Would you gazunder in these circs?

[Claliscool]

Due to exchange on house this week.
Property market has obviously dropped.
No chain.
I'm a ftb buying my landlords property.
Price negotiated pre covid was inflated due to initial brexit bubble.
Would you gazunder?

Yabu - no I wouldn't in these circumstances
Yanbu - yes I would in these circumstances

[ponchek]

I doby think it is ever a good idea to hold someone over a barrel and pressurise them. It's very bad behaviour and in your case could backfire if you get asked to leave.

How much are we talking about here? How much less do you think you should pay? If you want to revise your offer at this stage, be prepared for him to pull out and remarket and get his price.

I think if you are happy and like the house then you should buy as agreed, make the most of it with renovation and enjoy it fur a few years. In which time the market will calm dusk and you will very likely sell for a profit.

If you're worried about negative equity - do you have a high mortgage %?

I wouldn't worry. I'd be decent and buy at the agreed price, or express my concerns and pull out. I wouldn't risk forcing anything, for several reasons. It's also just not a good way to live.

[Hingeandbracket]

No doubt you'd be asking the seller if you could pay more than you agreed if you felt the market had risen? No? Then don't break your word on this.

[Likethebattle]

Fax under means to offer a lower price on a house after agreeing a previous price. Gazing in when someone comes in offering more and the seller defaults to them over you. Both vile things to do!

[Duchessofealing]

I’ve had negative equity and had to write a cheque to cover it on selling a house when we had to move as relocating. It’s not just a pain that passes, it means it’s harder to buy your next home as you have to save up your deposit again. Would I buy for the agreed price you have now? Probably if I were going to live there for at least five years. Gazundering is awful - BUT you need to protect your own interests in this. If you love where you are and want the property you should go ahead. If you don’t and are happy to risk not getting it then you should renegotiate.

[Chloemol]

1. Where is the proof the market has dropped? It’s been 8 weeks,
   
2. You agreed what I assume is a reasonable price?
   
3. If I was the landlord I would be refusing your offer and telling to to get out of the property and either re let it re sell

[Likethebattle]

Gazunder and Gazump fucking phone!

[Timesdone]

All FTBs are nervous about the property market whenever they buy but you have to think long term & I mean 30-40 yrs not the next 2-3. We bought our first house when they were more affordable, Ok, I accept that but it doesn’t mean it’s been plain sailing since then. We had to move north to south, had to pay interest rate of 15%, moved taking negative equity with us & also had to contend with a missold endowment policy. It was hard at times but now it is all paid and and we live in a lovely place with no mortgage. What I’m saying really is be brave, it will pay off eventually even if it’s a bumpy road.

[AJPTaylor]

How much deposit do you have?
Looked at mortgage calculators yesterday for Nat West for ftb. They want 20 percent.
It may not be as simple as just buying another house. Something to consider.

[BlankTimes]

concerned that if I renovate I will go through the ceiling price of property in my street

Is there anything structural that needs doing? You can ask for a reduction in price to cover that.

However if you mean 'renovating' as in changing the appearance of the interior by decorating, new kitchen and bathroom etc. then why would anyone reduce the price for that?

[Talulahoopla]

I'm in the process of selling my flat. Having spoken to surveyor and estate agents, lenders aren't expecting valuations to be reduced and at the moment there's sufficient demand (in the area I'm selling in anyway) that sellers are unlikely to find themselves without a buyer. My flat is going on the market at the valuation given before lockdown. If you tried to reduce the price at this late stage, I'd pull out and go to to someone else willing to pay.

[Tedgy]

From what I'm seeing on lots of ftb groups, is that there are a lot of buyers lining up eager to buy as soon as the mortgage companies start lending again.

[rattusrattus20]

Yeah, I woud certainly be tempted drop out or lower my offer [things have absolutely changed], but try to behave as well [giving as much notice & explanation etc as you can] as possible.

[Claliscool]

Sadly I inherited so I have quite a bit for a deposit so not worried about LTV ratios.
I need to do a loft extension and install a pergola / outdoor living spade as the garden is grotty so I guess these are structural alterations I need to make

[NikeDeLaSwoosh]

Thing is, if a vaccine is announced tomorrow, the economy will bounce back fast and house prices were rising at the start of the year

No, this isn't the case, irrespective of if/when a vaccine is found, the £62 billion debt that we ran up during lockdown will still be there and still need to be repaid.

The damage is already done I'm afraid.

Also

Gazump = Put in a higher offer on a property where a sale has been agreed with another buyer so that you 'pinch' the property from them.

Gazunder = Where you agree a sale at a given price, and then you drop your offer, usually a new days before exchange.

In this instance, OP used the correct term - gazunder.

[sirfredfredgeorge]

I would withdraw entirely, the risks are too high against almost no benefit, the price of properties will certainly not be higher in 6 months.

[R2519]

I have sympathy with OP and those saying 'if i was the landlord id kick you out etc' are just being stupid.

FTB typically have the smallest deposits available so if the housing market drops by even a few % if can put them in a very difficult position considering most FTB are probably buying the property to get them on the ladder, not to buy their forever home to fit their needs for the next 20 years. Therefore, i think its only prudent to make sure you are not setting yourself up to get into negative equity.

The reality is the property market has taken a small slump nationwide, however there are areas where that slump will be greater than others. Only OP can decide if the area they are in has dropped by an amount likely to cause them problems in a few year time should they come to sell.

My advise OP is weigh up how long you plan on living there (factoring future needs etc), whether the property market has stagnated where you are and dropped in value and whether other properties around your one have sold for less. Then you can decide if taking 5% off the offer price is justified. All that said, it also completely depends on what deposit you are putting down. If its 30% for example then that's a very different matter.

[Rebelwithallthecause]

Have you seen the stock markets this morning? Massive spike due to news of things starting to reopen

Yabu

[TrickyKid]

Depends how much you want it. If I were the seller I'd probably pull out. Houses in our area haven't dropped. Two friends have sold theirs at pre lockdown price this week.

[R2519]

@Rebelwithallthecause
And in July when we have a 2nd wave and places have to shut again and the markets dip again....what then?!
The next 12-24 months are going to be rocky for all financial transactions. Paying over the odds for a property valued before the market downturn is ludicrous.

For example, my investments have dropped on average 10% since early March, all CV related. it will take a long time to claw that loss back. The same goes with property so why pay over the odds for something that is worth less today. You wouldn't buy shares in a company today based on their value 12 weeks ago would you! If you did you would be rather stupid!

[FizzyGreenWater]

If you have a good deposit, why are you buying a house which is in a bad state but priced that if you renovate it will be over ceiling price for the street?

The only sensible reason should be: because you love the place and want to keep your home there.

If so - go ahead with the purchase.

If not - you should be looking for something else anyway.

If the latter, I would pull out saying you've had bad news on the work front and are no longer in a position to buy, in order to not ruin your relationship with the landlord so that you can continue to live there until you find a house which is more of a reasonable price.

NB- remember if the house is in the £125k bracket, the costs of moving would probably cancel out any saving you make/ceiling price problem etc. If £500k bracket, not so much.

[ShirleyPhallus]

I think this is really shitty behaviour if you’re due to exchange this week. Why didn’t you discuss this previously?

Installing a pergola is not “structural alterations” you need to make

[Divebar]

I think you should honour your initial offer unless you’ve had specific information that tells you the property is overpriced. My friend recently ( before lockdown ) re negotiated an offer because the valuation came in much much lower than the agreed asking price. ( more than £50k I believe) which seems reasonable to me. However in that situation they weren’t living in it so weren’t risking their home in the same way. It may be that if the landlord has several properties that they will just accept it as a standard negotiation but I think lots of people would consider it shady and find it dishonourable.

[Rebelwithallthecause]

R2519 - no evidence of 2nd wave though from any other country that exited lockdown so far

[reallifegetsintheway2]

YABVU

DH is an estate agent. He is doing lots of viewings. Offers coming in. On house above asking price, another house full-asking price offer. Buyers who are serious and want/need to move will make serious offers. You don't sound serious.

He also believes in karma - if you act crappy, it will come back and bite you on the bum. He is often right.

[bogfi]

Wrong forum to ask because here ever rising house prices & even gazumping is fine but lowering your offer & being anxious is sacrilege.

How desperately do you want it?