MONEY MORAL DILEMMA. Should you demand a last-minute property discount?

Aldahbra

laurab84 wrote: »

As a first time buyer, I found my perfect property which was a bit more than i could realistically afford. I put an offer in and after some wangling it was accepted. However, our survey has just come back saying that 'in light of current market conditions' I should haggle on the price! What do I do!?!

This is a very different scenario; all offers are subject to survey. If the valuer has said that then you should. This is not the same as trying to drop the price at the very final stages.

It would be morally wrong to haggle on the price with just a few days to go. It is correct to haggle at the start of the process

schoolfundraiser

skylight wrote: »

You can but ask. Are you really prepared to pull out if you do not get the discount? The worst the seller can say is no and pull out themselves.

The seller may just decide that they don't want to deal with someone who reneges on the original deal - even if they gave the discount you could still pull out any time up to exchange of contracts. Asking for a discount now would put my back up if I was the vendor and I have pulled out of a sale after 5 months because the potential buyer was messing me about. And don't forget they would benefit more from collapsing the chain and looking elsewhere for something as 10% when upsizing is more money saved..

Phil

I'm afraid I would consider doing it in this market.

If the contracts are not exchanged, everyone knows the rules of the game - until they are signed, nothing is set in stone. Once they are, people have to put up and shut up.

JimmyTheWig

I wouldn't do it. Unless there was something in the survey, etc, then you've got no moral right to haggle on price.

scotbruce

davidksa wrote: »

You entered into a contract you should stick to it. What if the house you were buying went up in value over the 6 months and the sellers asked you for more, would you be happy about that.

Contracts should be fixed at time of offer as in Scotland

As above. A contract is a contract and, in Scotland thank goodness, is legally enforceable. How can you possibly justify - legally or morally - trying to renege on the agreed price? You would deserve to be sued for breach of contract.

*Louise*

Luckily I'm in Scotland

However, if we had that option, then I would never haggle at the last minute - I'd be too worried in case the seller told me to get lost.

If my buyers had tried to get money off, then they wouldn't have got the proerty, because my purchase would have fallen through without all the equity from the sale.

Bargainetta

laurab84 wrote: »

As a first time buyer, I found my perfect property which was a bit more than i could realistically afford. I put an offer in and after some wangling it was accepted. However, our survey has just come back saying that 'in light of current market conditions' I should haggle on the price! What do I do!?!

Depending on your area I think you should haggle if the price was an old one. This week people in the property business have actually been coming clean on how much discounting has been going on but you would have to have been daft if you hadn't woken up to that fact in some the areas which have been the most overheated. I can think of an example that has dropped 15% since Xmas and still not sold. Just for once, it isn't a seller's market! It was bound to happen but it happened later rather than sooner.

veloo

How about if it was the other way around? When I was a first time buyer looking to buy, I put in my offer which was accepted. I arranged mortgage, and a few weeks later before the contract exchange, the estate agent from Townends called me to tell me that a Spanish investor had offered £500 more, and wondered whether I would be able to match that? I was so surprised, more so because my offer had been accepted, and also because I was not aware of this so called practice. I was upset, and told them that I didn't trust them anymore, neither the estate agent nor the seller, and I didn't want to deal with them anymore, and I was pulling the deal off. Subsequently, there were a few calls from Townends people, I had never spoken to before trying to convince me that it was only £500 more. I never did buy that house, nor had any further dealings with Townends...

On the bright side, perhaps it was just as well that it happened. A few months later, I saw a beautiful house, liked everything about it, and bought it straight away, as soon as it hit the market. It helped that I had everything ready.

Personally, I think if the market crashed or shot up, it is reasonable to revalue, and justify a price change. And you should be upfront about it. But that should happen before a contract exchange. I believe it is illegal after the contract is exchanged.

falklandfred

We would all like to suggest that we would not be so mean. The reality,suspect, I that nearly everyone would try to get a discount, and a fair number would threaten to pull out if one were not forthcoming. That is the nature of the housebuying process in England and Wales. And these days, 10% can be a BIG sum of money!

Bristle_Hound

With questions being posed by potential buyers like this it can only make the fragile property market go into more crisis

My house is for sale at the moment and if someone did this to me, I'd tell him to go f*** himself!

I know money is money after all but I'd rather lose the sale than give in to what I consider is BLACKMAIL!

If you do do it, don't be upset if the seller smacks you one!

You've been warned!