Buyer wants £8k off parents' London flat just before exchange

[LondonSeller]

Parents flat for sale as they passed away in london - Took 18 months to get probate sorted out but finally got it - Property listed with agents and it is in dated ocndition and needs work - Also has a 70 year lease. EA told us not an easy market

After five weeks advertising price agreed at 500K which was a bit lower then we had hope for but EA told us buyer is known to them and this would be very quick sale

Was meant to exchange on Friday and EA has come back and said buyer is ready to exchange, has sent deposit monies to his solicitors but wants a reduction of 8K. EA has said this is less than a 2% drop so not massive and believes we wont get better if we reject the offer

Buyer is cash purchaser investor so quite rare and I worry that if I dont accept property will be stuck for months for anothr cash buyer who might offer lower.

I live in Scotland and the flat is in London so I am miles away - Paid to have the place emptied and solicitor fees so am already down. By contrast buyer has not paid anything other than a few hundred for solicitor fees - No mortgage, no survey fees nothing

Whats the best angle here - Call buyers bluff and risk losing the sale or take the money and run. Feel quite cross as this money was going to be used for real stuff and to clear debts

Agent fees 10K
Legal fees 3K
20K in service charge arrears build up during parents ownership and for last 18 months whilst probate granted
1K removal van costs
100K to bank mortgage that remained

So thats another 134K to take off the price before I get the remainder

No council tax as I get 12 months empty discount due to probate so I am seriously thinking of relisting

I would take a deep breath, pause and ring Pedder estate agent in Dulwich Village for an opinion. Is there any way you could borrow to extend the lease, then the flat will be marketable to so many more buyers. I used to own a house a few miles away and DC live fairly nearby. Lots of my young colleagues would be tempted by this with a lease extension.

I know East Dulwich very well and although I don’t think the road is that great, I’d say £500k was fair enough although I don’t think I’d want the hassle of dealing with a lease extension. There are lots of flats for sale in SE22 on roads closer to Lordship Lane so I’d also not risk going back to market for the sake of £8k.

Your market is first time buyers and developers. There are too many nicer flats for first time buyers imo.

We sold our flat in London about 2 years ago. Before it went on the market the lease had gone down to about 75 years. We increased it to make it easier to sell, but when itt gets below 80 years it is very expensive because of the marriage value (or whatever it is!) It cost us 54k to increase it!!!!

Tbh id take the shortfall. With a lease that short you're not going to get many viewers let alone offers.

I will never go for another leasehold property unless it's 999 years or something. The sooner they're abolished the better.

They won't all. But it's going to be more likely with properties that have something about them making them less desirable such as flats, short leaseholds, probate and being probably unmortgageable. You're ticking a lot of boxes one doesn't wish to tick in June 2026.

So only you are responsible for its current running costs? Is it taking a chunk out of your monthly income?

Your flat is only worth buying for someone who is an investor. That is going to limit the pool of buyers.

They will be lucky to make much on it.

You're not being realistic at all.

If you get close to £500K, put it into a highish interest rate account, you could get 5% a year. That's £25K pa.

BTW have you factored in inheritance tax?
I assume it applies.

Yes, OP should be still paying council tax, insurance (usually more if it's unoccupied) and utilities.

In fact I don’t even think a first time buyer would deal with the lease extension. The mortgage could be more complicated than expected so your potential market is small.

It’ll cost you more than that to extend the lease in my experience so I’d take it, or barter them to £5k

You are crazy - Buyer will walk and find a property in auction or put his money in stocks - 8K is nothing in the grand schemes of things - If they exchange and complete in five days with no further reductions bite their hands off

You dont want this round your neck when you are 300 miles away in scotland

I work in an agents in london selling and it is dire with no buyers especially for short leases - Investors have all dissapeaed - Stamp duty will be 40K as a second home, lease extension will be 40K and they will have to put a ton of financing in place even if they are cash buyers

Take the money, in the scheme of it 8k is nothing. Whats the point in having an empty flat…AND its inheritance so it is free money. Seems like a non-problem

If you feel so strongly about it re-list. No one here can really tell you what to do as we’re not the ones selling it.

On Council Tax, you get a pause period after a death, probate and active marketing. Rightly so.

Lovely road, lovely flat. It is worth much less with a short lease rather than share of freehold. If you relist, get that corrected.

There are currently 85 properties listed on Rightmove in the immediate area at a similar price, many of which have a lower asking price than the one youve accepted and which are in nicer roads. You really are bonkers not to proceed with the sale at such a late stage.

This does happen quite often and I have seen quite a few buyers just walk away when offer rejected - They have so many options to buy and are in no rush so why would they buy your flat when they can pick something else

Personally I would also want to ask Winkworth to state an offer of 492 has been received, anyone that wants to make a higher offer before x date ….That would also expose they are not achieving anywhere near 600.

The short lease should be on the agents details

How much of a gamble would it be to go for more? Are you currently paying service charges and when does double council tax for empty properties kick in (if it does in that borough)? The short lease would put most buyers off - it's almost impossible to get a mortgage with a short lease - and the cost of updating properties has risen, whilst flat prices are falling in London.

Did you read the article yesterday by a company that analysed Land Registry data and concluded the the property price crash is worse for flats in London?
Link: Flat prices crash Daily Mail article

You might get more if you hold on or not, make a decision either way and move on without regrets. Personally I'd bite his hand off, he's a cash buyer for an possibly unmortgagable property, but I don't have a crystal ball and property prices might recover in the short term, it's a gamble either way.

Rent contrrols coming, wealth tax coming and maintenance of property is sky high with refubs costing far more than you might think - I would seriously take some time to think about turning down the offer

Also remmeber that the longer the property is advertsised for the more it goes stale - Next person comes along will see flat advertised for 3 months and must be a problem

We got six months after probate was completed. It is then doubled when they consider it a second home, even if no one lives in it and it’s been on the market since probate ended. Which I think is unfair.

If you want more money, you need FTBs, so extend the lease.

if you want this professional buyer, play the game. Negotiate in the 8k to show you’re not a pushover, but be prepared to take the hit to exchange FAST.

dont let your, very understandable, grief and anger, cloud your decision making. Lots of the deductions you mention (fees and service charge, removal van etc) are nothing to do with your buyer. Be grateful that you didn’t lose the full value of the inheritance to care home fees etc. as so many do.

Going against the grain. That’s a lovely flat in a great location and isn’t in dire need of renovation at all.

I think you could ditch this buyer and get more for it. Just depends how long you’d be willing to have it on the market.

If you resist you’re losing over £1000 a month in interest that could have been earned. And you still can’t sell to anyone other than an investor.