Vendor suggesting I lower my offer to complete - should I get a legal commitment?

pjs493

Long story short - around Easter I had an offer accepted on a property. At the time, a rental property (that needed to be sold to purchase the new property without a mortgage) was sold STC to the in situ tenant. Sale fell through and its back on the market. The vendor of the property I'm buying has offered to reduce the price to get everything completed quickly. Should i get a legally binding agreement via my solicitor?

Longer story - had an offer accepted. Fast forward a few months and I was ready to set exchange and completion dates and my buyer pulled out (turns out he was wasting time because he didn’t want to move, so was giving everyone the run around). He gave notice and the property is now empty. 

I’ve had a bit of interest in the property. A few first time buyers have been on their second or third viewing, been divided between two properties and ultimately offered and been accepted on the other property. 

All along the agent for the property I’m buying has been kept in the loop and the vendor hasn’t been in a rush as they are elderly and selling their second home. 

Today I received a call from the vendors agent to tell me the vendor is offering to reduce the agreed price if it’ll help exchange and completion. Essentially it means I can drop my asking price on the rental and in turn have my buying price reduced by the difference. Eg if I sell for 10k less than the current market value, the vendor would by happy for my purchase price to be reduced by the same to ensure things compete quickly. 

As mentioned the vendor is elderly, selling a second home they no longer have a use for, and in the words of the agent just wants the house to be enjoyed by a young family now they’re too old to be able to do so. 

Is this all too good to be true? I’ve done my due diligence, had a full survey, had my solicitor do their thing, etc. It feels completely genuine. The vendor is wealthy to the point where 10k probably doesn’t mean much to them, especially given their age and keenness to get rid of the property. 

That was all a long winded way of asking if I ought to get my solicitor involved and ensure the price reduction is legally binding. Obviously I don’t want to find myself in a position where I accept a low offer on the property I’m selling for the vendor of the property I’m buying to turn around and refuse to reduce the agreed price by the same amount. The agent is aware of the current asking price and I clarified that if I sold for eg 10k less than that, I’d then expect the equivalent reduction. 

Everyone is keen for things to move forward. I have young children, I’m currently commuting miles to get them to the school local to the new house and have boxes packed ready to move after the failed sale over the summer. 

user1977

What would you expect the "legal commitment" to say, if you don't mean exchanging contracts in the usual way? It's not normal for there to be some sort of pre-contract contract.

housebuyer143

You can't get anything in writing because they are not committed to sell to you until you exchange, so they could pull out completely before then even if you had them sign a legal agreement about the price. 

I was like these sellers, just desperate to sell without anymore hassle and reduced the price to do it, so I don't think it's suspicious and I would take them at their word. I doubt massively that they would wait for you to get a new buyer at a lower price and then increase theirs causing the sale to collapse again 

ThisIsWeird

Hi pjs.
They can change the asking price right up to EoC - and so can you, just like with any other sale and purchase by anyone else. EoC is the 'contract'.
You have already forked out for the surveys and stuff, so you ain't going to lose any more should they change their mind - you aren't committing any more than usual. 
Hopefully they are (a) true to their word, and (b) nothing happens to change that before EoC, but unless I'm missing something, you are just in the exact same position as everyone else.
I'd lay odds that they are true to their intentions. It would be extremely poor form if they were intentionally leading you along - their EA would hate them, probably ditch them.

ReadySteadyPop

housebuyer143 said:

You can't get anything in writing because they are not committed to sell to you until you exchange, so they could pull out completely before then even if you had them sign a legal agreement about the price. 

I was like these sellers, just desperate to sell without anymore hassle and reduced the price to do it, so I don't think it's suspicious and I would take them at their word. I doubt massively that they would wait for you to get a new buyer at a lower price and then increase theirs causing the sale to collapse again 

That`s right, they just sound like smart sellers who know how to get things moving, more like them required really.

Debbie9009

It’s possible with it being a second property and it now being winter the seller doesn’t want to keep looking after it, paying bills etc, so has taken the sensible view to take less to get things moving.

Hopefully it will now be easier to sell yours.

ReadySteadyPop

pjs493 said:

Long story short - around Easter I had an offer accepted on a property. At the time, a rental property (that needed to be sold to purchase the new property without a mortgage) was sold STC to the in situ tenant. Sale fell through and its back on the market. The vendor of the property I'm buying has offered to reduce the price to get everything completed quickly. Should i get a legally binding agreement via my solicitor?

Longer story - had an offer accepted. Fast forward a few months and I was ready to set exchange and completion dates and my buyer pulled out (turns out he was wasting time because he didn’t want to move, so was giving everyone the run around). He gave notice and the property is now empty. 

I’ve had a bit of interest in the property. A few first time buyers have been on their second or third viewing, been divided between two properties and ultimately offered and been accepted on the other property. 

All along the agent for the property I’m buying has been kept in the loop and the vendor hasn’t been in a rush as they are elderly and selling their second home. 

Today I received a call from the vendors agent to tell me the vendor is offering to reduce the agreed price if it’ll help exchange and completion. Essentially it means I can drop my asking price on the rental and in turn have my buying price reduced by the difference. Eg if I sell for 10k less than the current market value, the vendor would by happy for my purchase price to be reduced by the same to ensure things compete quickly. 

As mentioned the vendor is elderly, selling a second home they no longer have a use for, and in the words of the agent just wants the house to be enjoyed by a young family now they’re too old to be able to do so. 

Is this all too good to be true? I’ve done my due diligence, had a full survey, had my solicitor do their thing, etc. It feels completely genuine. The vendor is wealthy to the point where 10k probably doesn’t mean much to them, especially given their age and keenness to get rid of the property. 

That was all a long winded way of asking if I ought to get my solicitor involved and ensure the price reduction is legally binding. Obviously I don’t want to find myself in a position where I accept a low offer on the property I’m selling for the vendor of the property I’m buying to turn around and refuse to reduce the agreed price by the same amount. The agent is aware of the current asking price and I clarified that if I sold for eg 10k less than that, I’d then expect the equivalent reduction. 

Everyone is keen for things to move forward. I have young children, I’m currently commuting miles to get them to the school local to the new house and have boxes packed ready to move after the failed sale over the summer. 

The only problem is that you can`t assume that a property will sell at a certain price, would they be happy if you got 20k less and offered that?

annetheman

Sounds like a very reasonable offer. I'd just crack on with a reduction agreeable to the vendor e.g. £10k less for your purchase, so you decrease your price by £10k (more if you can afford it for a quicker sale) or whatever is fine with them. 

Maybe requesting written agreements of the above is just a step too far into kerfuffle territory, when it's just a good gesture that will work in everyone's favour in the end. I'd keep things simple, accept and crack on at pace.

pjs493

Thanks for all the suggestions. When I said ‘legally binding’ I think I was thinking along the lines of filling in the official offer paperwork with the agreed price again so it was in writing rather than just words in a phone call. The estate agent for the vendor has indicated how low the vendor would be prepared to go and it is reasonable. I’ve reduced my asking price for a portion of that to allow wiggle room for offers. Keeping fingers crossed for a quick sale. 

The vendor is a lovely elderly lady who just wants her second home enjoyed by a young family now that she’s too old to make use of it and I think she’s happy to reduce the price in order to help move things along. The nature of the property means that there are upkeep costs that she is paying even though she no longer uses the property, so a quick sale will mitigate the costs she is currently incurring so it all makes sense in this specific situation. 

The reduced asking price for the property I’m selling does price it lower than similar properties and has sparked new interest in it. I’ve received an offer from someone who isn’t in a position to proceed because they haven’t sold their house and have a first time buyer viewing later this week. So hopefully it will sell fast now that it’s well below market value. 

ReadySteadyPop

Price cutting is a sure fire way to get the market moving and keep everyone happy, maybe not the banks though?

pjs493

ReadySteadyPop said:

Price cutting is a sure fire way to get the market moving and keep everyone happy, maybe not the banks though?

I’ll be mortgage free so no concerns from my perspective and my vendor doesn’t have a mortgage on the property either. Whether perspective buyers need a mortgage or not will depend on the individual. 

I’ve had an offer from a retired couple who are mortgage free and looking to downsize, but they’ve not sold their house so I’ve not accepted their offer on the basis that they aren’t in a position to proceed. The most interest I’ve had has been from first time buyers, but every time they have several viewings, get torn between two properties and ultimately have gone for the other property up until now. The last time it happened I’m pretty sure they opted for an almost identical property with a better view in the same complex. 

There was another first time buyer viewing at the weekend, but so far no feedback from the agent.