Selling house and buyer wants larger deduction than what repair costs will be

[Dingdong99]

We have a buyer that is paying over asking price for our house. The survey spotted that some minor repairs are needed to the roof (2 x slipped tiles, clear gutters, remove moss from roof)

The buyer had a quote for £2200 plus VAT, and I got a quote for £1800 (no VAT as he's not VAT registered)

I've offered £2,000 reduction on the price, but they are saying it has to be a reduction of £4,000. Since they know i'm in a hurry as we're in a chain with our purchase, they have us over a barrel. I'd rather not drop the price anymore as i'm really stretched already

They would prefer to organise the work themselves so they can oversee it, but I could offer that I will organise (and pay for) the work myself, but this could slow things down, and we want to exchange on Tuesday as we're due to move 2 weeks today

What is fair in this situation?

Tell them to shove it and ask agent to relist today.

Just to add so you have the full picture, we had 7 offers on our house @ £1.5m, and their offer was £1.575 so 75k over asking. Which is great but i'm not sure why that means we have to deduct so much for the roof when it will cost half as much as what theyre asking for off the price

Perhaps i'm being petty?

And say at that price you can't complete anyway

Sorry ignore my last post 4k can't make much difference at these prices!

I'm with @Tontostitis, I'd suck it up and agree to the 4k reduction

I'm normally for standing firm, but £4k on a £1.575m purchase to keep things going when they are already paying £75k over? Are you serious?

Chalk up to experience etc, move on. Drop in the ocean.

I would also take the 4 k deduction. It’s crazy to risk the sale and all the inconveniences when you are over asking and have such a time crunch.

obviously not a real post. Paid £75k iver the asking but you cant afford to drop £4k? unless you are a muppet you would just drop the £4k

Drop the 4k

It's four grand they may waste annual leave sorting it. If they had said 10000+ then they may be pushing it.

Allowing for unexpected extra cost is reasonable.

God I thought you were going to be selling around three £250k mark, when for us £4000 really did make a difference in what we'd be able to do when we moved in.

At £75k over a £1.5mil asking price it's literally pennys. Surely it's better just to suck it up and get your sale over the line.

OK, i've backed down and given them the 4k reduction. Thank you all for being a sounding board

Meet in the middle and offer £3k

So they’ve paid £75k over asking and you’re arguing over £2k?

Stop being so greedy and just give the discount.

You’ve got to be kidding. £4k is neither here nor there. You’re close to the finish line so take it and move on.

You’d be crazy to derail this so close to exchange for £4k reduction in sale price when they are paying £75k more than asking and more than any other offer you had. You will not lose a full £4k as your agent fees will a bit less. I’d agree to the drop before they have time to think too hard and either ask for more or walk away

I know you’ve agreed to the £4K now but your maths is off. £2200 + VAT is £2,640. You found someone who is not VAT registered for cheaper but that doesn’t mean they need to use that person. I’d consider £1,360 (not £2K) appropriate for the inconvenience of paying over £1.5m for a house that still needed some work doing.

Slightly off topic but in what area (roughly) are you selling? I thought the days of offers over were long gone or did you price low to attract interest? Currently selling myself, hence my interest.