HELP-FTB unfair negotiations

I know how you feel and totally agree with you but the seller is perfectly within their rights not to sell at a lower price to you if they don't want to A house is only worth as much as someone is willing to pay for it! So I guess you have to ask yourself how much you really want it? Do you know if there were many other people interested in it?

We bought our house in July last year, in Scotland, so it was the "offers over" system. It was marketed at £48500 and when we came to look at it, the owner was just seeing another couple to the door. The house had only come on the market that morning and the first couple had offered her £55000. We knew there were other people lined up to see the house too and we decided to ask her if she would take it off the market for £57000, stressing that we were ina postion to move whenever it was convenient for her and that we weren't in a chain. Luckily, she agreed!

Anyway, after we had the survey done, we were told it needed a whole new roof. We still bought the house at the price we offered as we knew if we tried to lower it, she could easily have told us where to go and sold it to the next person.

The new roof, guttering, fascias and re harling cost nearly £4000 but houses in this street have been selling for around about £72000 recently so we haven't done too badly.

We were willing to buy the house even though we knew we'd have to spend our savings on repairs because I loved the garden so much - it's absolutely huge as it was originally intended for another house that for one reason or another didn't get built, so in effect it's on a double plot. We had looked at loads of houses before this and nothing was "quite" right.

So, how much do you want the house??

In your post you say "work needs doing on the property in order for me to get the full amount I need to borrow". If Nationwide are refusing to lend you the amount you need the work must be fairly substantial. Given the current condition of the market I would be tempted to offer the asking price less £1100. If they don't like it then wave goodbye and look elsewhere. As other posters have said though, it depends how much you want this house.

Tell em where to go i say!! It's turning into a buyers market now, and estate agents now have 1/3 more properties on their books than they did this time last year. If it was me, I would withdraw my offer completely seeing as he is in my opinion being unreasonable in refusing to negotiate. Yes, you may lose the house, but there are plenty more I can assure you and it will royally pee him off that he has lost a sale for the sake of a grand. Its the only way to deal with these types of people, dont let your heart rule your head, this is the biggest purchase you'll ever make.

the property market is definitely stalling and your seller is trying to call your bluff. he seems a bit smug and thinks that he has got you on a hook. he has got some cheek claiming that you will save on stamp duty and he will give you the curtains. My feeling is that he senses that you like the house too much and therefore it is a weakness on your part. he just wants to exploit it.

go back and ask for a drop more than 1100 make it 1500. put your offer in writing and outline the reasons why you are doing so in an impersonal and businesslike fashion.

if he still does not reduce it then walk away from the sale telling them that if they reconsider their position, you are still willing to negotiate.

i think that unless the house is undervalued (which does not appear to be case) in the first place, the seller will be taking a massive risk of lower property price and a longer sale period by putting it back on the market.


if they dont come back to you, then tell yourself that you have saved on a major hassle. if they do, then depending on the time they take to come back, your position could be further strengthened and you can ask for a bigger discount citing falling property prices as your reason for doing so.


in the end, try to make a financial decision as opposed to an emotional one. if buying the house at the asking price saves you rent and further hassle for looking for a new property, then 1100 pounds is not too much of a hassle. try to fund this 'loan' using a credit card deal or something similar.

good luck
Meera