Gazundering idiots - buyer demands £7k reduction on eve of exchange

[bluebirdswhistle]

Just been subject to a gazundering attempt and i'm furious! Buyer offered £5k more than asking to win the bidding war as we had multiple offers on viewing. Fine we accepted. Got a survey done in August, two weeks ago indicated they wanted to exchange contracts and complete by 30th september for stamp duty savings. Our onward purchase wasn't ready as they had a few enquiries outstanding so we said no not ready. Now buyer is demanding £7k off of property price. Citing some rubbish excuses about the survey which he has had since August but not mentioned since, wants a whopping £3k for "redecoration" We were all ready to exchange this week and now it looks like it's all falling apart. There is no way we can afford a £7k reduction as the property we are buying is taking every penny. We've made that crystal clear. Ready to put the property back on the market but to be honest I can't even be bothered anymore and wondering whether to just pull the property from the market altogether and just stay for a couple more years until the market normalises. We don't really need to move, we just saw a nicer house that we really wanted. I really feel sorry for the vendors above me as they wanted to complete by the end of the month to get their daughter into her preferred secondary school. Now it looks like it won't happen so that's life changing for the poor girl. These terrible people have no idea what they do to others when they pull stunts like this it's terrible really that it's allowed to happen!

Pretty insulting.

My instinct is to tell them to fuck off, but if you don't want to derail the whole chain (this isn't just about you, it's also about the people higher up), you could see if keeping the chain intact and moving on time is worth £7k or even £4K (I think the £3k for redecoration is cheeky in the extreme) to anyone above you.
This kind of negotiation is what you pay an estate agent for. Let them deal with it.

Urgh. We had similar. Buyer offered hugely over asking because they were desperate, and then demanded £8k of the price for the roof, which didn't have a single issue. We agreed a token £1k just to keep it moving. The house I bought, that we didn't haggle on, ended up having a leaky roof that has cost us £xxx to patch up

Say one word 'No'

(I had this - an absolute arsehole of a buyer who pretended he was the nicest bloke in the world asked for £50k off on exchange day - and I had no choice but to take it as Dh was staying in a hotel during the week which we couldn't afford. Worst week of my life. Karma bit his arse though as he was hated in the street and didn't make any money on redevelopment)

seems a fair offer.. market is way down since the summer

It isn't fair, the market is absolutely booming, everything going for above asking price where we are SE England
And it's just a really shit thing to do at this stage putting someone under pressure just before the exchange. It's different if it's the next day after the survey and something significant has come up.

@NewtoHolland

It isn't fair, the market is absolutely booming, everything going for above asking price where we are SE England And it's just a really shit thing to do at this stage putting someone under pressure just before the exchange. It's different if it's the next day after the survey and something significant has come up.

It's probably not worth doing, as vendors would likely cut off their nose to spite their face in these situations. But I don't think fairness is relevant.

Buyer or seller can withdraw or demand a price increase or change of date of exchange at any point up to exchange. Buyers are often put in unfair situations. Does anyone think the current market is fair for buyers?

My suggestion to vendors in this situation would be to tell the agent to relist immediately and for them to send an email to the buyer with a link to the rightmove listing and saying "We have arranged viewings on this house. If any of them make an offer you may lose the house, but you still have the option to exchange before that happens."

I think lots of vendors are getting greedy and this is what happens when people feel they have to offer over asking price and it seems to be happening a lot!

How much is the stamp duty that was caused by the delay you wanted?

They may have offered more than the asking price knowing they could afford it because of the stamp duty holiday. Your refusal to move on time has changed the calculation.

You could say no, they might be bluffing, but they might not. I suppose it comes down to would you have accepted an offer £2k under the asking price in the first place? If you would, then you haven't really lost anything.

Though, tbh, if you are as overstretched as you say with buying your next property, then perhaps you should say no and stay put. It seems likely interest rates will be going up soon. It might be a blessing in disguise.

Are your buyers the bottom of the chain, OP? I'm guessing they aren't FTB, as if they were they wouldn't have to pay stamp duty so wouldn't care about the 30th September deadline.
If they are also selling a property and have buyers ready to exchange then just tell them to piss off. They probably don't want to lose their buyers and are just trying it on.

Did you get sorted @bluebirdswhistle