… to ask your help deciding on how to respond to our buyer’s request

[Northerngirl1969]

So, we’re part of a four person chain with four houses being bought/sold. Our buyer’s house has been surveyed and an issue has been found. Their buyers (the FTBs) are requesting a £20k reduction as a result. The estate agents representing our buyers (and the house with the issue) are suggesting we help out our buyer by taking £10k off our price and that our sellers should take off £5k. Thus we would be worse off by £5k, our sellers worse off by £5k and our buyers (and the owner of the house with an issue) £10k. The first time buyer will be better off by £20k. The issue is not major. Our estate agent believes the quotes for the work don’t come anywhere near the £20k but of course there’s inconvenience etc. Lastly the FTBs got the survey done on the house very late. So we’ve already 3 months in and several thousands of solicitor fees in. Your thoughts are very welcome!

It’s not you who should take the hit and it’ll mean a change in the mortgage agreements so time wise everyone will have to practically start again.

It’s not an unusual request but that doesn’t mean you have to agree to it. You have to work out how much keeping the chain means to you and quantify the real costs you will incur if your buyer has to pull out. Pragmatism aside, I think it is a shitty practice but I get why estate agents suggest it. Do you think your buyer can afford to absorb it or meet the FTBs in the middle?

This. With assorted expletives.

Personally I'd be saying no but similar happened to my parents. Their buyers said they were 10k short (family were all putting money together). This meant my parents could no longer afford their new house (are retired so no mortgage). The seller of the new house had waited a while to get a sale and said he couldn't take the chance of waiting another year for another buyer so he offered to take 10k less so the sale could proceed.

fuck that.lifes tough enuf. if you do not gree.(even if trio do)what happens...?

Never pay the ransom.

I’d say no. It’s nothing to do with you. There are no issues with your house.

Happened to us too twice!
First time, everyone in the chain agreed to split the cost to save the chain. But then the FTB turned around and decided the issue was still bothering them and the whole chain fell through anyway! Total nightmare.
We then got new buyers, who then at a late stage asked for £10k off, our own vendors offered to take the hit to save the chain! It was extremely kind and it saved the chain, all went through v quickly after that.
So it does happen and if you really want the house, just do it.

It depends if you can bear to start again from scratch, obviously.
Those people saying No may act differently in a real life situation (unless they can risk losing their buyers, their onward house and have a spare 6 months!)

And in this scenario, what is the EA doing on fees?

Nothing. Everyone else takes the hit so they secure the chain.

It’s a seemingly small amount to secure the chain but it’s an outrageous request. When does that end?

I’ve had it suggested to me more than once. The first time I was desperate to move and said yes. The whole chain shared the pain.

This happened to us 20years ago!
Issue with the mortgage for our first time buyers.
So both we and the person we were buying from took a 5k hit as long as the solicitors took a hit too!

We were all ready to move and couldn't bare the idea of having the house back on sale and searching all over again.

I've experienced this in a professional capacity going back many years. It's not new, and it is not uncommon. Although buyers will do it more in a slower market. I guess the question is whether you value the move enough to take the hit.

No, they're cheeky fuckers, and I wouldn't take the hit out of principle.

It's between the FTBs and their vendors, and not you IMO.

Some people do this all the time because they know everyone is invested and don’t want the chain to break. They’re trying it on.

That would be a hard no from me.

Looking at the bigger picture, it depends how much you want the house you are buying I guess.

If they've asked for 20k off, I doubt that'll be what they actually want off so hopefully your buyer can negotiate that down. And then maybe you and your seller could take a small hit of say 2 to 3k each to keep the chain intact.

It's all well and good ppl saying they are cheeky and it's a hard no but if the chain falls apart you are back to square one. As a pp said, 5k is buggar all over the course of a mortgage.

So it really does depend on how much you want the house. And I say that as someone who has walked away from buying a house when I'd already paid best part of 5k for fees (it was in final stages), surveys of various kinds etc.

This is one of the biggest purchases you ll make in your life, 5k or not giving into your buyer shouldn't be the deciding factor.

If you like the house I wouldn't cut my nose off to spite my face. Equally, if you think you can find another buyer quickly or think you could find a new house to buy if things fall through, then that's fine.

And your explanation is exactly why they do it. There was a tv series called The Chain on years ago where they filmed the people involved in their house move, the story of each person in that chain. One person at the 11th hour did this, effectively costing everyone else another £2k and he admitted that he had done it repeatedly to reduce his costs. I remember watching how unrepentant he was and how much it impacted everyone else.

On principle it would be a hard no from me, with a polite suggestion that the buyer consult their mortgage broker if they need funds. Make the agent believe you will ditch the onward property rather than give up a single £1. They need to challenge the reduction in price on their end, but can sort all that out by themselves. You aren't their parent to support them, and it isn't your job to soften the blow of their house being worth less than they thought.

Unfortunately house buying and selling is full of chancers who come along claiming one or another thing to get money off. I had some like this, and despite multiple negotiation stages early on, they popped up late stage asking for even more money off. I rejected their lower offer and advised they can take or leave it, but if they came back at any point up to sale with another lower offer then the sale would be off regardless of price. That finally shut them up, and they quickly sorted the exchange.

Ask the EA to reduce their commission if everyone else has ti take a hit. We moved recently and at the forefront of my mind at all times was that the EA does not have my best interests in mind!

Just say no and do it this morning. Make it very clear.

The sooner we have house sale in England and Wales on the basis similar to or akin to Scottish law so that such chancers have no chance of such behaviour, the better.

I agree with other posters OP, ask the estate agents to reduce their fee to save the chain!

If the EA is so desperate to make the chain work they can take it off their commission. I'd not drop a penny. I'd also demand to know out of whose arse that 20k figure was pulled and request to see quotes. You may find 20k becomes 5-10k.

Then depending on how much I was committed to my new house and how easily I'd found a buyer for my present one I might consider but I still think the EA commission should be the casualty. The flat next door to me knocked 5k off his offer price as it needed new damp course. The vendor was desperate to get out and agreed. So it's not unheard of but I certainly wouldn't take 20k as gospel.

No, it's not your issue so it would just be a point blank no from me. I think they gave a cheek asking to be honest.

Id offer 5k as good will because over the years that will be a rounding error. Don't break the chain. There's a song about that.