Do we gazunder?

[Sophie4231]

I would be grateful for opinions as we’re in two minds what to do.

We had an offer accepted on a property in April. Our survey showed about 30k of work needed. Following this we negotiated 11k off our initial offer (house is a project so we were expecting some things but did 50/50 on unexpected findings)

Fast forward 6months and we’ve still not exchanged as there land registry dispute that could take a few more months to solve. We’re in rented and have extended our mortgage and house in probate (funds going to family friends) so no real issues here.

Since we renegotiated the price we have had a quote to do some of the work our survey uncovered - re plastering cob walls. Our surveyor £8k which we based negotiations on and the quote was £28k!!! We’re also having to pay for additional months rent and market has considerably slowed since we had the offer accepted.

I’m tempted to try and negotiate some more off - at least the 20k difference in quotes for work (in hindsight should have got quotes at the time rather than relying on our surveyor estimates. My husband feels this would be underhand.

thoughts? I know gazundering is frowned upon but feel we have legitimate reasons?

If you tried again I’d pull out - what would you think if you lost it, would you find something else you like easily enough?

I would be looking for another property. It is very hard to estimate for works atm. We have just finished a project and gone way over budget.

I’d also pull out if you tried this with me. It’s dreadful buying behaviour, and an awful house buying system that allows it.

I would be reluctant to gazunder, but I would consider pulling out and looking for a new property.

This dispute could go on for a long time and I'd want to find a property that should go through simply.

Surely they must have known there were some disputes before putting the property on the market?

I’d also pull out if you tried this with me. It’s dreadful buying behaviour, and an awful house buying system that allows it
I agree, look for something that you can afford instead. You lost me when you used the excuse of the market slowing tbh.

I guess you can try if you genuinely think the value is now less. But you’d have to be prepared to lose it, depends how much you want it and if you think you can get more for your money elsewhere now which may well be the case.

It's a really underhand thing to do.

If you did that to me , I'd re-list.

Estimating work costs is like plucking numbers from the air. It constantly varies depending on things like the availability of labour, cost of materials, which is driven by the availability of those materials. It could cost more or less than your current estimate by the time you actually begin. One quote won’t tell you much - you need three or four, and unless the builder is standing looking at the building in question it’s still just a guessing game.

You need to be able to roll with the punches when you undertake a renovation. There will always be another curve ball, unexpected costs. The rule of thumb is to budget for double the quote.

It’s not for everyone. My df made a living doing other people’s restoration projects and they always assumed, giving his skill set that he probably lived in some amazing old property. He bought a 5 year old suburban house that had been extended by the previous owners and needed no work doing. Because he knew!!

I’d use this opportunity to have a think about whether you want to take this on at all.

I think the problem is the longer this is dragging on the more I falling out of love with it. I feel we over paid initially (we’re still 14k over ask) because we’d been looking for so long. Now there’s loads on the market we’d consider within budget.

Their previous buyer pulled out, they gave a wishy washy reason why but maybe it was similar problems!

I think we’ve invested money in this which is why we’re continuing but maybe should cut the loses and look elsewhere!

I think coming back on the basis of the estimated works may be fair, the rest, not so much. That's just life.

How many quotes did you get? Is the work 'essential' or just 'nice to have'? Could they get some done before sale if the former?

@Sophie4231 Pull out, pull out!! this sounds like it is going to be a money pit!!

Very much essential- they’ve put concrete render on a cob wall so eventually it’ll collapse (a pub nearby collapsed recently for the same reason!). I’m not sure it fair to ask current people to correct as it’s in probate it’s not actually their house so forking out £30k is a lot and we don’t know their situation (they may not even be home owners themselves)

I think we need to decide if it’s worth continuing with all the stress and uncertainty about when (if ever!!) this land registry dispute is sorted.

I’d cut your losses. I know it’s shit.

I would pull out - how much will you have lost? In pulling out, I would explain that it feels too risky and difficult for the reasons you mention and I’d state that because you don’t want to be “that buyer” who gazunders, you think it’s better to make an exit. You never know, they may come back with a counter offer - but I’d respect someone far more if they took this approach.

Now we are at the crux of the matter: you have fallen out of love with the house and are no longer willing to pay a price that you suspect is too high considering the condition of the house & the cost of repairs.

If you have seen other houses that are more appealing to you in terms of price or whatever, it is better to pull out now than let it drag on any longer. To worry about the money you have already spent is a false economy- research the sunk cost fallacy.

If you are not bothered about them pullling out and relisting you may as well lower your offer as the market has changed. As it’s not their home they are more likely to agree to get rid of it.
It’s not a nice thing to do but the property needs a lot of work and that’s expensive to do. You may find a better house needing less work. I would be truthful about the reasons though.

Just to give a small example of rising costs I was quoted 1.6 k for a bay window 18 months ago and it has now gone up to 2k. I’m really struggling with rising costs

Whatever you've spent on solicitor and surveyors fees to date is a drop in the ocean compared to the costs of doing work.
If you love this place, then go back to vendor and say quotes are coming in at more than was originally estimated so we will have to drop our offer. Be transparent and factual and accept that they may want to re list. But if it's probate sale then they may not care as it's all cash in hand for them.
But if you are getting cold feet then pull out now. You do not have to keep buying a property just because you said you would. I once had vendors pull out on The day of exchange! But was the best thing that happened because ultimately I got a much better place.
It's too much money to not do what you really want.

You definitely need to either re negotiate or pull out.

Your first mistake was offering on a house that hadn't completed probate.

Houses still in the process of probate should never be marketed. They are, and often, but shouldn't be.

Just pull out. An expensive lesson to learn, but it happens.

Based on this follow up, if say pull out and find a different house.

If there are plenty of other options available and you are not in love with it then I would pull out now

Be honest - send the revised quote in and explain that with that and the uncertainty/delay, your offer is no longer viable

I don't agree with gazundering but this could go on for months and there is no point you paying over the odds for a house you don't love, you have no timing on and which could turn out to be a money pit

Not enough info.

So what's £20k relative to the overall price?
What's the market in the locality done since April? Depending on where you are, things may have changed a lot, or not at all.
What would be the consequence if the deal collapsed, are there alternatives or is this one of a kind?

Take the emotion out of the decision, or whether it is underhand or not. A couple years ago if an OP was wondering whether to gazump because the market had given a higher price I am sure there would be more sympathy.

Walk away from it completely

No telling how long this dispute with the land registry will take to sort out , there is also the chance that it will not come out in the owners favour . If indeed he is the owner

Their previous buyer pulled out, they gave a wishy washy reason why but maybe it was similar problems!
That would have given me cold feet the second any additional work and land registry issues came up.

If the house isn't through probate and there's ongoing issues with land registry then they're trying to sell a house when they're not a position to progress the sale in a reasonable time frame.

If they're serious about selling they need to get everything in order, then put it back on the market when they're ready to sell at an appropriate valuation for the market.
Cynically I wonder if they rushed to put it on our of fear prices might drop and they could hook a buyer in at a higher price.