLandlord said:

BigBoss said:

I've just had a survey done and in anticipation of its receipt, I just wanted to know what things would enable a buyer to, reasonably, ask for a reduction in price? I'm thinking things like servicing of electric/gas if there is no evidence of recent checks etc...

Looking for simple one word answers here e.g.  "damaged roof"

There are other things that can help to highlight real life problems that might cost money to fix afterwards that might not be in the survey  (I know from experience!)

I'd download the full Energy Performance Certificate (google EPC checker gov and you'll find it - can't post link as newbie). That will tell you the work that needs doing to the property to improve the energy efficiency, which the survey might not highlight.

Check the age of the boiler - will it need replacing? Is there a full service history? If it hasn't been serviced for a long time, you may well need to replace it.

Is the fuse board new? Is there an EICR (electrical installation condition report) which highlights work that needs doing?

Look for damp patches, cracks, signs of recent decorating covering up problems. Have a chat to the neighbours - they might know!

Hope that helps.

Suzanne

To be honest I am all for buyers getting a good deal, usually prior to offering. I think vendors have been living in cloud cuckoo land for too long.

But, if a buyer came to me with these things, especially with a house that is at least second hand, i would honestly never sell to them. 

blinko

lookstraightahead said:

LegallyLandlord said:

BigBoss said:

I've just had a survey done and in anticipation of its receipt, I just wanted to know what things would enable a buyer to, reasonably, ask for a reduction in price? I'm thinking things like servicing of electric/gas if there is no evidence of recent checks etc...

Looking for simple one word answers here e.g.  "damaged roof"

There are other things that can help to highlight real life problems that might cost money to fix afterwards that might not be in the survey  (I know from experience!)

I'd download the full Energy Performance Certificate (google EPC checker gov and you'll find it - can't post link as newbie). That will tell you the work that needs doing to the property to improve the energy efficiency, which the survey might not highlight.

Check the age of the boiler - will it need replacing? Is there a full service history? If it hasn't been serviced for a long time, you may well need to replace it.

Is the fuse board new? Is there an EICR (electrical installation condition report) which highlights work that needs doing?

Look for damp patches, cracks, signs of recent decorating covering up problems. Have a chat to the neighbours - they might know!

Hope that helps.

Suzanne

To be honest I am all for buyers getting a good deal, usually prior to offering. I think vendors have been living in cloud cuckoo land for too long.

But, if a buyer came to me with these things, especially with a house that is at least second hand, i would honestly never sell to them. 

You may not want to , with interest ratings setting to hit 3% on Wednesday you won't get a better price by going back to market . 

This is definitely a pride one

lookstraightahead

blinko said:

lookstraightahead said:

LegallyLandlord said:

BigBoss said:

I've just had a survey done and in anticipation of its receipt, I just wanted to know what things would enable a buyer to, reasonably, ask for a reduction in price? I'm thinking things like servicing of electric/gas if there is no evidence of recent checks etc...

Looking for simple one word answers here e.g.  "damaged roof"

There are other things that can help to highlight real life problems that might cost money to fix afterwards that might not be in the survey  (I know from experience!)

I'd download the full Energy Performance Certificate (google EPC checker gov and you'll find it - can't post link as newbie). That will tell you the work that needs doing to the property to improve the energy efficiency, which the survey might not highlight.

Check the age of the boiler - will it need replacing? Is there a full service history? If it hasn't been serviced for a long time, you may well need to replace it.

Is the fuse board new? Is there an EICR (electrical installation condition report) which highlights work that needs doing?

Look for damp patches, cracks, signs of recent decorating covering up problems. Have a chat to the neighbours - they might know!

Hope that helps.

Suzanne

To be honest I am all for buyers getting a good deal, usually prior to offering. I think vendors have been living in cloud cuckoo land for too long.

But, if a buyer came to me with these things, especially with a house that is at least second hand, i would honestly never sell to them. 

You may not want to , with interest ratings setting to hit 3% on Wednesday you won't get a better price by going back to market . 

This is definitely a pride one

Oh I don't disagree that the market is turning at all. I will never ever buy even at listed price.

however, the reasons quoted prompting my response are normal house buying issues, and as a vendor I would just think it was going to fall through anyway with a buyer trying to negotiate on those points.

blinko

lookstraightahead said:

blinko said:

lookstraightahead said:

LegallyLandlord said:

BigBoss said:

I've just had a survey done and in anticipation of its receipt, I just wanted to know what things would enable a buyer to, reasonably, ask for a reduction in price? I'm thinking things like servicing of electric/gas if there is no evidence of recent checks etc...

Looking for simple one word answers here e.g.  "damaged roof"

There are other things that can help to highlight real life problems that might cost money to fix afterwards that might not be in the survey  (I know from experience!)

I'd download the full Energy Performance Certificate (google EPC checker gov and you'll find it - can't post link as newbie). That will tell you the work that needs doing to the property to improve the energy efficiency, which the survey might not highlight.

Check the age of the boiler - will it need replacing? Is there a full service history? If it hasn't been serviced for a long time, you may well need to replace it.

Is the fuse board new? Is there an EICR (electrical installation condition report) which highlights work that needs doing?

Look for damp patches, cracks, signs of recent decorating covering up problems. Have a chat to the neighbours - they might know!

Hope that helps.

Suzanne

To be honest I am all for buyers getting a good deal, usually prior to offering. I think vendors have been living in cloud cuckoo land for too long.

But, if a buyer came to me with these things, especially with a house that is at least second hand, i would honestly never sell to them. 

You may not want to , with interest ratings setting to hit 3% on Wednesday you won't get a better price by going back to market . 

This is definitely a pride one

Oh I don't disagree that the market is turning at all. I will never ever buy even at listed price.

however, the reasons quoted prompting my response are normal house buying issues, and as a vendor I would just think it was going to fall through anyway with a buyer trying to negotiate on those points.

its definitely a case by case, because in a rising market, those issues are well take it or leave it, in a falling market those issues become real.

I'm in the same situation I need to spend about £6k to bring a flat up to scratch, vendor refusing money off, mortgage is locked at 3.64%, i go straight into negative equity and probably will be 3 years odd to break even on price but  the yield is quite good (i'm renting it out )on the income side for what I want, painful but when has the housing market been an enjoyable experience

ReadingTim

Properties are sold as seen so it's up to the buyer to decide whether the price reflects the age and condition of the property when they're making an offer, rather than post-survey.  So, you'd hope that (say) in the case of a property which was last decorated in the 1970s, the price would reflect that it needed some modernisation, rather than putting in an offer, getting a survey, then trying to chip the price because the place needed some modernisation... you'd probably be given a fairly short response to that tactic, and the 2nd word would probably be "off"....  

So for post-survey matters which may yield results, it needs to be things which aren't obvious to the eye of someone with a modicum of intelligence, and/or can only really be expected to be picked up by a trained professional (a chartered surveyor for example....) - so, it's the recently repainted wall that masks the damp, the vertical cracks in brickwork, etc... things that suggest the place isn't what it seems.... 

That said, the only person who determines what's "reasonable" is the vendor, so it doesn't matter one jot what you, I, or the rest of the internet thinks is "reasonable", if the vendor thinks you're trying it on, then no deal.  Ultimately, you and the vendor need to agree on a price which you'll both accept for the transaction to take place.  What you privately think of that price is irrelevant: it could be reasonable, it could be unreasonable.  It could be a steal, it could be daylight robbery, but regardless: no agreement = no deal.  

movilogo

I had a buyer do this once and house went straight back on the market, no discussion.

In current state of market, such action may end up property not selling at all or at a price far lower than buyer's revised offer.