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Original poster

Is it fair to ask our buyers for more money?

112 replies

MediumOrchid · 08/06/2015 21:30

Bit of a long story :

We sold our house in September. Had an offer accepted on a property in November. Long story short, but all the paperwork went through, then 4 months later the vendors decided they didn't want to sell their house after all and took it off the market Angry. Both us and our buyers were really disappointed.

We are fairly particular about where we want to move to (our buyers know this) and properties don't come up that often. Our buyers have been looking elsewhere but at the moment are still waiting for us. They have been very patient.

But the problem is that the market has risen in the 9 months since we accepted their offer. We've had our house valued again recently at £15k more than they paid. Our house is currently the cheapest of its type in our town. The houses that we want to buy have also risen in value.

Would it be fair to ask the buyers for maybe £7.5k due to the rise the market? Or more?

Half of me feels that's really unfair on them and we should honour our agreement, but the other half thinks that it we don't ask for more money then we might not ever be able to afford to move -then the buyers won't ever have our house!

To complicate matters further, our estate agent says he has a couple who want to buy in our area and would pay the full 15k more. This may not be true, but if it was, I couldn't do that to our buyers. It just feels that it would be so unfair to them.

Or do you just have to be ruthless when buying and selling property?

Why is it all so complicated?!

OP posts:
chairmeoh · 08/06/2015 21:35

No. It wouldn't be fair.
They've beenvery patient with you. Don't betray them now.
Your property may well have risen 15k in value over 9 months. But who is to say what it was worth 3 months after you accepted their offer (which is the he usual time it takes for conveyancing to complete)?
Don't do it.

Toughasoldboots · 08/06/2015 21:39

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

CrapBag · 08/06/2015 21:40

Obviously it's very frustrating that your house is worth more but if the sale had gone through you would have known no different.

If you were my seller, took this long then asked for more money I'd very politely tell you where to go and pull out. Sorry but there it is.

oddfodd · 08/06/2015 21:45

No, it would be really unfair. The only reason you're in this position is because your vendors pulled out - otherwise you would have sold it months ago at the price you agreed.

I can't even believe you're considering this.

I would totally pull out if you tried something like this and wish you all sorts of misfortune to boot.

FuckingLiability · 08/06/2015 21:49

No, absolutely not. I would pull out if someone did that to me.

Original poster
MediumOrchid · 08/06/2015 21:52

Ok, I understand what you're all saying, and I do agree - but what are we supposed to do if we now can't afford any houses where we want to move to? How long are we supposed to wait in this position while the market keeps on rising?

OP posts:
tribpot · 08/06/2015 21:52

Agreed, I would immediately pull out if someone tried that on me. You've made the deal. They've dealt with you in good faith. Be a better person than that.

YoniMitchell · 08/06/2015 21:53

If you did that to me I'd just walk away. Having said that I'd probably have walked some time ago and found another house to buy, rather than wait this long.

YoniMitchell · 08/06/2015 21:55

If you cannot afford to buy in one particular place then you may just need to look elsewhere or reconsider the type/size of the house you look for. That's not really your buyer's problem to solve.

WinterOfOurDiscountTents15 · 08/06/2015 21:57

See its easy for everyone to say, god no, I;d never do that, you're awful. But its not their house or life. If you can't afford to move without more money, then you don't have the option of selling for the previously agreed price. Nobody answering you would do that, no matter what they say.
So, you have three options.

  1. Back out of the sale, stay where you are.
  2. Offer the buyers the choice of pay more or option 1 happens.
  3. Tell the buyers you have had another offer and ask them if they want to match it.

Or, I suppose, put it back on the open market and see what happens.

Of course the nicest and most honourable thing to do would be to sell at the agreed price to the nice people who waited. But what do you do then if you don't have enough to buy because prices have risen? Life just doesn't work like that.

Original poster
MediumOrchid · 08/06/2015 21:57

Crapbag - if the sale had gone through there wouldn't be a problem because we'd be in the house we wanted! I wouldn't care about any rise in value if we could just have had that. And I still wouldn't; if a house came up tomorrow, and we could afford it, I wouldn't consider asking for more.

OP posts:
Coconutty · 08/06/2015 21:58

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Squeegle · 08/06/2015 21:58

I suppose if you can't find anywhere, then you too have to pull out. I think hat you could be upfront, but if it is really a question of £15k, then you can either offer what you can afford on a house you want, or pull out due to your vendors pulling out and you not having anywhere to buy, not ideal, but you can't exactly move somewhere you don't want to go just to be fair to your buyers,

Original poster
MediumOrchid · 08/06/2015 22:01

Winter - yep, that's exactly it. And all the options seem unfair to our buyers, even us being 'honourable' because then we might never move.

OP posts:
YoniMitchell · 08/06/2015 22:02

Asking is one thing, would you be prepared for them to walk away from the sale? If you're ok with that possibility (and prepared to put your place back on the market) then go ahead and ask.

lottiesatitagain · 08/06/2015 22:02

I think that is an awful thing to do to your buyers. I know you probably can do it but you would be missing a chip for me morally.

Original poster
MediumOrchid · 08/06/2015 22:03

you can't exactly move somewhere you don't want to go just to be fair to your buyers

Exactly. Are people really suggesting I should?

OP posts:
RandomMess · 08/06/2015 22:03

If you can no longer afford anything else because of the price increases then you're going to have to pull out anyway and not sell aren't you?

If that is the complete truth then you can offer your buyers to pay more but you'll understand if they want to pull out. However it sounds as though your house would still be cheaper than them buying elsewhere???

House buying & selling in this country utterly sucks Sad Angry

ThroughThickAndThin01 · 08/06/2015 22:05

If you can't find a house to buy now because prices have moved upwards then yes you'll have to remarket or go back to your buyers for more. It's harsh and unfair but that's what happens in a rising market unfortunately.

I would see if I could find something at the same price though, first of all.

Original poster
MediumOrchid · 08/06/2015 22:06

YoniMitchell - would I be prepared for them to walk away? Honestly, I think it would be easier if they did, then we can resell it at the higher price.

OP posts:
oddfodd · 08/06/2015 22:08

No you can't but it's a horrible, horrible thing to do to them when they've hung around for so long, waiting for you to find somewhere.

If you can live with yourself, then do it. Personally I couldn't but then houses are homes to me, not 'property'.

Starlightbright1 · 08/06/2015 22:08

well you want to know if it is fair..No it isn't. I also would walk.. I wouldn't trust you not to demand it days before..

chairmeoh · 08/06/2015 22:09

If you have to do it in order to move then that's what you have to do. Be prepared for a them to angrily pull out, either to spite you or because they simply don't have 7.5k.

But that wasn't your question. Whatever way you look at it, it isn't a 'fair' thing to do.

Original poster
MediumOrchid · 08/06/2015 22:09

House buying & selling in this country utterly sucks agreed Sad

OP posts:
BeaufortBelle · 08/06/2015 22:11

Well if you want your buyers to walk away, take the house off the market an remarket it when you think the price you can get allows you to move.

If I was your buyer I'd have told you to get on with it or walked away in any event.