To say no to potential house buyer

[Lmnop22]

So, I am a single mum to DS4 and DD 4 months. I am selling my house.

Someone came to view the house and I showed them round. They then asked to come back with their brother who is apparently a builder. I said yes, they came and looked round.

He then made an offer which was £17k below asking price. Nothing had been flagged (in front of me at least) by the builder brother and he had only been there around 15 minutes and I was in each room with them. I counter-offered for £5k more (so £13k below asking).

The agent just rang yesterday and said he would “provisionally accept my counter offer” but on the condition his brother took up the carpet in my bedroom under the bay window to “check for rot”.

The problem I have is that I have one of those beds where you lift up the whole base and it’s full of stuff and incredible heavy. I cannot take everything out of the bed and move it by myself (or really at all given the level of disruption!) - I have a very young baby who I have with me all the time. I also don’t want some random person to lift up the carpet in my bedroom without even having accepted my offer, without sufficient evidence that there’s even a possibility of “rot” in those floorboards and when he is not a suitable qualified, independent not an insured person.

I relayed the message back to him that he could get a survey and, if the survey gave sufficient cause for concern, he could get an independent and insured person to look under the carpet but I wasn’t rearranging my bedroom furniture, taking everything out from inside the bed base and then having his brother lift it up himself. Someone independent and professional would have to do it again anyway because if his brother said there was a problem, I couldn’t just take that at face value!

He came back to the agent and said he was no longer interested if his brother couldn’t lift the carpet so I’m now wondering, AIBU?

lucky escape

I’d say no. They sound like they’re looking for problems to get money off and an offer hasn’t even been accepted yet.

Id keep it on the market.

Doesn't make sense. Must be cash buyer as wouldn't get mortgage without a survey. Insufficient to get "brother" to have a look. Would anticipate that they are looking to "flip" it, so looking to maximise profit. Avoid.

A home report is not worth the paper it is written on.

Nah, they're looking for problems rather than paying for a full survey. Xx

I don't blame you not wanting people moving things round in your bedroom and lifting carpets but if you have someone who knows about building in your family, then you'd be bonkers to pay for a survey.

House surveys don't look at anything they can't just see, and they are very cautious about "the possibility" of something needing doing. They then tend to suggest you get another survey (or surveys) done by a specialist in X, Y, and Z.

So it makes a lot of sense to get a builder to look at a property you are hoping to buy - even if it is someone you pay £50 to look with you, but certainly if it is your brother or someone similarly close who will do it as a favour.

Lucky escape id say! Sounds like he'd have been a nightmare buyer, constantly finding issues and re-negotiating.

Wait for a better buyer!

I would beg to differ. On what grounds do you make this claim? Given it's a legal requirement and all. (In Scotland)

YWNBU, but neither were they.

You’ve articulated your point of view.

From his point of view, having his brother look would be free and he’d probably trust him more to tell him what was really involved. Paying for two independent inspections and then potentially not getting the house anyway would risk costs they don’t have with their plan. And if you aren’t going to move the bed for the first inspector then there wouldn’t be any particular reason for the report to show concern there, it would just say they couldn’t access the floors so couldn’t say if there were problems.

If the market is slow, you may want to be more flexible (you are going to. Have to pack everything stored under your bed to move at some point anyway) but if it’s good then just wait for buyers who aren’t going to ask for things you don’t like the sound of.

In France the seller has to get surveys done before selling too.

Trust England to have a system crazy enough to let you price and sell a (potentially rotten) house for a totally arbitrary figure

They've seen you as a lone woman with kids desperate to move so they're trying it on. If you had acceptwd their offer they would have tried to scam you further. You've had a lucky escape.

What nonsense “provisionally accept”. I would be a bit firmer. They sound insufferable and have wasted your time. Of course you aren’t going to let them lift carpets etc. only stop showing people round and take it off the market once you’ve exchanged, and a max of two showings is all that is necessary. Up until exchange everything is just hot air.
If you drop your price it helps to see the £££££s as real money not just percentages. Imagine he’s buying your house but wanting you to throw in a small car or a luxury holiday rather than it’s x% off the asking price. You did well.

You are absolutely not obliged to accept any offer that makes you feel a bit 'off' about the buyer. It's a long and hard enough process in England and there needs to be trust on both sides. Only unreasonable if, for example, you are blocking a sale your 'joint owner' has agreed. We bought from a divorcing couple one time, she wanted to sell to get the divorce over the line and he just didn't care how long he could drag it all out.

Chancers.

Wait for another offer. Very likely you'll get asking price or over with the current market.

Bollox to them. Wait a bit longer and a decent buyer will come along, not some that who tries to take the piss

Its not. It just 'advises' possibilities and tells you to get builders/tradesmen to look at it.

I think you've had a lucky escape!

I'd not do the viewings myself - the agent should be doing these for you.

Getting a home report is a legal requirement though. It provides a general, not very thorough assessment of the property - and carpets will not be lifted for inspection purposes - and a valuation for mortgage purposes.

For those curious about what a Scottish homebuyers report looks like, this property has one you can download as a pdf. Scroll down to Home Report clickable link.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/147788663#/?channel=RES_BUY

@HirplesWithHaggis

That's interesting - thank you.

It seems similar to what you have to pay for in France before you can put your house on the market. It is then very rare for buyers to have a survey carried out.

Seems a much more straightforward way of doing it.

Going back to the OP's question, I note that it says "inspection of the floors was prevented by the presence of fitted carpets" (or words to that effect!).

Do the sellers answer the yes/no questions at the end? Is there any legal comeback if they have lied ticked the wrong box?

Nah, they sound like nightmare buyers. Just wait it out for a better one. Good luck :)

Yes, the sellers answer the yes/no questions, but I think it's to a standard of, "to the best of my knowledge". I suppose the buyer could chase up with further investigations if any seemed blatantly untrue.

(That to FurQuenelle)

This.

If you go ahead with this buyer at a 13K reduction on your asking price, I would bet that he would come up with a problem the day before exchange to lower the price for the additional 5K he initially wanted off...

He would rely on the fact that you are too invested and have spent too much money on your move to let it fall through.

Find a buyer who at least starts off being reasonable...

Good luck!