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Original poster

What should we do? buy or pull out

22 replies

kitsmummy · 09/10/2010 11:25

We're in the very lucky position of having exchanged on our house sale and we're completing next week. We're buying a house too but that purchase has been going really slowly and we're moving our stuff into storage for a month or so until the house we're buying has completed.

Obviously, being chain free and with our mortgage agreed, we're in a really strong position and I can't help wondering if now is actually a really silly time to buy. We lost out loads on our current house, having bought at peak time and overspent on the re-furb, and I hate the thought of moving into this new house and immediately losing loads of money on this one too.

Would you be buying now if you were me, or would you hold fire for a few months? Presumably if this is the start of massive price drops, we could hold off for a few months and save ourselves £50k or so. Or we could do the dirty and reduce our offer by £20k last minute. I know that's morally wrong, but the purchase has gone so slowly purely due to the vendors not doing their stuff. If they'd got a move on we could have been in the house now and none of this would have been relevant really, but now I'm thinking we're probably going to be paying over the odds for the house by the time we complete, and possibly lose lots more in the following months.

Any advice??? Do you all think this is just the start of massive price drops? Thanks

OP posts:

NonnoMum · 09/10/2010 11:26

Whatever you do, don't do the dirty.

Either pull out now, and give the vendors as much notice as possible, or continue.

The last minute thing is reprehensible.

mollycuddles · 09/10/2010 11:34

How much do you want this house? The advantage of buying at the same time as selling is not having to do the whole storage and renting thing. It is, IMO, worth compromising a bit in the house you buy for that convenience but the vendors have removed that convenience from you so it is understandable to look again at the purchase in these circumstances. How long are you thinking of staying in the next home? If short term then any pending loss in value is significant but if long term then it's less important. Do you trust the vendors to not cause more delays? We had agreed a sale a few years back but the vendors kept putting back the completion date, hadn't got in touch with our solicitor, wouldn't let me in to measure for curtains and we gradually came to the conclusion that we no longer trusted them at all and buying from someone you don't trust felt too risky. We pulled out and the house we ended up in was much better. Big decisions but worth thinking through.

Swedes2 · 09/10/2010 11:42

Why don't you offer them a bit less money because of the delay. Say the expenses incurred and extreme inconvenience of having to put everything in storage and move twice has placed you at a disadvantage. Thus you are now only prepared to offer X and even then only if exchanged by date X and completed by date Y.

Original poster

kitsmummy · 09/10/2010 11:57

thanks for responses. Nonno - I don't want to pull out right now, I'd rather get a better view of what's going on with prices, and we've probably still got at least a month to go before we'd be in a position to complete (due to their delays, not ours).
Molly, we love this house, we really do, and it's a long term investment, but it's the thought of potentially saving ourselves a massive amount of mortgage if we were to hold off for a few months that's causing us to reconsider it all. I don't think the vendors are likely to pull out, I think they've been stalling it to get their new house that they've built complete so they can move into it (despite originally telling us that we could move quickly and they'd move out asap) and so the delays have suited them, but now with prices dropping they've realised they'd better firm up our purchase asap.

Swedes, I think we're definitely going to have to reduce our offer whatever happens (the valuation came in £2k under what we'd offered) but it's a case of do we drop our offer more than that due to the market falling. Or do we pull out altogether. To be honest, we really don't want to pull out as we love the house and we want to buy it, but we just don't want to lose out massively on it.

OP posts:

lalalonglegs · 09/10/2010 12:18

I don't think there is any doubt that prices will go down but who knows how much and for how long? If you love the house then there is also no guarantee that you would find something similar in a few months' or a year's time - you might find something better or you might find nothing at all as people often try to sit out a property slump so you are reliant on forced sales. As you haven't exchanged, there is no harm in trying to renegotiate the price but be aware that if the sellers come on MN to say that their buyers want a reduction, there are plenty of posters who will tell them to walk away from the sale .

scaryteacher · 09/10/2010 12:32

If you offered me £20k less after a price had been agreed and post survey, I would be telling you where to stick it, or not leaving the things I might have left over and above what was agreed. You could ask the vendors to cover the costs of your storage, but that isn't going to be £20k for a month, so I think you are taking the piss.

If you buy a brand new car, there will be depreciation instantly. With a house, the price might fall, but it is a home for the long term, not just a way to make money.

DaisySteiner · 09/10/2010 13:44

It's going to be a gamble whatever you do. What would you rather happen - get the house but pay over the odds (perhaps 10s of thousands) or wait and possibly not get a house you love as much. There's also the possibility that you could pull out and they can't sell it to anyone else either and you get it at a cheaper price....

Original poster

kitsmummy · 09/10/2010 13:58

I'm sure if they put it back on the market now, a £20k loss for them would probably be quite realistic. The price we agreed on was £332k, so although £20k is loads, it's not a massive percentage on a house this price. The bank have already said it's not worth £332k anyway, so we'll have to renegotiate whatever happens. We haven't had the actual survey back yet so that could bring up loads of problems (the surveyors have given the bank the valuation, but the survey takes about a week to produce). We'll see what happens I guess. I think to be honest, a £10k reduction would be ok for us. I just don't want to be paying over the odds for the house the very moment we complete.

OP posts:

Mooos · 09/10/2010 13:59

Lots of sellers (when they had the upper hand) seemed to have no scruples about gazumping. The hand is now well and truly on the other hand. Whether or not you feel you can do this is up to you but if you are having doubts there will always be another house you love just as much. Personally I'd be so scared to buy just now. My sister is about to put her house on the market and knows she's going to have to price it to sell (probably 2004/5 price) She bought it in 2006 but due to her circumstances now must sell.
Good luck with whatever you decide.

DaisySteiner · 09/10/2010 14:00

I would hold fire until the survey comes back then and then renegotiate.

lalalonglegs · 09/10/2010 15:07

You can't really blame the sellers solely for delays if you haven't had your survey back yet...

Original poster

kitsmummy · 09/10/2010 15:52

yeah that's true, it took ages to get the survey done but our sols have been quick off the mark with searches, enquiries etc and their's have been taking weeks to reply to them and 6 weeks to even get the fixtures and fittings form! We'd be done by next week but are now looking at much longer to investigate rights of way problems that additional enquiries have just brought up. Anyway, i guess that's by the by, we just need to work out what we're going to do with regards to the house.
Thanks for opinions so far.

OP posts:

mamatomany · 09/10/2010 15:58

Well i think you need to step back and take stock, you've taken a hit on your house so it makes sense the next one you buy is at an equally reduced percentage otherwise it's financial suicide in the long term. Yes it's a home but it's an investment to and anyone that says they buy a house without wanting it to bring them financial gain in the long term is lying if you ask me.

plus3 · 09/10/2010 16:02

This is why I loathe the UK housing market.

A house is worth whatever you are prepared to pay for it. You orginally thought it was worth paying £332k, but now that's not such a great deal and you are going to back out of your original agreement.

I can't believe you would have paid happily £20k more for a house that you now think is definately worth much less.

Original poster

kitsmummy · 09/10/2010 16:08

not sure I entirely understand your point Plus3. We thought it was worth £332k, which it was at the time. Weeks on the market has now changed considerably, and it most definitely is worth less. I'm just saying I don't want to pay more than something is worth, at the time I buy it. I'm sure if we do go ahead and buy it then the market will fall a lot further; fair enough, I just want to be paying the fair price at completion, not over the odds for something that will carry on dropping, certainly in the short term.

OP posts:

plus3 · 09/10/2010 16:13

Sorry I'm just being bitter - we got stung at the beginning of the property rise with our first house. We agreed a price, the vendors delayed things, we were naive kind and waited, house prices rocketed, they promised to uphold their original asking price, but when it came to it, said house was then worth (according to opportunist estate agents) £30k more which we didn't have. We pulled out, and have been renting ever since.

So my point is, if you can't afford it, don't buy it, if you can and you love it buy it.

noddyholder · 09/10/2010 16:14

If you don't love the house wait.I think houses at that price easily find themselves at 299 and below when prices fall

Original poster

kitsmummy · 09/10/2010 16:15

Oh I see, I can understand you'd be gutted about that. I imagine we'll probably go through with it. We love it and I can't imagine us not ending up there.

OP posts:

Original poster

kitsmummy · 09/10/2010 16:16

Oh I missed your post Noddy. That's the problem really, that we do love this house. If I listned to my head we'd probably pull out and wait a few months, but my heart is saying otherwise

OP posts:

noddyholder · 09/10/2010 16:17

Well if you love it and its a long term home then you can't lose really You need to calculate what it would cost to rent aswell.

Blackduck · 09/10/2010 16:25

I think you have to agree a price and stick with it unless the survery comes back under the price. Otherwise the way the market is you could keep negotiating downwards right up to the point of exchange. I would also contest the comment about all house purchases being about financial gain. I don't want to lose in a purchase, but neither am I necessariy wanting to make a huge financial gain (that IMO has been the major problem with the housing market and people's attitudes to it). If you like the house buy it, if you don't walk away. But stop looking at house prices once you have agreed the deal, because that way madness lies....(says she he paid 15K more than next door)

Livingbytheriver · 09/10/2010 17:15

Depends how easy your mortgage was to get and how good the rate is...(I suppose it won?t matter too much if you have a small mortgage in relation to the value of the house that you are buying) but could be worth considering that lenders seem to be getting worse at lending and some might say if you have a mortgage agreed you are lucky already. If you waited and were re-assessed it would be gutting if you were turned down because the bank had tweaked their criteria.

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