What would you do?

[pebbles77]

So.. i'm sorry but this will be a little long..... in fact very long.

We are leaving London and moving to the country.

We accepted a price on our house in February even though our buyers hadn't had an offer. We accepted as we didn't want to sell until July as our kids were in school in London and we couldn't move until they had left.

We took our house off the market for 7 weeks as we were prepared to wait for our buyers. They then go under offer and although we asked them to do a survey on our house asap they said they didn't need a full survey and only needed a mortgage survey.

They unfortunately used a bank that took 6 weeks to undertake a survey and mortgage offer (it took us and the chain in the bottom just 3 weeks to obtain all of this).

Again we weren't pushing it as we didn't want to complete until July as we couldn't take our kids out of school.

The day before exchange (2 weeks ago) our buyers said that they no longer wanted to go with the mortgage survey but in fact wanted a private survey.

Again, we said absolutely fine.

So, survey came back. Roof tiles need to be replaced - that's fine - we and our buyers have had quotes - both come back as 5k

Then the survey said, our attic conversion is structurally sound however aesthetically could be improved and that would cost 10k.

So our buyers came back and said 40k!!!!! We responded saying we were unsure as to how they came to that figure but we were happy with 5k to pay for the roof tiles.

They then responded and said 35k.

Where did they get these figures from????

So i said " i don't play games, i don't want to play games" we will offer 15k which is the full amount that has been stated and we have to move forward now

they responded "your kids no longer have places in schools in london and therefore you have to leave and therefore we will agree to 25k . FULLSTOP.

we would love to be strong and say where to go but we can't, they're right, our kids no longer have schools here and we do have to move

so..... we've agreed to their amount and will fingers toes and everything crossed everything will go our way

HOWEVER... i no longer want to pay for our cleaning lady to make sure the house is spotless before we leave, i no longer want to leave them with flowers and wine as i had planned and i certainly no longer want to leave them with a long list of all of our neighbours names, rubbish days etc etc.

BUT what i would really like to do is ...........

what would you do???????

I'd ask other EAs for valuation, which is likely to be higher, then go back to the buyers and say that the market has continued to rise in the time it took them to sort out their required actions and thus you require £xxk more, but as a gesture of good will you will instead honour the original price agreed (rather than (effectively) lowering the price as they are suggesting).

I'd ask for another valuation by another EA too.

And then tell them to take your £5k off or leave it. They know you are in a vulnerable position, so I'd just tell them you'll rent your house out and wait for house prices to go up a bit before you put it on the market again.

And then see them backpaddle.

I just couldn't do it. Not even with the constraints you describe. How well do you get on with your vendor? You could explain what's happened and ask if you can pay them some sort of holding deposit ... all drawn up legally of course.

And I woukd be oh so tempted to just string your buyers along until the day before exchange and then dump them in the shit.

One thing to consider is whether your buyers got their mortgage agreed before or after the mortgage market review came into force. If before, and their offer is time-limited, they could be inadvertantly landing themselves in the shit ha ha ha

The previous owners had taken the loo roll holders , light bulbs , heated towel rail .
Left a dirty , unflushed loo
Full rubbish bins
Hadn't hoovered , wiped kitchen surfaces down or cleaned the bath
Left holes in the walls where prints and curtain poles had been hung ...
... And much more ...
But you can pick up some hints

Why not ask another estate agent if they've any buyers who can move quickly ?

I don't think 'light fittings' includes the bulbs btw. Just the actual fittings.

Removing curtain poles (provided they are nit mentioned in the F and F list is also likely to cause maximum inconvenience in mid-summer :)

Do you have a friend with a dog who really really needs to use your garden as a lav on a regular basis?

Oh, and you might want to consider signing them up for some choice mail order catalogues before you leave. Anonymously of course.

I like the idea of stringing them along and then pulling out at the last minute.

Plant some fast spreading bamboo all over the garden just before you leave - it's like Japanese knotweed but legal

YY to bamboo. It's an absolute bugger. Some sycamore seedlings would be good. Spread like wildfire, including all over the lawn.

I've surprised myself whith my own vitriol

What!!

No way would I agree to this. The tiles, ok, the aesthetics of the loft conversion? No. The rest, fuck right off.

They are doing it because the know you have 'no choice' which is what they have blatantly said to you. They won't want to lose your house. Tell them as the market has changed significantly since their offer, you are now getting valuations due to their ridiculous demands and you are going to see what they come back as. I bet they will panic because they know the price will be higher than their offer that you accepted.

I would not let people like this take the piss.

Please please don't let them walk all over you like this. I hate people who are total dicks to nice people who try to be accommodating.

What would I do? Get your house re-valued TODAY and see what the potential asking price would be compared to what it was in February. Then come back to this thread.

House prices are rising in London. You might find that you can get more or at least equal for your house with a new buyer by re-marketing at the original price on condition of a very quick sale.

If you are moving to independent schools elsewhere, you could also presumably start them late there next term if necessary. It's not the end of the world.

As for renting for six months - well, that's not going to cost you 25K. Nor is a couple of months of two lots of 'mortgage' - have you looked into a bridging loan?

There are options.

Once an estate agent friend of mine couldn't sell a house (selling because if impending divorce) because the smell was so horrific.

It got to a point where buyers wouldn't even step through the door.

The husband had put prawns in the curtain pole and glued the end back on.

Just an idea

(But actually, on principle, I absolutely wouldn't sell to them!)

Oh guys, I'm so confused.

I totally totally hear what you're all saying and I feel sick to my stomach at the thought of letting them get away with this but I'm just really really scared.

So our house was over valued back in February. We knew this but the estate agent wanted to "give it a go". I've spoken to 2 other agents this morning who had looked at our house back in Feb but we decided to not go with them. I've explained the situation. The big corporate giant said "come with us, we'll get you xxxx more". The small independent who I really liked said "to be honest pebbles77 even with the discount the price you've got is really good and although we would love to market your house we can't guarantee that we would get you more". I loved their honesty but equally it has made me more nervous about going back on the market.

I'm LOVING the prawns idea

I just hate hate hate them right now. I hate the fact that they said it was our loss when I said that we wouldn't go to the house we're buying and ask for money off. I explained that I stand by my word and we had agreed on a price and I would stick to that.

So, I think we're going to go against what everyone is telling me to do and go ahead with the sale. They'll get the comeuppance and I can still sleep easy in our new house that we love and will be fabulous for our family.

Thank you everyone, I really appreciate your advice (even if I've ignored you all ha ha ha)

But are you not concerned they coukd gazunder you again on exchange day?!

If you think you probably won't get more for the house then I think you're doing the right thing to go ahead.

I'd be pushing to exchange very quickly though.

i hope for your sake i'm wrong, but based on the lack of scruples demonstrated by your buyer so far, i would have zero faith this sale will actually complete.

if your buyer thinks they have you on the ropes (which they seem to think they have) then who knows how low they will stoop.

i totally understand your desire to be done with the sale and move on, but it sounds like you should have a plan B lined up.

Following your update, that's fair enough if the agent (well one of them) is saying you are still getting a good price even after theyve negotiated you considerably down. That's all that matters. Your buyers do sound like gits but as long as you aren't losing out don't dwell on it.

I think I would probably have stayed with them although fumed, because it sounds like it suits you so much to stick with them and get the move done and settled into your fab new house.

I'd definitely do some not so nice things in the house to greet them when they move in though.

I hope the rest of the transaction goes smoothly for you.

The London market has slowed a little recently. I would definitely go ahead with the sale if it means you get your dream house.

I would leave it in a state though!

Oh I think I misuderstood. So the agent thinks it's a good price even at the gazundered price? That changes things a bit. Mire tricky! Hope it works out well for you

What utter bar stewards ... I hope they can sleep at night

So.. news from today ..... we are on track to exchange tomorrow!!!! I can't quite believe we've gone from me sobbing on Monday thinking we've lost it all to us backing down and then this hopefully happening. I won't breath easy until we get the call from the solicitor but fingers toes and everything crossed that they don't muck us around anymore.

At least we can sleep easy at night (or we will be able to once we've moved!!!)

Thank you all again

Maybe they think they're overpaying so have got nasty - tough shit, of course - but might explain it. Anyway still time to pop to B & Q to get that bamboo

You could plant some bulbs in the lawn, to come up as a nice surprise next spring. Wouldn't it be strange if they spelled out a message?

What will you do if they try to further reduce the price just before exchanging contacts? This is a tactic you should be ready for, you accept the loss of one value then they do it again "oh it's just another 5/10k".

You could up your asking price just before exchange. Two can play at that game etc. Accompanied with a message "Well you need to be settled in time for the new school year, try finding something else in that timescale!