Buyers doesn't understand that they can't just demand everything they want

[WanderingThree]

As the title says.

My property is older and not perfect and priced accordingly. Sizable discount 5% was still given during initial negotiations. All OK.

They had survey done which they say showed problems as of course it would in an old house. Main ones were the electrics don't meet current regs (not ancient/ ugly/unsafe); roof requires further investigation (no leak, granted looks old)

Buyers have immediately asked for a further reduction of £25k to cover cost of a new roof and a full rewire!

EA is being no help at all and suggesting I may have to agree if I want the sale to go ahead. No, just no.

How do I deal with this? Is the original discount just forgotten and they can expect more? The electrics may need an upgrade and roof may not be perfect but surely there demands are totally unreasonable. Arent they? Losing the plot & need your guidance
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If you think you can get another buyer just put it back on the market.
We are dealing with a difficult buyer ATM but our house is difficult to sell so we're sticking with her. If I thought we'd get someone else quickly I would drop her like a hot brick.

I'd like to do that, but like you dont think I'd get someone else quickly

Get your own quotes for any necessary work or you won’t know if the offer is fair. Did you have valuations from 3 agents? If not, take it off the market and start again.
No-one here will know if they are being unreasonable, but if you find a house you can make a low offer on you might not use as much as you think.

What % does £25K represent ? Seems cheap for a new roof + rewiring.
OP you have 3 options:

1. Accept it
2. Reject it
3. Meet in the middle

Of corse no can make you ( or then do anything)

Well they can.... you can also refuse.

I suspect many many houses electrics are not up to 'current standards'. Standards evolve and we don't all of a sudden race out and apply the latest regulations.

To me the roof is a visible part of the property and as such it's condition would / should have been taken into account when the property was valued.

Estate Agents want a sale (any sale) to get their commission...

I would say that electrics might be a reasonable one depending how it was worded. However £25k sounds very unreasonable. Our house had an old fuse box so we’ve got a quote from electrician for its replacement (around £500 in 2018) but it wasn’t for full re wiring. We did re wire later but it was our choice.
I would say if roof is not leaking it’s not urgent so the answer would be no.

They’re buying an old house, not a new build with a pristine roof and fuse box.

But - I’d take a step back. If you don’t think it would be easy to remarket your house for the same price then I would swallow your pride and meet them in the middle. Get the deal done.

I think I’d just stick to your guns. That kind of stuff is par for the course in older houses. It would probably depend a bit on whether you are right that it will be hard to find another buyer though and whether you are in a rush to sell. But I feel like a seller like that doesn’t really understand buying an older house and could well be asking for more reductions further down the line.:.

How do I deal with this?
Just tell them no. Unless you think you might lose them and you don't want to remarked. You just need to decide what level of risk you are content with.

Just tell them no. “The house is in good condition for its age, there is no immediate work which needs to be done, and it is priced appropriately.”

Or meet them halfway if you can afford it but can’t afford to lose them.

They need to prove that the survey said your property was not worth the sale price. Ask to see the evidence - they are not allowed to share the whole report but could share paragraphs and overall valuation. Ask the estate agent to get involved or yiu will remarket.

kiwiane does the survey give an overall valuation? State if its worth the price? This survey is one buyers commissioned by the buyers as I understand it, not for mortgage purposes.

I think this attitude is at least in part due property being very expensive compared to average incomes, coupled with the growing realisation that we wont be returning to low interest rates.
In other words there is a very large amount of money at stake!!

They don't need to prove anything. They've had some recommendations for works, they want that reflected in the price. Nothing wrong with them asking and nothing wrong with the vendor refusing. It's just part of the negotiations and up to OP to agree a further discount or not. It only needs to be based on what OP wants to do.

Is it not this normal to counter off at this point? Or alternatively you can say not and risk they will walk away.

Just tell them this was reflected in the asking price.

Surveys on old properties always show up a number of things. Often they are things that would ideally be done but not things that have to be!

It's the nature of buying an old property!

Just tell them no. They are dicking around and they will not stop now, just say the price is the price, and be ready to start again. Next time avoid inexperienced buyers.

If the survey hasn't turned up an actual fault that needs fixing then I'd say no, this was reflected in the asking price already and we also negotiated a further discount on the property.

Surveys turn up all sorts of stuff on a house - ours said the stairs "might" not be in good condition - only, I think, because they're carpeted so the surveyer couldn't get a good look and properly tell either way. I've lived here for ten years and no problems at all. They just have to cover their backs.

You might risk them walking away, so it's a risk you need to weigh up, but you certainly don't need to take another 25k off the price for work that doesn't necessarily even need doing.

What % is 25k of the overall price?

If the quotes are for re-roofing and rewiring, and are reasonable, I think they are fair enough to ask for the discount.

Last year we had our roof replaced + pitching over one dorma. Four bed detached. Total cost £9K if that helps, OP.

Surveyors are not electricians or roofers. Any electrics are likely not to meet current part P regulations unless it is a brand new house, but even one of those may not meet the regs they change so often.

Every survey, for older houses, normally say roof has not lining and will need replacing at some point, or similar words. It is standard surveyor backside covering.

It is very unlikely a new roof is needed at all - I doubt there is actually anything wrong with it.

I would suggest to the buyers they can pay for an electrical inspection, normally costs about £100 - it will say whether any part of the electrics are unsafe. It could be you require and new consumer unit, but the inspection will provide an electrical safety certificate which should show a rewire is not needed.

As to the roof, if there are no leaks etc, which you are happy they are not, I would say if you wish to pay for a new roof, that is your choice, exactly the same as if they want a new kitchen.

I feel maybe you will need to push them to accept the situation as is, but expect them to pull out. Buyers like this will always get spooked by surveys and I think they should only buy new builds!

It is normal for them to negotiate, and normal for you to respond with your own position.

It's silly to get into discussions about 'but the house was priced accordingly!'.

You may think it was obvious what work was or wasn't needed - but that's irrelevant. A house is worth what someone will pay for it.

If you feel confident you'll find another buyer, then you just need to decide what your sticking point is. If you won't go below a certain figure, just say so. No need to explain. 'X is all I can accept,' on repeat, is fine. If you don't think you'll easily find another buyer, or if you are in a hurry, then you may have to compromise.

All the people suggesting the OP should agree to the extra discount: is that because you think if a surveyor says "oooh, dunno about that" work automatically needs doing, or are you suggesting she just gives away £25,000 for the sake of an easy life?

We sold our old house last year - the buyers surveyor was lovely and chatted to me about how they do their reports - red if it’s urgent, amber if it’s moderate but no risk. The consensus seems to be red things should be rectified by the seller or an allowance/reduction but anything below that isn’t really on the seller to fix (although the buyer can ask!). Ours actually came back with a couple of red and loads of amber. It was a 120 year old Victorian house so of course it wasn’t perfect, we remedied the urgent things ourselves and told them to take a view on the rest.
id get quotes from electricians and roofers so you can see if their figure is reasonable. FWIW on our first home we dropped the price for what would have been amber matters (visible from the outside) and drive past it everyday and they still haven’t done the work, so it wasn’t that important to them but as first time sellers we agreed to the price reduction and I’ve regretted it everyday since 😂