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Original poster

How to deal with greedy seller wanting more money?

193 replies

ChompStomp · 23/04/2024 11:53

Hello

Currently trying to buy a property. It's been a complicated purchase because the vendors (a divorcing couple at loggerheads) have been as difficult as it is possible to be.

We were proceeding at asking price but now the vendor has come back (after a month) and said he wants an extra 10% as he feels the house is worth it although has no basis for that. The house next door sold at a the same price we have agreed to purchase at in early 2022 and is pretty much identical but with a much bigger plot as it has a small field with it, so arguably we are already overpaying. The Estate Agent has said that he is completely unrealistic, and told us that if we agree we will be paying too much for the property. It's over £500k so an extra 10% is a considerable sum, but we could stretch to it (just).

We really love the property and there is nothing else similar on the market. It has been on the market 10 months without a single offer and only a handful of viewings in all that time (because as the agents said to us, it started off overpriced and we are the only people to have shown any interest). He has said he will pull out the sale if we don't agree and the EA said he is totally serious about that and doesn't really want to sell it anyway.

We don't know what to do but would be gutted to lose it when we could stretch to it but it feels so silly to be held to ransom like this. We don't want to mess our own buyer around, and it is perfect for us. We will probably stay there 10-15 years. Over that amount of time does an extra £50k make a massive difference?

OP posts:
GreyTonkinese · 23/04/2024 17:17

Fifty thousand pounds is a lot of money. Imagine what you could do with a spare £50k. As a previous poster points out it will be a lot more than £50k in the end because you will be paying interest on the borrowed funds. I see nothing but trouble ahead unless there is a court order for sale and even then I can see difficulties. Also you can't always rely on inflation to cancel out bad house buying decisions. Property prices can and do fall. There's a saying in property that you make your money when you buy not when you sell - in other words don't pay over the odds at the start.

EnglishBluebell · 23/04/2024 17:17

@ChompStomp What did you decide to do in the end, Op?

CharlotteLightandDark · 23/04/2024 17:24

Agree there’s no such thing as a perfect/dream house, something else will end up coming along that you’ll like just as much

CellophaneFlower · 23/04/2024 17:29

I'd call his bluff. I guarantee if you give in to his demands you won't be sitting in that house in a year's time feeling grateful you paid 50k more to secure a house nobody else was interested in. You'll look at next door and be pissed off you paid so much more for far less land.

@Geebray seems very keen to convince you to part with your hard earned cash 🤔🤔

OlderGlaswegianLivingInDevon · 23/04/2024 17:29

It may be that you are being used as a pawn in their divorce.

so a firm no to the request.

if they then withdraw from your offer, it's up to them.

I hope they receive their new price...one day

or of course it may take months to resell - his loss.

Alchemistress · 23/04/2024 17:49

Have you had a survey done? The valuation part of the survey is relevant as I'm pretty sure there are laws and guidelines as to overvaluing a property as it of course affects what a mortgage lender is prepared to accept. £50K isn't a small amount to overvalue a property by if nearby houses are going at market rate.

user1471538283 · 23/04/2024 17:54

As two said up thread not only would I not offer more (the house isn't worth more), we are in a difficult market so accordingly you've had a think and you want to reduce the offer by 10%.

And look around.

JennySayQuoi · 23/04/2024 18:04

Phoenix1Arisen · 23/04/2024 12:03

In your shoes, if this is your ideal house, I'd offer half with the proviso that contracts are dealt with like yesterday!

Be aware though that he might agree now but come back at you the day before exchange with some other silly expectation.

Perhaps the EA should be advising the wife that she has the option to take this into court and if he loses, he will be compelled to foot all her costs of the thwarted sale. It might focus his mind a bit. Good luck.

"Perhaps the EA should be advising the wife that she has the option to take this into court and if he loses, he will be compelled to foot all her costs of the thwarted sale. It might focus his mind a bit."

My parents bought a house like this in the '80s. They put in what they thought was a cheeky offer, and it was accepted! Basically the court had said the warring couple had to accept the next offer no matter what!

Ilovemyshed · 23/04/2024 18:30

Call his bluff. Say a firm no and deadline your offer with a threat to withdraw.

ZenNudist · 23/04/2024 18:31

You'd be mad to entertain this. You made an asking price offer despite lack of interest. £50k is a lot extra and you will pay interest on it too. Look for other houses. It seems like if they've not had much other interest AND he's divorcing that it will eventually come back on the market. If you decline to pay extra then he's likely going to back down. If you offer more what's to stop him asking for more money closer to the sale. Stand firm.

Anameisaname · 23/04/2024 18:41

If you love this house and really want it then I'd offer some kind of conditional extra. So you could say I'll pay you the £50k or 25k extra conditional on exchange by xx date. Or completion. Or ask for a bond so that if they pull out they refund your costs or something to that effect

Itradehorses · 23/04/2024 19:13

One other thought, the sunk cost of the survey if the sale collapses is not worth £50k plus interest at 5% for 25 years. You'd be better to risk writing that cost off if seller backs out when you hold firm. I wouldn't muck about reducing your offer as it also gives him a reason to pull out and blame you to his ex (you become the unreasonable one). Just say "..no, we wish to proceed with the agreed price of x", let us know if the sellers want to continue or not).

And start looking on Rightmove again. It's spring and lots of new houses are popping up.

Itradehorses · 23/04/2024 19:14

My user name is Itradehorsesfor a reason 😂

ReadingSoManyThreads · 23/04/2024 19:34

Do not even entertain this @ChompStomp

Your mortgage lender may even refuse this newer price based on their valuations anyway. But as everyone is telling you, it's not just £50K, it's the thousands of pounds you'll pay in interest on it AND the extra STAMP DUTY costs.

Tell the EA to tell him that you will not be blackmailed, so you either continue with your accepted offer, or you'll walk away.

There will be other houses, and believe me, if you pay it and you eventually get the house, in a few years time, you'll be stewing over paying him tens of thousands more than it was worth.

Don't do it!!!

Henryhover · 23/04/2024 19:41

That's probably why it's been on the market for 10 months. I'd pull out and walk away

MummytoA · 23/04/2024 20:12

If you're buying with a mortgage then overpaying on the value might not be approved, if its not worth X amount

Brumhilda · 23/04/2024 20:36

One party of the couple is living in it and wants to continue to do so and so is trying to blow the sale up.

selling it would mean concluding the divorce and paying the other party off - or something like that. You’ve stepped into the middle of a domestic dispute.

if you agree to this then it’ll happen again because one party has no intention of selling the house.

You’re wasting your time move on.

Original poster
ChompStomp · 23/04/2024 22:03

Well we went back saying we’d up by 5% (£25k) and he told the EA to put it back on the market! It’s back on RightMove already!

We were hoping to exchange this month and complete in May but hadn’t got a date yet.

Nothing else we even want to view on RM as of tonight so feeling pretty despondent. DH wants to say fuck it, let’s pay the extra and just be done with it. We are pretty emotionally invested which is always dangerous. Going to think overnight.

OP posts:
Knittedfairies2 · 23/04/2024 22:06

I'm sorry to read your update OP; how disappointing.

PastorCarrBonarra · 23/04/2024 22:08

So he wasn’t bluffing. I’m surprised tbh especially as it hadn’t had much interest. He sounds foolish.

Anameisaname · 23/04/2024 22:11

ChompStomp · 23/04/2024 22:03

Well we went back saying we’d up by 5% (£25k) and he told the EA to put it back on the market! It’s back on RightMove already!

We were hoping to exchange this month and complete in May but hadn’t got a date yet.

Nothing else we even want to view on RM as of tonight so feeling pretty despondent. DH wants to say fuck it, let’s pay the extra and just be done with it. We are pretty emotionally invested which is always dangerous. Going to think overnight.

If you do go back and offer more make it conditional on a rapid exchange

Original poster
ChompStomp · 23/04/2024 22:20

The EA wasn’t impressed. Apparently he is also going to list it with another agent too.

OP posts:
BeckiWithAnI · 23/04/2024 22:27

He had no intention of selling… just had to be seen to be willing to sell so his ex wouldn’t force a sale. Now he’s done this I hope she does take him to court and he’s forced to pay her legal costs to boot. The house will then sell for whatever the court deems to be a “reasonable offer” and this will probably be way less than what you’ve offered. This is the definition of cutting off your nose to spite your face.
Just keep your eye on Rightmove for something else. Who knows, this one might be back on at a lower price in a few months when the courts are done anyway.

ilikeeggs · 23/04/2024 22:34

Don’t offer anymore, it sounds like he doesn’t actually want to sell the house and would make things difficult.

Norhymeorreason · 23/04/2024 23:05

Such a horrible situation for you. He clearly doesn't want to sell. My worry would be that you agree to the additional 10%, then he finds more impediments to make the sale impossible. You could end up losing a lot. It's really hard when you're emotionally invested in a house purchase, though - I feel for you.

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