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Original poster

Renegotiating price before exchange - annoying estate agent.

31 replies

fruitstick · 04/12/2010 07:52

We are buying a house, recently extended and modernised. Not our dream home but nice house which we thought we could move straight into with no hassle.

He bought it for 175k last year. Has had big double extension on back and done lots of work. We are paying 325k which I think is a more than fair price.

Survey came back and entire front room has damp and the roof may need replacing soon, though not immediately.

To our mind, this is not the stress free low effort house we thought.

We got a quote for damp from company agent recommended. Agent is now saying that company are notoriously expensive and quote is not true reflection of cost.

We got a quote for the roof from company vendors used to build extension. Again, agent saying not a reliable quote.

What to do. We have asked for £12,500 off. Not expecting to get that but that's £2500 for damp and redecorating and £6,000 for roof and £4,000 for the loss of 'no work needed' premium we thought we were paying. Damp will take a month to sort out so we may as well carry on renting while it's done. Won't now be in before Christmas.

Anyone managed this?

OP posts:

dejavuaswell · 04/12/2010 08:14

Yes it is right and proper to expect some money off but to charge for that work then also subtract a "no work needed" premium is a bit of a cheek!

Original poster

fruitstick · 04/12/2010 08:25

I dont really expect them to give us the whole lot, have added a bit to negotiate. However, if we knew the house needed work, we would not have offered the offer that we did, we might not even offered at all.

The asking price was considerably more than the purchase price plus cost of the work he has done. We are paying for his effort and inconvenience. I'm more than happy to do that, but not if we still have to live in a building site or carry on paying rent.

I don't think that's unreasonable but maybe I'm too jaded now!

OP posts:

lalalonglegs · 04/12/2010 09:50

I don't think it's at all unreasonable and I wonder how cynical the developer has been in other areas: whether the plumbing is a cheapo job with fittings that will fail a few months down the lane etc. I think it is scandalous that new houses have to come with a warranty but developers can remodel, extend and refurb and walk away from their bodge jobs.

NorthernLurker · 04/12/2010 09:51

I think it's fair enough actually. THe cost of the works reduces the value of teh house by that amount and the need to do MAJOR work changes the nature of the purpose - so you've reduced accordingly.
I think I would say you will get two contractors to give a second quote and then discuss the reduction. If second companies come in at much less then it would only be fair to adjust your offer upwards again. They sound like good prices to me. 11 years ago we had a quote for damp on ground floor of small terraced house and it was at least £1000 then!

Mumsnut · 04/12/2010 09:56

I would walk away - small time developers, like lalalonglegs said, can get away with murder.

Original poster

fruitstick · 04/12/2010 10:24

He's not a developer. They bought it as a family house but are now relocating. I think they did the extension but didn't pay much attention to the old bit of the house. Repaint and that was about it.

So I'm hoping the fixings in new bit are fine, but would be nice to have contingency justnin case. At the price we're paying, we don't have any spare cash left fir major works.

OP posts:

MegBusset · 04/12/2010 10:42

Can you ask them to get the damp work done themselves before exchange?

As for the roof, what exactly did the survey say? ime surveyors always say the roof may need replacing soon.

lalalonglegs · 04/12/2010 13:33

To be honest, I would be asking for #25k off - either they are idiots not to have done the work or there will be other things that are discovered along the way. As you say, you offered on the house because you thought it was in perfect condition (or near enough) and it is now quite tarnished. If they had major work done and they did not know or were not advised that there were ancillary works to do as well, then I would be very .

I agree, incidentally, that surveyors are always circumspect about roofs (and damp) but they don't normally say that a roof needs replacing soon - it's more along the lines of flashing needs work or chimney needs repointing.

lovechoc · 04/12/2010 13:41

At the end of the day, it depends how desperate the seller is to move house aswell. If he or she is more desperate than you, then they'll do anything to get their house sold, even if it means losing more money.

lovechoc · 04/12/2010 13:43

we just found out there's a mineshaft underneath the house we were going to buy so we're pulling out. But I'm willing to bet that if we asked the couple to drop the price by £25k they'd do it because I know they're desperate to move.

beautyspot · 04/12/2010 14:52

I think the vendor is extremely lucky that you haven't walked away yet. He should actually be biting your hand off.

Don't give in and be prepared to walk away. It's a lot of hassle dealing with the issues that hve been thrown up.

goldenpeach · 04/12/2010 19:52

Hello, nice to hear you have found something but I think the price is steep and damp is a big issue. Do you remember the house I was renting there when we met, it was a refurb but riddled with damp that gave us some awful colds and persistent coughs. We even had to move our daughter out of her room as it was mouldy. By the time we left all the nice finish had peeled off in many rooms.

In Cambridge prices have finally started to go down a bit, which is astonishing as they have been rising since 2008 and throughout the recession.

Definetely offer less. We had to pull out of a house (lost another house again!) as mortgages have been really restricted so we couldn't borrow as much as we had been promised a year ago and thought somebody might snap it up as we have always encountered lots of competition. But no, the house is still up for sale four weeks later, no offers and whoever was competing with us has vanished. Times are getting hard and even 'recession-proof' areas will have to adapt.

Perhaps we will be able to afford something at some point as here it's even pricier than London!

ItalianLady · 04/12/2010 19:56

When we moved we hadn't sold out house so brought the price down quite a bit. TBH it was over priced to start with but we were seduced by a bigger profit. We were a bit when we got an offer below the asking price as they "wanted to redecorate" but in your case you are well within your rights to ask for a big chunk off but tbh I would be walking away.

LaurieFairyonthetreeEatsCake · 04/12/2010 19:58

I would be very surprised if you're not chronically overpaying for this house.

Can you work out how many extra square feet it is and calculate it at the top price of £150 a square foot (I think i've seen that quoted on here).

I just can't believe you're paying almost double for a double extension and some tarting up.

AlpinePony · 04/12/2010 20:05

I agree with Laurie. This is a LOT of money for an extension and a lick of paint. Seriously, get out a pen & paper and have a think about what has actually been done to this house. You are under absolutely no obligation whatsoever to compensate him for his "time & effort".

Original poster

fruitstick · 05/12/2010 09:24

I know. This worries me a little. I've calculated the size of extension and it probably works out at nearly £100,000. Plus 2 bathrooms, kitchen, boiler etc.

The original asking price was £365k which was laughable. It's an ok price for the area.

OP posts:

lalalonglegs · 05/12/2010 09:57

I wouldn't worry too much about what the previous owners paid - it may have been a sale between family members, they could have got lucky in an auction or anything. I don't resent them making a profit on a cannily bought property but it is wrong to charge top dollar for (potentially) shoddy work. If you think #325k is fine for the house in good order, what would you be prepared to pay knowing it needs money spent on it and some upheaval?

Original poster

fruitstick · 05/12/2010 12:09

He has offered us a grand off or he's putting it back on the Market.

We cane down to £6k but he's still saying no .

OP posts:

beautyspot · 05/12/2010 14:25

He's trying to call your bluff.

Seriously...why would you want a home with so many potential problems in the first place.

Secondly, if you heart has ruled your head (aaargh) I think the vendors have spotted that you've fallen for the house.

You need to sit back and think about this carefully.

beautyspot · 05/12/2010 14:26

Just re-reading your OP. "not our dream house".

WALK AWAY. It's not your dream house. You don't have to deal with damp and subsidence issues in the future. WALK.

ItalianLady · 05/12/2010 15:49

£1000? .

I would walk away. Honestly. I hate where we live but our next house has to be our forever dream house so we are staying put until we can move.

jumpingjackhash · 05/12/2010 15:57

He'd be a fool to want to put it back on the market and start from scratch now - for the sake of a fraction of the whole sum you're offering. I'd call his bluff. Don't let him push you into making a decision like this.

Worst case scenario, he puts it back on the market and you don't get it - you said yourself it's not you 'dream house', so there will be another house you like just as much, if not more.

Mumsnut · 05/12/2010 16:21

"He's not a developer. They bought it as a family house but are now relocating."

We hear this all the time with planning applications - 'Oh, this will be our family home for ever. We have a very large family, so it has to be big / three stories / crowd the plot , etc etc etc.'

A year later, it's been churned, and they're submitting for yet another 'forever house' that pushes the planning guidelines envelope- having relocated precisely half a mile.

rebl · 05/12/2010 16:41

Did you actually find out the cause of the damp. We were told there was damp in this house we're in now. We got a damp company in to give quote and accordingly got £2500 knocked off the price of the house. We then moved in right before Christmas so couldn't do the damp work right away. In that time we got a builder round to do some really minor work, he noticed that the level of the paths and borders etc all round the house were above the damp course. We got ourselves some spades and dug it all down to 2 courses below the damp course as it should be, took a weekend. We then got the damp company back about 4 months later, no damp to be found anywhere in the house. These damp companies won't look into why there is a damp problem. They charge you an arm and a leg, make a big mess and might never have had to have that work done. My sister experienced the same, they're source of damp was a blocked downpipe. Fix the source of the damp and your problem goes away.

DisparityCausesInstability · 05/12/2010 17:38

Word of caution I bought a redeveloped flat - redeveloped badly - so much shoddy work, it almost made me weep...on the surface things looked ok but lots of things fell to pieces quickly.

Firstly, I'd go back in for another viewing and this time get a bloody good look at the finish if you still want the place then I'd call his bluff say £6k or you'll walk and when you do remain polite and let them know the offer is still open - the estate agent will want you to get the house - best get some commission than none and they'll put pressure on him. Houses are not moving - he'll know this especially at this time of year - it'll be March before he sells the house if you walk away.

Pay what you think the house is worth not the cost or effort involved in the extension or the original purchase price - that's all pretty irrelevant.

Good luck.

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