Renegotiate the price.before exchange

[midnightOK]

I think we might have paid too much for the house we intend to buy. Is there a way to renegotiate the price before exchange ? I feel quite bad to do that, but it is not a small amount[

We haven't signed contract yet. Of course I don't ask for 35k reduction. On one hand, I hope the price is more reasonable, on another hand I am kind of putting off by the tiny garden this house has. And we have two young kids.

It sounds like you're not 100% on the house rather than having an issue with the price. Why not just pull out of the sale and find somewhere else? It's not fair on the seller to drag this on and the house is clearly worth what you have originally offered or you wouldn't have been able to get the mortgage.

Has the garden shrunk since you viewed and offered on it?

If you were buying my house and started renegotiating now with no reasons other than second thoughts personally I would pull out and find someone else. So as pp have said you are within your right to as for a reduction but before you do I would look at what else is on in the area for your price range and be prepared to loose this house.

Agree with other pps - if you knew a particular house was sold last year, then its part of your research to find out what it sold for - ring around estate agents if itwas too recent for it to appear on Right move Sold or similar. As for the garden, you knew its size when you offered.

So to answer your question, of course you can renegotiate before exchange - you're not legally committed. But as your vendor, if survey says its worth agreed price, I'd tell you to take a running jump and re- market the property. I wouldn't entertain another conversation with you.

So look around as what else is available, and work out what you'd lose financially (fees etc) if vendor pulled the plug before you attempt to barter.

You've made an offer at a price you felt was right at the time and now you are having buyer's remorse. Pretty shitty to try to renegotiate the price now.

This ^.
You knew the size of the garden when you offered on it originally, so that's a really lame excuse. You also don't know all the reasons the other house could have sold for less. Instead of trying to find justifications for doing the vendors out of the (originally agreed) fair price, pull out if you've changed your mind. What you are suggesting is really rude and unfair on the vendors (who may be relying on that money in a chain).

The other house could have neen cheaper for a variety of reasons - damp, asbestos needing to be removed, structural problems, boiler on the blink, house being sold quickly and therefore cheaply.

Of course you may have offered too much for the house.

What have other houses in the road sold for? How long were the houses on the market before they sold? How did you agree your houses prices? Did you offer the sale price?

It's awful messing a seller around. Maybe the owners will compromise or maybe being so close to exchange you will utterly piss them off

Generally surveyors gave a good grip of the housing market

If I was the seller I would tell you to get lost.

If you don't want the house pull out now. Don't try and get money off to make you feel better.

Has no buyer hesitated before they are.about to buy a house? And think about.the price and the house one.more time?

Work out the price per square metre of the other house and the price per square metre of "yours". That will give you an indication of whether the £35k difference is reasonably down to that. Also, what do you mean by "same condition"? If you just mean decorative order, then you might be being unfair. Anything more fundamental like how old boiler/wiring is, has roof been replaced recently etc will make a difference.

Sorry, posted too soon...You won't be able to tell some of those things just from photos, you'd need to see more details.

Non of my questions answered I see

Why don't you speak to your surveyor again

It sounds like you have cold feet about buying the house which is fine. However, if you tried to negotiate the price now as a seller I would withdraw the house and put it back on the market. Someone tried that with a house I was selling, decided just prior to exchange that they suddenly wanted more electrical and damp surveys. I said no and if they didn't exchange as agreed it was going back on the market (didn't care about losing money because I was fed up with flakey buyer). They decided to exchange after all.

You sound like a flakey buyer. Expect to lose the house so if your happy to do so go back with another price.

If I was a seller and someone tried this stunt on me, I'd cancel the sale/contract immediately. I also wouldn't sell you the house if you came back at the original price at a later date. It just wouldn't be worth the hassle of dealing with whatever unreasonable demand you'd try and pull next.

You knew what size the garden was when you offered. If you dont want the house then pull out but that's not a valid reason to renegotiate.

How desperately do you need to move? Are there other houses you like more and can afford on rightmove? I would either pull out of the current sale if the garden is a deal breaker, or just bite the bullet and go with it. No grounds to renegotiate price, if cheaper things are out there that are just as good buy one of them... If not, that tells you something!

plenty of people pull out of purchases and in England the law allows this. In your case you'll have pissed the vendors around for months.

It is very common to have a wobble on a big purchase and think "am I doing the right thing?" But your justification doesn't stack up.

House prices have gone up a lot since last year, the garden is the same size as it was when you viewed, without seeing the survey on the neighbouring house you don't know if they are the same.

You've paid out for survey, searches, mortgage application fees etc presumably- are you happy to lose these? The vendor is likely to tell you to sod off and put the house back on the market.

Remember as well that although the neighbouring house may have completed in September the price could well have been agreed 2-4 months before hand (depending on length of chain, time from offer to completion). So that "comparable" price could be based on offers last May/June- almost a year ago.
As PP have said it sounds like you're having a wobble and you need to weigh up whether this is still the house for you. When I last bought I found it helped me to casually search on Rightmove and reassure myself that there was nothing better suited to us for the price.

It is normal to get a touch of the cold feet before buying - it is a big commitment. But you can't know what came up in the survey of the other house, so it is impossible to make a fair comparison. It may have serious damp, the roof may need doing etc.

If you don't want the house, pull out promptly. If you do want the house, then don't gazunder. You will cause all manner of upset with your buyer, most people will tell you to sod off, and there may be a whole chain of people whose lives you will be messing around.

We had someone try to gazunder us by 15k on the day before exchange - told them to get lost and told all the agents round here what had happened and to be wary if they came calling. I have another friend (selling at the same time) who had the same experience and did the same thing. EAs meet regularly and talk to each other about this stuff. People can and do get black-balled for bad behaviour because no agent wants a whole chain to collapse because of a really flaky, inconsiderate buyer - or a bully. You have been warned!

The other house sale price is irrelevant.
It could have been sold for less to a relative, like ours was.
If you were happy with the price before you saw what the neighbors bought for, then you are being unreasonable.
The valuation says the price is right.
If it needed a lots of urgent work then that might be reason to drop price, but only if you had no idea before the surveys.
If I was selling, I'd tell you to take a hike if you pulled this, I'd re market and sell to someone else

Midnight I'm in the same position as you, about to exchange and wake up with cold sweats wishing I'd offered 20k less, and thinking the garden is too small.
Then I remember that this will be our home for then next 20 years, so even if we have paid a few thousand over the odds it's not the end of the world, and actually, I don't think we really have.
I then look at my huge, neglected garden, and remember that neither DP nor I enjoy gardening, and actually wanted a smaller garden. Yes, the kids won't have all that space to run around, but it's big enough for a trampoline and sand pit, and there are local parks / friends gardens
Stop looking at what other houses sold for, comparison is the thief of joy.
If you loved the house enough to offer in the first place, it's still the house for you