Reducing house offer

[Curious2468]

Hi,
We are in the process of purchasing a house and we are wondering if renegotiation is acceptable? When we offered we went in 5k over the asking price on the basis that we were given time to secure a buyer on our home. We weren't given this and they were adamant they would only accept our offer once we sold which meant we also ended up accepting an offer on our property below the asking price. We were ok with this initially as we love the home. It has turned out since that some things were listed inaccurately. The garden was listed as 80ft but is actually 50. The house is classed as end of terrace/semi detached but we have since discovered that the neighbours have extended behind the property and whilst it is not attached the our potential home the extension is only a gate width apart from 2 of the downstairs rooms (this couldn't be seen from the front of the house because of where the extension has been done). The survey has also flagged that the boiler could be condemned due to its location within the loft and that the soffits are in need of replacement. Other than this the house is in reasonable condition aside from a few minor things like upstairs windows being older than 10 years etc. The survey has however stated that the house is top end of valuation for a house of its type and that they wouldn't expect it to resell at our purchase price.

We have flagged this with our sellers estate agent who are being quite abrupt but awaiting our response on what we want to do.

Is it unreasonable to lower our offer at this point? I don't want to be unfair to the sellers but at the same time I am using inheritance from when my mum passed away to purchase the property and don't want to essentially throw away my mums hard work. That said it has taken us a long time to find a house that will suit us and internally I love everything about it. I do have concerns over how overlooked the back garden is though for the purchase price but it has been the best compromise we have managed to find and my children are getting older so the garden won't be used as much as it would have when they were younger.

Aibu to ask for a small reduction? We were thinking back to the original asking price.

I think you have sufficient grounds for asking for a deduction in price, except for the detached aspect.

Are the soffits in actually in very bad condition or is it just a case of them not being replaced in the last few years?
I know many people (myself included) who have a boiler in the loft, as long as you have lighting and a loft ladder then there is no reason for it to be condemned just because of it's location.

I'm confused did you not view the back garden and back of the house before you made an offer? You say "couldn't be seen from the front etc" so just made me wonder.

I think 5k is not that much money to fall out over.

If you want the house then keep your offer the same. If you are happy to run the risk of losing the house then go at a lower price. It sounds to me as though there are a lot of red flags. I'd actually offer quite a bit less and see what they say. Don't 'ask' for a reduction just revise your offer.

If it were me I wouldn't risk

How far are you with your conveyancing process? It sounds like you haven't exchanged contracts yet in which case yes you can lower your offer based on what you have since found out (garden 30 feet less!) and the estate agents wording being incorrect.

You need to talk to the solicitor who is doing your conveyancing as he then will contact the vendor's solicitor on your behalf, not the estae agent.

PS it is quite common to reduce an offer after the survey when things like the boiler tend to be highlighted and the price is at the top end anyway, so I would go for offering 5K less.

We asked for a reduction when we found damp in a house. Seller refused to drop the price. We found a better place straight away for cheaper and then the original seller came back looking to renegotiate and it was quite satisfying to tell them to get knotted! They never found another seller so it really was their loss. YANBU

Ignore the last sentence of mine. I meant to say that I WOULD risk it.

Ok that's worth knowing, our solicitor seems very on the ball.

We had viewed the garden and I had said to my husband I didn't think the 80 was accurate but it was only after our offer was accepted that we managed to confirm this. The houses are staggered so we hadn't noticed the neighbours extension as it is directly next to the property we are buying so not very noticeable from anywhere in our garden. It's probably my least worry tbh but is a tad annoying, esp as it is likely they will seek to extend partially upwards at a later date going on the planning permission history on the property.

We aren't quite at exchanging contracts but probably not far from it (waiting for our buyer to sort their survey which we keep being told will be soon). I wouldn't want to loose the property but don't want to pay over the odds either iykwim. The house itself is very lovely (and spacious) but the garden lets it down a bit.

Mostly I think I am panicking about such a big decision. The house isn't a good financial investment for the future compared to others on the market but would be the perfect home to move into for us and our situation iykwim

As the price was inflated in the first place you can offer the asking. If they think someone will offer them more for it, it's a risk though.

YANBU to reduce your offer on the basis of the concerns that the survey has thrown up things like the boiler that you will need to spend money on rectifying.

How did you not notice the other house and the smaller garden? Remember that estate agents' particulars usually come with a warning that they are guidance only and not to be relied on, so don't use them as a basis for a new offer

I'm afraid you need to put your feelings about using your mum's inheritance to one side. I understand your nervousness about making a wrong decision with it, but frankly it's not your seller's problem and it's a poor reason to reduce your offer because you don't want to "waste" your mum's money

What OlennasWimple says abut your mum's inheritance - vendors will not be interested or sympathetic with that nor will their estate agents.

I'm sure that you can also take the EA to task officially for misrepresentation of the property...

Depends how difficult it would be to find another house and will your buyer wait if you do not find another one quickly. They may drop their price immediately or they may think they would be better going back on the market.

Yes, the 80ft garden actually being a 50ft garden is a MASSIVE mistake.

Reduce your offer to the asking price (or lower if the survey says the value is lower) on the grounds that the survey states that you are paying over the odds. If you needed a mortgage rather than paying cash then you wouldn't get a mortgage if you are paying over the odds, so they will likely not get someone to offer this much again.

Plus that extra 5k was dependent on them accepting type offer before your house was sold, which they didn't!

I'd mention the inaccuracies about the garden and stays you are prepared to overlook this (if you are) given you love the house but that this reduction is not negotiable and if they don't accept you will look elsewhere. Then wait. You may find somewhere better in the meantime!

To be honest I wouldn't buy it at all if they had a discrepency of 30 ft in the garden! Are you desperate? If not keep looking

I'd be reducing the offer based on 30ft of garden alone!

Not desperate but have been looking a looong time to find a house that ticks our boxes so could be waiting a very long time to find something else (and so close to actually moving now 😬). Am glad to hear others would reduce the offer. Realistically we should have dropped our offer when we realised about the garden, I'm kicking myself for not acting on it at the time as it would probably have been easier to do then.

I'd reduce. You offered more on the basis they'd give you time to sell that didn't happen and no one else has snapped their hand off therefore I'd offer less, knowing me a lot less.
The survey says it's not worth what you're paying for it so offer no more than the valuation.

I can't understand how you didn't notice most of this when you were looking round, before you put the offer in
Yes, it's wrong for the Estate Agent to misrepresent the length of the garden, but your dh noticed it wasn't as long as he was expecting, and you still put an offer of £5K over the asking price.

Of course they won't wait until you get an offer on your house - why would anyone do that? It's not really how housebuying works. When you are selling, you sell to someone ready to buy.

The house is classed as end of terrace/semi detached but we have since discovered that the neighbours have extended behind the property and whilst it is not attached the our potential home the extension is only a gate width apart from 2 of the downstairs rooms (this couldn't be seen from the front of the house because of where the extension has been done)
Well, that still is detached. I can't see a problem with that tbh. If a house being that near was a problem for you, then, once again, how did you not see it when you looked round / before putting in offer ? This isn't something that has changed.

I don't know about the situation regarding boiler - once again, did you not know about where the boiler is before putting in offer?

I can't see you getting any money off for the possibility that soffits might need replacing in time - that's house maintenance.

Of course, after a survey, you are able to go back and try to negotiate a bit of money off, but the vendors are also absolutely within their rights to say no. It doesn't sound like there is much thrown up in the survey that would be news, which puts them in a stronger position.
Up to you how much it is worth to you.

I'd ask to get my own builders quote for the cost of replacing the soffits, as I think this could be very expensive!
Ask your surveyor for more info on the position of the boiler, and whether it's legal, or could shortly become illegal? And the age of the boiler? Ask him/her for a ballpark figure to replace the soffits. Lastly, ask what they think is a fair price for the house given they think it's overpriced(which is what they're actually saying when they say it's at the 'high end')
Don't let the estate agents have too much say, better to use you're solicitor, and let them keep the EA in the loop by copying them into emails etc.
Yabu about whether the house is semi detached etc.

To clarify why we out in the offer when we did, we live in the south east and up until recently houses were selling literally over night. No time for second viewings or lots of thought out decisions. We've put offers in a lot before this one and not secured the property. The market has slowed in the last few months (the zoopla valuation for the property we are buying has dropped by 25k since we offered and was 15 over what we offered at the time, though obviously zoopla is only a very rough gauge of value). So whereas before properties were selling instantly now they are often reduced in price a few weeks after initial listing. Hope that makes sense.

I think it's only reasonable to ask for a reduction based on things you couldn't see for yourself. You were presumably happy with the size of the garden you saw and with the neighbours extension when you viewed.

The boiler and soffits are possibly worth a discussion but over all it comes over that you are just regretting offering over asking price.

Yes spot on, I'm regretting offering over the asking price, though at the time it was the only way to secure the purchase as they had another offer on the table at the time (all be it lower than ours)