To (re) negotiate purchase price? London and Brexit uncertainty

[bottleitup]

Tdlr; our offer was accepted in mid/late October. £890k, 3/4 bed terrace house, zone 1/2 London location. Our "forever home", we hope. In early December we negotiated £15k off due to survey findings.

There's since been some delay on exchanging due to timing of paperwork on the seller's end and the time it's taken us to exchange on the sale of our existing property.

I'm having cold feet about the price we are paying due to how Brexit shambles is turning out and the fact is we may need to spend close to £150-200k over the next 5 years to modernise the property (can't move into it as it stands).

Would it be unreasonable of me to go back to ask for additional money off, given current market conditions mean we may be overpaying?

YWBU. You’ve already negotiated on the back of the survey. Presumably the survey found the price was reasonable for the house as is, or you would have backed out.

You can ask. They can say no. I don't think it's unreasonable to ask, but equally it's not up to the seller to indemnify you against future house price crashes. Offer what you think the house is worth.

You knew about Brexit, surely?

Yes.

Have prices fallen in that precise location? How close to asking price were you paying? If they tell you to bog off (which I suspect they will) will you be renting as you've exchanged on your own house?

You may end up being in a stronger position if you pull out and buy in a few months as it appears that if Brexit goes badly prices may well crash and you'll pick up a much cheaper property, alternatively you may find like I did that trying to buy in a crashing market (late 80's early 90's) is a pain as no one was putting property up for sale and it took ages to find something.

Essentially, you can ask for whatever you want (free speech), but you don't have a valid reason to do so.

You can ask, but the sellers can also refuse.

Maybe get the advice of your estate agent who will be able to tell you if house prices are decreasing or not in your area. Are you definantly overpaying, or paying its market value? Are you prepaid to possibly loose the house.

Market conditions haven’t changed since October re Brexit.

From what you’re saying, you knew from the start that the property needed a complete overhaul and you’re allowing 150-200k? What would be the value of the done up house in today’s market? If you’ll be adding value, then probably no need to worry about price corrections as you’d have a good buffer with the value you added.

However, it sounds a bit like the costs might be quite a stretch for you (hence planning to take 5 yrs to refurb an uninhabitable house). If so, I’d reconsider as it sounds like an awful lot of stress and worry to get the place sorted before you can enjoy it.

I would. When I sold my house the process was taking very long months and the prices shot up during that time. In the end I hesitated but asked for 20k more, or was going to pull out as it made no sense anymore. My buyers agreed to pay 20k which was still below what would have been a fresh market price.
Yes there is a lot of Brexit uncertainty and where I live (Greater London) there has been significant drop in house prices in the last 2-3 months.

Get the estate agent to ask, can't hurt. They can only say no. But decide what your view is if no more money off, will you pull out?

I think we could be in for a big correction but it depends on what effect that will have on you. Can you afford the house? Do you love it? Would you be gutted to lose it? You have nothing to lose by asking though, as long as they don't tell you to eff off (but they would be cutting off their nose to spite their face if they did.)

Negotiating 15k off and then gazundering is not the best behaviour. You don't need us to tell you that. I think you do have a lot to lose if you are still prepared to pay the current price. They may well decide either (a) they don't want to sell to a gazunderer or (b) the lower price you're now prepared to pay is less than what they are prepared to accept, and the sale is off. That's not cutting off their noses to spite their faces, it's just what it is. They may be confident they can find a buyer prepared to pay more, or be in no hurry to sell. If you still want the house, gazundering is a dangerous business. Ultimately though, you can pull out at any time, for any reason or none. It's disappointing and can be expensive for all concerned, but it's not unusual.

If I was the seller I would not entertain it... you knew about Brexit 2.5 years ago... October was 4 months ago

Gazundering just as bad as gazumping.

and if the market goes up in the meantime, you will put your offer back up again, yes?

this is madness. You can ask, but if I were the vendor I might consider cancelling the sale because I'd worry you would do the same thing the day before exchange.

I do hate our systems re property.

It's not great behaviour on the back of already negotiating a reduction

These all all things you knew about at offer stage so it will look to the vendor like you are chancing your arm.

They might pull out and youd be back to square one so if you are willing to take that chance there is nothing to say you can't ask.

Even if brexit isn't a disaster London house prices are still hugely inflated & probably due a correction anyway. Don't ask the estate agent, they don't work for you & won't tell you the truth as they rely on the sale going through to earn their money.

If it's your forever home & you're not bothered about profit not enough has changed since you agreed a price to negotiate downwards. I suspect, unless sellers are desperate you'll be told no. Do your research, if similar or better houses are currently on at much lower prices you'd be crazy to go ahead but it's a risk.

We're in the middle of a sale/purchase in London - roughly the same timing as you.

Like others have said you knew Brexit was happening when you put the offer in - nothing has changed. If you try to put a reduced offer in on that basis I suspect you'll get fairly short shrift from your vendor. I know what DH and I would say/do. If you're not happy pull out but don't mess people around at a late stage in conveyancing.

I take it this is a standard London terrace? How on earth are you going to spend £200,000 on modernising it? Is it literally a wreck?

Bibbity, I could see 150-200k getting spent if you extend, do the loft, full refurb inside, the garden etc and everything to a pretty high standard.

I could easily see spending £200k. Round here people spend £100-150k just doing side return (end cost depends on how fancy/bespoke a kitchen they choose). Actually I’d be surprised if it’s not more.

It depends on if you actually want the house.

I have been looking for months around London and SE (I have a specific criteria) I haven’t even been able to view as the ones I have seen on line have gone within a few hours of them coming on the market.

I know property is supposed to be falling in price and hanging around unsold. I just wish the 4 properties I have tried to view had done that.

Sounds like a fair price for a 4 bed in zone 1 (or even a 3 bed in zone 2). Plus you say it's your forever home so no plans to sell anyway. I think it would be crappy behaviour as nothing has changed and you're just trying it on. As a pp says, you wouldn't up the price if values had risen. If you still want it, complete the agreed sale. If you don't, pull out.

I’d regard 890k 3 bed terrace in zone 1/2 as a ‘ bloody bargain ‘ tbh and if it’s likely to be your forever home then any property price falls / crashes post brexit as long as you can keep up mortgage payments assuming you’ll have one - as in the longer term there will be a rise in value .
By all means try and negotiate an alternative price .

I agree with pp £890k for zone 1/2 London for a 3/4 bedroom terrace is a bargain, Interested to know which area in zone 1 you can get a terrace under million?