Martin Lewis Blog: 'House offer accepted, now they want £20,000 more! What should I do?'

Tabieth

Tempting as it is to tell the seller to get lost, it may not be the best response. If the property is worth £20k more and if the buyer can afford it, then I may pay (or offer an extra £10k to meet halfway). But if it’s already top of budget and if it’s not worth more than I’d say no and be prepared to walk away. 

scher

While I agree with others that it's totally unethical, as a previous house seller why do people think they can come round and reduce the price you are selling at? We had people come round to view and admit they couldn't afford the house so would we reduce it by xxx£. My reply was, why are you wasting my time and yours looking at something you cannot afford? I blame Estate Agents a lot of the time. We were looking at buying and gave certain criteria we absolutely must have and they totally ignored our requests and sent us so many property details we would never be interested in. The whole system needs changing.

MeteredOut

golddustmedia said:

We experienced the opposite of this as a seller.
just days before exchange of contracts the buyer announced they wanted £20k off the agreed sale price - a 6.25% discount.

What I still find upsetting is that the estate agent, who ultimately worked for us via their sales commission, even had their own terminology for it! They seemed to be actively encouraging us to “re-neg” (renegotiate), by dropping our price.

Luckily we were not in a chain and were aware the buyer had already spent on survey and fees. So I told the agent to inform the buyer we already agreed on a price and if they would no longer pay it then the house could go back on the market that day.

Fortunately the buyer backed down and 2 weeks later bought at the agreed price. They had pled poverty to try and drive down the price, yet when they moved in we saw they drove a nearly new Audi of the sort we could not afford ourselves.

My view is you need to park the emotion, it’s a business transaction and if you’re dealing with someone who will not honour their agreement then don’t deal with them. Another house, another buyer or seller will come along.

Owning a nearly new Audi does not mean they were wealthy; a significant percentage of cars are bought with borrowed money by people who could not afford to own them outright.

Georginav

Withdraw, I just hope it hasn’t got as far as the purchaser paying a deposit. If she has paid a deposit ask her solicitor where she stands as  she’s not really backing out, it’s the vendor asking for more. 

RHemmings

Georginav said:

Withdraw, I just hope it hasn’t got as far as the purchaser paying a deposit. If she has paid a deposit ask her solicitor where she stands as  she’s not really backing out, it’s the vendor asking for more. 

Deposits are usually paid upon exchange of contracts. In which case it will be too late for the seller to try and change the price. 

VeryAncient1

1. Remember Martin's Mantras! 

2. Two can play at the game the vendor is trying, (if you really want to)

3. ANYTHING, is only worth what a BUYER is willing to pay!

4. Never fear about walking away from any deal, if it doesn't suit you.

MiloBeaublanc

Is it safe to assume that the sale price agreed upon was at or near the asking price and somewhere near the valuation report?

Assuming that it was and that the agreed price was the best offer made the market has set a value for the property so asking for an extra £20K is in effect an overvaluation.

That being the case I would walk away unless I had really grown attached to the property, had the extra cash and expected to be there for the next 10 years at a minimum. Then I might consider making a counter offer, but I would really have to be committed to owning this property above all others.

AlanMTS

Me and my wife were in a chain of 5 in the gazumping 1980's in Essex . We were 2nd in the chain. We were due to sign contracts at 12 noon. That morning the top of the chain (from whom we wanted to buy) wanted 5 grand more. We had no choice but to walk away at great disappointment to us and all in the chain, which collapsed. But good came out of it as we ended up moving to the Northeast where houses were a fraction of the price of commuter belt Essex. It seems in England that until contracts are exchanged with payments of deposits etc nothing is certain.

aintreemaid

Ericcat said:

My view? I’d be declining their demand for £20k more, and reaffirming my previously accepted offer. Then, when the survey report comes back will be going over it with a fine-tooth comb with the aim of getting a decent reduction. 

I doubt the would-be buyer would now go to the expense of a survey if they could not afford the higher price demanded of the seller.

aintreemaid

Ericcat said:

My view? I’d be declining their demand for £20k more, and reaffirming my previously accepted offer. Then, when the survey report comes back will be going over it with a fine-tooth comb with the aim of getting a decent reduction. 

Oops, I meant demanded BY the seller!