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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

..to not sell my house now?

147 replies

househorror · 08/08/2022 19:21

So, got the going price for my house, about £10k under, but it has taken a long time to sell and I'm very happy with the price. So my AIBU is here...

I have spent the last 3 years all - through Covid, doing my house up. It looks fabulous, really nice. All the carpets follow through in the same colour to the upstairs, all the hard floors match in Karndean. The whole house is a neutral pallette etc etc. The bathroom was cheap but white and well put in.
So, I have just found out from the EA (a friend vaguely knows her) that the prospective buyers intend to rip stuff out and put their signature on it. I mean, I have literally spent thousands on doing the house up, and I do not want to sell it to someone who is going to gut it.

AIBU in pulling out of the sale. Its very early doors, they have only just put in for a survey

OP posts:
LearnedAxolotl · 08/08/2022 21:42

SouthWestChief · 08/08/2022 21:00

That is still a very cheap kitchen these days

Show quote history

That's not "very cheap".

Careful, your privilege is showing.

EinsteinaGogo · 08/08/2022 21:53

OP,

Just make sure of the facts before you withdraw from sale.

It doesn't sound like you have hard evidence that the buyers are going to change everything.

If it's so important to you, you want to make sure that the gossip you've heard is accurate first.

Original poster
househorror · 08/08/2022 21:56

@BarbaraofSeville kitchen could have been loads more but I didn't go mad. The Karndean was a great price from a family member and laid myself. It's not the money, I can afford it twice over. I put my hard work in and you cannot buy that. My next place will be bought to what I want, I won't need to do anything hopefully. I will probably buy off plan and new so it will all be chosen by me.
So no, I can sell it to who I want to 🤷‍♀️ and rent till I buy new.
So Barbs, you buy IKEA, I will buy Magnet. I did not go over board. I would rather sell cheaper to someone who will love it

OP posts:
Testina · 08/08/2022 21:57

Batshit. What you think is lovely, someone else will find bland.

Original poster
househorror · 08/08/2022 21:58

And the 'basic bath suite' is very nice and modern. The tiles are lovely and the cabinets are very nice. Everyone says so. The house is in the nicest spot in the road and that's what the buyers want. The location.

OP posts:
Original poster
househorror · 08/08/2022 22:02

@ILikeHotWaterBottles I have to sell, but not in a mad hurry. It will sell when the right buyer comes along. I will not sell to the wrong family.

OP posts:
BeckyWithTheGoodHair010101 · 08/08/2022 22:02

This is probably the most batshit thing I have ever read on here. What's it got to do with you how any new owner wants to decorate their own house? 😵‍💫

whenwillthemadnessend · 08/08/2022 22:03

It's your choice but the way I see it

Any improvement you made would have added value to the house
An undecorated shabby home would achieve lower price so you haven't wasted the money

The market is predicted to drop soon and if it's taken that long to sell you may end up loosing many more thousands

toffeechai · 08/08/2022 22:03

It won’t only go up. We’re heading for recession. I’d just get over yourself and sell it now.

Meredusoleil · 08/08/2022 22:03

househorror · 08/08/2022 22:02

@ILikeHotWaterBottles I have to sell, but not in a mad hurry. It will sell when the right buyer comes along. I will not sell to the wrong family.

Some attachment and/or control issues there OP?!?

Blueberrywitch · 08/08/2022 22:04

If you can afford to wait I would wait, I agree! Find someone who loves it. Better for the planet!

WhereTheLightningBugsBlaze · 08/08/2022 22:05

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

Original poster
househorror · 08/08/2022 22:06

@mondaytosunday I wouldn't keep a purple kitchen. Mine is not purple.

The whole point of my post was that I won't sell to someone who is going to rip it out. What a bloody waste.
Someone will come alone eventually won't they. I'm quite happy to tell them why I wouldn't sell before.

OP posts:
BarbaraofSeville · 08/08/2022 22:07

Well it's only going to be 30 or 40 years before the Magnet kitchen and the Karndean flooring need replacing, so just wait to sell, why not?

Outlyingtrout · 08/08/2022 22:08

So it's about environmental concerns is it?

Was the kitchen in a dire state and no longer fit for purpose? Did it genuinely need replacing or did you just replace it and do all the other decorating because you hoped you would make some extra £££? If it was genuinely in need of replacement, it seems strange that it took someone else to talk you into this.

It's unlikely they would bin the kitchen, by the way. It would almost certainly be sold on the second hand market and go to good use elsewhere.

If you had genuine environmental concerns you wouldn't have done the work and risked the (high) chance that a new owner would want to re-do at least some of it. You've done it because you saw a chance to make some dosh. It's what loads of people do when they're selling up. It's a weird one to fib about.

I have total sympathy with your buyers who have done nothing wrong but are about to be really messed around by you. It's such an incredibly stressful time anyway and they may well have missed out on other properties that have come and gone while they've been committed to this sale. There might be financial repercussions for them (rent?) if they are now back to square one with a purchase but their own house is sold. It's just so shitty to make this more stressful than it needs to be for people.

Original poster
househorror · 08/08/2022 22:08

@BeckyWithTheGoodHair010101 it's more than redecorate. It's carpets out and kitchen out at the least

OP posts:
Original poster
househorror · 08/08/2022 22:09

@WhereTheLightningBugsBlaze yes they do sound snobby don't they? Thank you for seeing my side of things ☺️

OP posts:
BeckyWithTheGoodHair010101 · 08/08/2022 22:10

So what? They don't like your choices? It's not your problem.

Original poster
househorror · 08/08/2022 22:12

@whenwillthemadnessend I can afford it. I have no kids and no one to leave anything too except family who can afford their own house and more. It's the principle. And it is the hill I will die on

OP posts:
galacticpixels · 08/08/2022 22:13

We just bought a house. During the process, I don't think I saw a single house that I wouldn't have changed after buying it. That's what people do. After 12 years of renting, we are so excited to be able to put our stamp on a place.

Original poster
househorror · 08/08/2022 22:14

@BarbaraofSeville you seem a tad jealous of my buys. Get a decent job like me and you can afford Magnet and Karndean 🤷‍♀️

OP posts:
WineIsAFruitRight · 08/08/2022 22:16

You seem to already know what your decision is, so why are you asking for advice?

FOTTFSOFTFOASM · 08/08/2022 22:18

It is completely batshit not to sell to someone who wants to buy - but the OP's further comments are even more odd.

I suppose all you can do, OP, is instruct your estate agent that they shouldn't accept an offer from anyone who says they want to change anything about it.

Though you do know that a potential buyer could lie to you, don't you? They could gush about the Magnet kitchen, and then you'd see it in a skip within weeks of them moving in.

Maybe you'd be better off staying put completely, as you can never guarantee what someone else will do with your house.

The person who sold me my house had a habit of writing me notes in which she objected to me getting rid of her bathroom tiles etc. She thought a fully tiled bathroom was desirable; I thought the reverse.

WhereTheLightningBugsBlaze · 08/08/2022 22:19

househorror · 08/08/2022 22:09

@WhereTheLightningBugsBlaze yes they do sound snobby don't they? Thank you for seeing my side of things ☺️

You really didn’t read my post very well…

ChickpeaFlour · 08/08/2022 22:19

I can understand how you feel OP. It sounds both lovely (and a colour scheme hard to be offended by) and that you put a lot in .
We rent and adore the old interior here and I would feel similar if it were ever changed as it’s so rare it hasn’t been renovated and modernised. Different situation but similar in a way as I’d hate it to go to a buyer who didn’t appreciate it as is when we love it so much and it’s not even ours!