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

and tax free as well if he did not leave anything else - Still its life changing amounts this

Take the money definitely I’m trying to sell a much nicer flat than this sounds, at a loss, and no offers

Because that is completely irrelevant! This is her inheritance from her parents and she is being treated very immorally by the developer just before exchange of contracts.

It's a horrid thing to try on with you. Horrrible sneaky man. But I'd bite the bullet and offer him 1000 or poss 1500 anyway, so he feels he's got something good, and doesn't lose face and can show off to his friends. And less chance of you losing him as a Buyer. And then i'd be brave and not offer any more than that even if he keeps you waiting for an answer.

Accept it.
Tell the world what a shit he is
Hide kippers around the house

If the OP has signed a some agency agreement then she cant just go to another agent until the agreement has expired.

100% this….70 years left on the lease? I would snatch their hand off at £8k to be honest ….hope it all works out for you ….

It is quite nice to see a gazundering thread with largely pragmatic responses. Gazumping and gazundering are awful, immoral practices and nobody wants to enable them but the flat is not the only thing with value here. There is also a value on OP’s time and emotional energy. Selling a probate property can be a very tough process, especially when there are no siblings to share the load, and in my experience many people don’t feel able to begin fully grieving until the formal transactions and processes of settling the estate are complete. Given all of this, and the nature of the market, £8k might seem a worthwhile price to be able to move on.

The poster stichguru is clearly not well informed (being polite), as you suggest

You need 1.2 mill minimum for a 4 bed house in Dulwich

EA knows the buyer. That was your first red flag. Bet they haven’t even showed the flat to anyone else, hence why you won’t even know if someone would pay more.
They’ve sorted this out and planned it between them. I’d remove from this EA and re-list. Disgraceful tactics.
they know you’re miles away in Scotland. They know probate took ages.
unless you desperately need to sell, Dont do it. The lease is an issue but they’ve used it to make you think it’s more of an issue than it really is. They know they can buy an extension. They’re taking you for a ride. Please don’t let them get away with it. Makes me so angry.
what area of London?

I agree that she is being stitched up by the EA and the buyer but she still needs to decide whether to just accept it to get the flat sold so she can move on with her life.

Took me two years to sell in London. The market is not on your side and I would get out fast. Why on earth are you even considering not completing just for the sake of 8K. You sound greedy beyond belief.

Rubbish, it’s nothing to do with greed. A price was agreed and then the buyer is going back on the agreement just before exchange of contracts.

I know, I know the area well. I was hoping the poster would recognise the sarcasm.

Perhaps not.

and did yours have a short lease or need work to it? Just think how hard it will be to sell this flat with that sort of lease

Wow went out for the day and came back to this! I ve decided to get rid of it - I did know it was going to the freeholder who owns upstairs and they have a sale agreed for the whole house but its not certain and I cant hang around because if the house sale falls through then the offer to buy my flat will fall through

Have emailed solicitor to say 8K accepted but must sign monday by 5PM otherwise listing with other agent

The buyer probably will make 50K profit from this but I dont have the knowledge to extend the lease and deal with it all neither the funds and the mortgage has not been paid in over a year so waiting another year for a lease extension is going to kill me

My mind is made up

I disagree with this. Or at least am not so sure.

It is an EAs job to know developers and landlords. They know loads anyway because they sell the developed properties and handle the rentals. All EAs have these contacts and they use them to sell when a tricky property - as in the short lease - is fine for specific buyers.

And all or many developers / commercial
property owners (and private buyers) will pull this sort of stunt.

Good for you. Absolutely the correct decision. A bird in the hand and all that.

Forgive me if I’ve misunderstood but you said it’s all happened very quickly (5 weeks?) but the rightmove listing for this property says it was reduced in Feb?

This aside, the London property market is shit so if you want the cash asap, take the hit on the £8k.

@LondonSeller you did the right thing

If the seller is known to the estate agent it sounds a bit like something cooked up between them. The agent may have advised them that you'd crumble in this situation and my attitude would be to say no and start dealing with a different agent, but I have no idea what the market is like now. I would say though, that I bought my London flat on a 74 year lease and renewing it was no big deal and didn't cost that much at the time (in 2011).

The buyer probably will make 50K profit from this but I dont have the knowledge to extend the lease and deal with it all neither the funds and the mortgage has not been paid in over a year so waiting another year for a lease extension is going to kill me

That's business. If you had the money to extend the lease and renovate, you too would be looking to make a 50k profit.

Amuses me how some people view real estate.

Good decision OP, and the only one you could make, in the circumstances.

remember the buyer is going to have to pay second rate stamp duty which is 40K - And when he sells he has to pay agent fees - That 50k on profit is gone and he has not started to account for interest lost or his time