Please Help I Dont Know What To Do Now

wrightstar

I paid £500 reservation fee nearly 2 months ago for my Careys brand new dream home and agreed a price of £190,000. They also agreed to pay 5% deposit and luckily our mortgage leneders are using that as our deposit.
The survey results came through yesterday and valued it at only £180,000.
I advised my solicitor and he said I should now offer them only £180k and make sure they keep to their word and pay the 5% deposit.
Im there tomorrow to see the house and take some room measurements (for furniture). I want to exchange in the next week but im worried they will say no way and still expect the full price.
Can they do that if it is worth £10k less?????

They have been in constant contact with my lender and know I have the mortgage offer there and waiting. Im assuming they will bite my arm off to sell the property as they know i can do it asap.
There are also many other builders on the site that im sure will want to negotiate a good deal with me also. Surely Careys will be aware if that and sell at a lower price.

Any advice would be great as im meeing them tomorrow on the site

Thanks in advance:o

meanmachine_2

wrightstar wrote: »

I want to exchange in the next week but im worried they will say no way and still expect the full price.

The full price - as determined by your surveyor - is now 180K.

And yes, they'll likely bite your arm, face and dangly bits off too, so don't worry.

Housebuilders are going through the biggest crisis of recent times, so use that knowledge to your advantage.

SJ1

They can of course accept more than a house is worth and you can pay it - this has been happening for years! The key is in the negotiation and most importantly the bargaining position. I think yours is a strong position given the climate and the bit of paper with the valuation figure on it!

I think that you can afford to go in there and wave the surveyor report in their face and say that you expect them to stick to their promises but you clearly can't pay more than the actual price the house is worth.

Go for it and play hard. Like the other post said they need to move their houses and like you say are likely going to have to take that cut anyway from someone else.

My advice would be get your thoughts together and write down your arguments, their potential counters and what you will say in response. You may have to be prepared to say that you will walk away which might be hard given it sounds like you are really looking forward to the move so tonight you need to ask yourself if you are prepared to do that if they don't play ball.

One last point is that you need to make sure that you are speaking to a decision maker - someone who can say yes or no to your lower offer. With these things its really hard if you end up speaking to someone who has to speak to someone else etc etc.

Good luck - post how you get on!

SJ;)

Tiddler_2

Hi,

I'm surprised that you have got a formal mortgage offer (unless it is for a lower amount than you originally applied for) seeing how the property has been downvalued by £10k, and they builder was paying your deposit (unless you were putting some additional money towards the deposit aswell)

Which lender are you having your mortgage with? It may just be their instruction to the valuer to deduct any incentives that the builder are providing you with hence the reason that the deduction in price is virtually identical to the 5% deposit.

A lot of our company's business comes from the New Build market (or should I say DID come from the New Build market) and it is an area that is really struggling, with builders making staff redundant all over the country and some larger builders stopping building as they have large stocks that they need to get rid of.

Like all purchases, you can haggle over the price and how much you want the property dictates whether you pay their price or not.

It all comes down to your willingness to walk away from the deal and possibly lose your £500 reservation fee. The sales adviser on the site will be on a bonus/commission for selling the property and so she will want to keep the sale as much as possible.

Has the builder reduced the prices they have been charging recently? If not then I would seriously consider offering less than the £180k to test them in to seeing how much they have to play with/how much do they want the sale. I would even be prepared to walk away and let them think about it for a few days.

As a buyer - wanting to buy, who has shown they can get a mortgage, you are in a very strong position at the moment.

wymondham

Could you try to get further amounts off this.... in this climate I'd look ahead a bit, you can always come back up again! By the time you finish the purchase it could be worth many thousands less than you're paying even with this new price.

wrightstar

Thanks for all the replies.
I am going in to see the Careys today to re-negotiate a price. The origional asking price was £195 and we struggled to get it down to £190 with 5%deposit paid
Luckily our lender will use the careys deposit and are not expecting us to pay anymore deposit.
I am worried the value of the house will drop quite a bit again so i am going in to see them today and offer them £170 with 5% deposit and free carpets.
Wew were told we couldnt have free carpets previously as they had already given us such a good deal.
#I dont want to lose the house and hope they will agree to this price but i will walk away if we dont get what we want. There are so many other homes on the site that im sure we will get the deal we want.
wish me luck as im so nervous

inmypocketnottheirs

wrightstar wrote: »

wish me luck as im so nervous

Good luck! And don't be nervous! I am sure they are more nervous than you! Nervous about the fact you may pull out!

Use this to your advantage, and please report back!

Again, good luck!:beer:

wrightstar

what a day!! : (
Went into Careys yesterday and tried to negotiate a deal.
I advised that Natwest had valued the property lower than the agreed purchase price.
I was then told how fantastic our plot was, that it was the best one on the site and that we had already been given a great discount of £5k and had the offer of 5% deposit paid.
Being a first time buyer I am very nervous of this whole process and not sure when i can speak out and if i can at all.
I left it there as I didnt feel confidant to push without my other half being there to back me up.
I then called natwest to get an update on our mortgage offer and to discuss my options if i decide to walk away and go for another property.
I was advised that although we initially had the offer for £180k based on the property price of £190k, apparantly the underwriters were not advised of an incentive (the 5 % deposit) and will now have to re-asses the application.
They were aware and even went as far as to say that we wouldnt have to put any of our own money down. But we have always wanted to put a further 5% down ourself.
Anyway, I somehow managed to get my self feeling confidant, bolshy and all of a sudden very powerfull.
I went into another builder that has a much bigger house available to move in now. It is priced at £215k but will except £180k, give us free carpets and 5% deposit.
Armed with this amazing offer and amunition I went straight back to Careys, showed them the offer I had written down and waited for an offer.
I went in again and spoke to a different person at careys.
I told her straight that we will not budge on this matter and will need some sort of great offer to keep us from buying this other house.
I was told she would need to speak with her manager and call me back. She also advised that they are disputting the surveyors results but that she doesnt think natwest will change their mind.
She called me back and i went into the office.
The best she could come up with to keep us was £185 with 5% deposit paid or £182 with no deposit.
No way matey!!!!!!
I talked with her for a while and she wouldnt budge. So i said "let me know by wednesday if you can do it at a lower price or im going to buy the other house"
All i can do is wait now. If she hasnt called by wednesday at 12 i'll call and give her one last chance to budge.
I cant take this any more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
All Ive had is problems and stress the whole way along.
thanks for all your replies, theyve really helped my arguement.x

Kez100

I'm a bit concerned that you are potentially over paying on both - especially the smaller Careys one. Even 215 down to 180 (plus deposit) doesn't sound much in this market - given how overpriced new builds have been and the fcat there are a lot on the site still to sell.

I would worry two fold :

1. What's the liklihood of new neighbours paying rock bottom for the home next door - how gutting that would be and

2. What's the liklihood of having to live on a building site for the next five years while nothing sells unless it is given away ....see 1 above.

Bit of a vicious circle, I feel, and actually far more stressful than anything you have had to worry about so far.

Do you have any rightmove or website links to the properties?

kunekune

Well done! You may get people here saying you're an idiot to think about the alternative, but my view is that sometimes for some of us (including me!) owning isn't just about money, and even in a terrible market there are people for whom buying is a good idea. You did really well with your strategy today, and should be very proud of how you played it.

wrightstar

Hi Kez100
Thanks for your reply. I am not buying a home to make money although I know this is a major factor.
We are buying the home we think is best for us and our daughter, we love the area and have already chosen a new school for my daughter.
The larger home isnt even an option, we hate in fact. But i just wanted to see what other builders would offer us so that i could shove that in caresy face.
Maybe we shouldnt be so emotional over this particular house but i cant help it.
I dont know amy other way to bring the price down!!!!!!!