Gazundering...told my buyer to piss off

[ilovewinterpansies]

My buyer has at the last minute asked for £5k off my house which is already being sold at a bargain.

We have told him to piss off (obviously the estate agent has put this in more polite terms).

Mortgage offer is in, survey done (and apparently says our house is in good order so I'm not sure why he wants £5k off) and enquiries are almost all done. We are on the cusp of exchange.

How much is this just the buyer chancing his luck? Shared experiences will be very welcome!

I did this last year. Buyer dropped the price she had offered the day before exchange. Buyer thought I was bluffing when I refused and she waited a few days before she came to her senses and agreed to the full offered price. Too late though as I didn't want to sell to her.

@nemno did you drop out then?

Honestly that's how I feel now! He's pissed me off so much! But I need him for the onward purchase...argh!!

Happened to me, though it was a flat we weren't living in. It was just before exchange - she was demanding £8k off because of works that might at some point be undertaken by the freeholder (the local council) inc. double glazed windows, which would have been a great improvement anyway - I'd have changed them myself if it had been allowed.

I was particularly hacked off because I'd turned down a higher offer after accepting hers - because I'd given my word.

I was equally hacked off with the EA, who seemed to be on her side rather than mine. I told her where to shove it - in slightly more polite terms, and she went ahead with the purchase anyway. I was prepared to take the risk, though - and to be fair it was at a time when prices were rising.

She sold the flat a few years later, and the planned works still hadn't taken place.

THeyre banking on you needing to proceed for your purchase, but they won’t want to pull out, they’ve invested money in the whole process so if it falls through they’ll be out of pocket.

Presumably he's asking for £5k off to cover his legal/survey costs??

Stick to your guns! They're bluffing I can guarantee it.

It's a game, honest. Let us know how you get on please?

Happened to my mum. Accepted offer from a chance at a low price then he tried to knock some off. I made her put it back on the market at a sensible price (loads more than his offer) and she sold it at full asking two days later. Apparently he came crawling back saying he'd pay his original price but too late.

Don't back down, honestly these chancers will take a mile if you give them an inch.

That happened to us too. They kept coming round after the offer was accepted trying to find faults and knock the price down more.

I also think he is trying it on.

@Dogsrbarking he's asking for £5k contribution to roofing which is explicitly stated in the survey to be "something to look into but nothing structurally unsound or urgent".

We have called his bluff and told him he can do one.

Honestly this annoys me so much. I have taken a £3k hit on damp work on my purchase because I am keen to keep things moving and am reasonable - this guy has been a wanker throughout the entire process. I know it shouldn't be emotional but I love my house and I hate thinking it's being sold to a horrible person!!!

Happened to me when we last moved. Agreed a really reasonable price and then the man wanted to drop the price by about 6%. I told his girlfriend, who loved the house, they had a bargain and I would give them the weekend to think about it (come to their senses). He didn't change his mind, I put it back on for more money and got a new buyer in a few days.

Yep happened to us, we told the buyer to do one and put the house back on the market. It sold in 6 days for more than we originally accepted. I didn't want to sell to them after they pulled that stunt.

I think you need to be unemotional- say no but don’t cut your nose off to spite your face

Yes, I refused to sell it to her. But I had no future purchase depending on it.

Agreed they're chancing it. They've invested so much at this point would they really pull out for £5k? I doubt it.

Stick to your guns.

Placemarking

Slightly mixed opinion about gazundering... I wouldn't do it (at least not without a very good and justifiable reason) to a vendor if they were owner occupiers selling a family home.

But if they were just some form of property investor selling off one of their ''assets'' then I would certainly gazunder and for no valid reason at all.

Really Sall? I don’t think there is EVER a reason to gazunder. Property developers are also people. Someone in my family owns several rental properties (not quite the same but closest personal reference I have) - he’s one of the hardest working people I know and a really nice guy too. If he was selling off one of his properties would he deserve to be gazundered?

There is never a reason to gazunder. If something comes up in the survey and you ask for money off in a timely manner then that is one thing. If you, a few days before exchange demand chunks of money off because you know everyone is financially and emotionally committed to sale then you are just a massive arsehole.

OP fingers crossed your guy is just bluffing. Hats off to you for telling him to bugger off. We had someone do this further down our chain - literally the worst chain ever. We ended up sharing out 1/2 what the gazunder demanded through the chain because it had been torturous months of negotiating (with people pulling out then coming back etc) to get that far and no-one could bear for it to fall through but I dearly wish we could have told them to fuck off. It’s been years now and I’m still angry about it!

I’d hope they’d tell you to piss off then sall74, it’s an awful practice and I’d hooe they’d pull out on you and you lose the money you’d slready spent on it.

Good luck OP!

Buyers are often unemotional about the purchase whereas you love your home and the buyer may know that you are depending on this sale and believe that he has the upper hand. He is taking one last punt at saving a few grand.

I would ask, what % is 5k? How long has he had the survey? What will happen to your onward purchase? Will you lose money and how much? How well are properties selling?

And if the sale falls through I would also change my estate agent.

It will happen more often as buyers see the market as falling. Just as gazumping happens in a rising market. Will you easily be able to find another buyer if he pulls out? If so reject his reduced offer.

Barnaby - Your relative is such a nice guy that they've decided to deprive numerous people of owning a family home so he can instead leech off the rental income. Yes he fully deserves to be gazundered if he decides to sell off any of the ''units'' in his ''portfolio''

As I said, I wouldn't gazunder an owner occupier, I would, as you say, ask for a reduction in a timely manner IF there was a justifiable reason for it.

I agree, no reason to gazunder at all. As a buyer you offer what you can or will pay, leaving it until just before completion before dropping your price is immoral and shady.

OP, neighbour had this happen a few weeks ago, just before completion. What I guess the buyer didn't know was that she has inherited her mum's bungalow and had practically moved in there anyway, she was in no hurry to sell. The For Sale sign went straight back up, only for it to come straight back down again a couple of days later.

I am not sure if she sold to the same person or someone else, but there were tradesmen there a few days after completion so I suspect it was the same crappy buyer.

Stand your ground, will they really lose all their fees and searches for a few grand? I think not.

In fact, thinking about it, of course it must have been the same buyer as it completed within a week or two of the second sold notice going up.

Thanks everyone.

Our buyer has quoted an issue with the roof that was flagged in his survey ("a few slipped roof tiles") but every survey has comments like that and the summary says the house is in good order. £5k seems plucked out of the air. All very last minute - and to top it off he's doing this negotiating while on holiday in Las Vegas! Alright for some!

Feel very messed around, we are a busy family of five (kids all under 6, baby 8m old) and this is stressful enough as it is. We actually postponed our Easter holiday to the Far East because we didn't want to hold things up (not his fault I know but it doesn't help to have this wankish behaviour at the 11th hour from bloody Vegas).

We actually are paying £3k for damp work on our purchase - actually urgent and necessary and we got a proper quote from a specialist. We intimated that we might need a contribution (didn't ask straight out) and we got knocked back - fine, we are swallowing the cost. But this conversation was had ages ago and we had a proper reason - I still think we were within our rights to ask for this money but for the sake of the transaction we are swallowing it. And I wouldn't dream of doing this last minute and holding someone to ransom - and our purchase is an investment property not someone's home!!

Agreed price is £712,500 (London) and this is already way lower than similar properties - our neighbours are going very low on theirs against estate agent advice to get a quick sale (they're asking for offers over £725k). Properties of our type are selling now for £730/740k. He already has a bargain and I'm not knocking one penny off!!!!