Buyers being CF or not?

[wejammin]

We're selling our first home and have had an offer accepted on our next property.
Our buyers are first time buyers. Our house was on the market for 3 days, we had 4 viewings, 2 second viewings and our buyers put in an asking price offer after their second viewing which we accepted, this was in June.

Since then our buyers have been fairly hard work. They had a full survey done, followed by a full electrical survey and a damp and timber survey. They asked us to do a boiler service and a gas safety check, which I've agreed to. They've also been back for an hour to measure up, which I agreed to.

They've now come back and asked for £6k off the asking price for various things that have come up in the survey. I don't want to be unreasonable, but most of the things just say "recommended". There's 3 things that say category 3 or need doing now, which total £1000 to sort according to our buyers. They won't provide the full surveys. Estate agent is fed up with them, so I'm inclined to think maybe they are being CF?

Our seller hasn't found anywhere yet so we're not under pressure .
I'm tempted to agree to pay half of the "now" work (so £500) and not agree to more, but I don't want to be unreasonable. The idea of going back on the market is stressing me out, but I would do it.
Asking price was £200k and we can't afford to sell for less than £198k to buy our new place.

Best way to get this sorted quickly and reasonably, anyone?

[Mildura]

Sound like pretty typical nervous/cautious FTBs.

Worth trying an offer of £500 reduction, perhaps being tempted to increase that to a max of £1000 off.

On the one hand it is frustrating, but on the other there's nothing to say that if you find another buyer you find yourself in the same spot.

[InfiniteSheldon]

Unless they show you the surveys there is absolutely no base for a reduction.

[user1471449295]

Insist on seeing survey.

[Countrylifeornot]

Just say no. FTB are a pain, they are cautious and unrealistic. They very likely won't pull out now after spending presumably thousands on surveys. Don't open the floodgates.

[Cohle]

I'd absolutely refuse without seeing the full survey.

[CrotchetyQuaver]

Echoing above - read survey first then decide about any reduction. They are clearly heavily invested already in your property though so probably don't want to start all over again either.

[ChangeOfTides]

It depends what the issues are. If they’re things that should have been obvious when they viewed, like artex needs replacing, then no. If they unexpectedly need to urgently rewire the kitchen then though the actual cost might be £1000 obviously there’ll be plastering, redecorating, pulling out bits of kitchen. So maybe they’re reasonable asking for more.

I’d ask them for a breakdown of what the £6k is to cover before going back with a counter offer. They’re unlikely to be expecting to get the full amount they asked for.

[wowfudge]

Echoing the advice you've been given, what's the basis for a £6k reduction - you want to see the parts of their surveys which are relevant. There is no basis for any reduction if something isn't to current regulations but not recorded as unsafe. It just means the installation was prior to current regs being brought in.

[whatsthecomingoverthehill]

I would say no, at least initially. It is sold as seen, unless there is anything that was unexpected given the age/condition of the house. They are already pretty invested if they've paid out for all those surveys.

[peachgreen]

Disagree with the above - I would never share a full survey, they cost money! They should share the cost breakdown and you'll be able to see what's essential and what's recommended. I would reduce the price by the essentials. I don't think any of the surveys they've had done are unreasonable, and I don't think it's unreasonable to ask for money off. I doubt they're expecting the full £6k but it makes sense to ask.

Otherwise prepare to go back on the market. As FTB we did pull out of a sale after they refused to reduce the price based on the survey because we simply couldn't have afforded to do the necessary work. Yes, we lost our survey costs but we really had no choice. I'd say FTBs are the most likely to pull out of a sale.

[Yellowbutterfly1]

I wouldn’t have paid for a boiler service and gas safety check. If they wanted that done they should have paid for it themselves and they know it. That’s may be why they now think they can get money off for things that may or may not actually need doing.

[WBWIFE]

Just say no.

Our buyers were the same and we said no and to stop asking for things and reductions or we are putting the house back up on the market. We gave them a day to let us know and if they didn't then the next day house would be bakc on the market.
Sure enough that evening we had a phonecall saying they still wanted the house 😂

[WBWIFE]

We also refused to pay for boiler and electric service or whatever. It's not down to the vendor it's down to the buyer.

Guess what? The buyer didn't bother!

[AllFourOfThem]

I’d refuse as well. I agree that FTB tend to be incredibly unrealistic and often don’t really understand the reality of buying.

[Twolittlebears]

Here in solidarity. I'm (not) selling to FTB and they are incredibly hard work. I gave them a reduction for a valid reason and now (a week before exchange) they've asked for another huge reduction for things they already knew about. They even came back on our final offer today. Luckily I don't need to sell.

[carly2803]

id refuse too.

I had 1 survey on my house. Could have negotiated money off, didnt, because it wasnt a huge amount of money and im not a dickhead

[wejammin]

Thanks everyone! I've told the estate agent I'm prepared to be reasonable regarding urgent stuff but only if there's actual evidence of the alleged problems. God it feels so stressful!

[DustyDoorframes]

@peachgreen surveys may cost money, but the OP is being asked to lose 6k on the back of one. Bet the survey didn't cost 6k! I'd also want to see it...

[peachgreen]

@DustyDoorframes I agree they should share the relevant segments but it's not common practice to share a full survey.