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

‘Estate Agent knows buyer,,,’ That would ring alarm bells to me. The EA is acting for you, not the buyer.

If it was a prime flat and you had had other offers then I’d push back but the biggest drawback of yours is the short lease. But if you feel that was priced into your selling price then I can see why you’re reluctant to roll over and also it’s shitty behaviour.

That 8K number was real clever of the buyer - If it had been 10K I woul dhave said no - If he asks for more off on monday its straight no and I will put in auction and take whatever it gets in the auction even if less

For the sake of 8k, I'd do it and take the money.

The place I own is probably a good example of why you would accept the reduction. Previous owner wanted 330k, was offered 315k and declined. Property sat for over 12 months until I came along. After negotiations, I bought for 282k. By not accepting the offer 12 months earlier, the seller lost out even more through 12 months of costs and a much lower sale price.

Normally I would say don’t let them blackmail you.

But - it is a buyers’ market with good houses sitting unsold for months, it is a flat and it has a short lease. It might be really difficult to find another buyer if this one withdraws. I would 100% take the money.

Good, absolutely the right thing to do. You can move on now.

can you imagine if they come back and ask for another 5K off - I really dont like this

£8k off on a £500k flat with a short lease is a small amount really. I would accept it.

We’ve been trying to sell our London flat @£455k first time round, found a buyer and then just before signing the contract they demanded £50k off. We negotiated to £25k off and even then they pulled out.

Took us another 4 months to get another offer @£410k and then 4 months down the line and we’re about to sign the contract and the buyers demanded we give them £20k (in the form of a retainer) to contribute to ‘future’ roof works. We reluctantly agreed as we were in a chain to buy a house and then the day after accepting this offer, these buyers also pulled out.

Buyers are very picky at the moment and looking for bargains. And sadly the English property selling laws allow buyers to withdraw at any point in the buying process before they sign and exchange contracts with no penalty to them at all. It’s infuriating!

It would be very expensive for Toxteth….

Wow is this in london ? In a high rise block or a normal house conversion?

Good choice. Let it go.

Look at it this way, if there was no profit in it for them they wouldn’t buy it and you’d have to find another buyer and pay all the utilities and insurance until you do and go through the whole conveyancing process again and then they might ask for a drop in price at the last minute too. At least now it is over and you can move on.

The £8k is the bung to the EA who knows the buyer and gave the buyer the nod in the first place about the sale. The buyer uses the £8k to say thank you to the EA, and find me another in six months time. That’s how the business works for regular buyers in a given area.

This!

I'm using Winkworth in a similar situation. I agree, I've often felt they are actually working against me. I found out by accident yesterday that they've given a local builder the key code to the house - I found out because he called me instead of them in error.

We are under offer, and I know the buyers want to remodel. But who the hell do they think they are, giving my number and the key code (he said he was phoning because he kept "forgetting" it) to a builder, without even asking me, when we've not even exchanged!

Omg how awful id not given it to him and raised a formal complaint to EA about negigence and security. Then changed the code. Digusting

Dirty trick probably instigated by your EA . I would tell them to do one !

Appalling, I agree

Im so sorry to hear this OP. Similar happened to us the english system is awful wish had scottish system. Re the lease i extended my london flat late 90s took over a year didnt matter as i lived there but you cant risk that as you will incur extra maintenance and bills it will outweigh it. The issue with london flats is that with so many people working hybrid there is no need to pay high house prices to live nearby & it takes so long to get on housing ladders the average couple wants a house due to age if they can get it. then you up agsinst all the landlord selling their flats due to new rules.
historically when london prices fall the rest of the country will follow so it may indicate a housing slump coming soon. But i think the main issues with london is as mentioned above. Imo london isnt as nice to live as it has been a decade ago.

Check who the buyer is and how they're related to the estate agent. Heard of this too many times the EA getting a bung back for low price and then a further amount if they reduce it more.

It's disgusting.

Can you afford to increase the lease length? Is it worth pulling out and funding another buyer?

called chasing the market down and tieing up money - The lease extension takes a year to do - So what do you do for the year? Become a landlord and have to evict a tennat if they dont leave??

Forget it

Take it!

I'd find it hard to stomach as well, but I'd accept it and move on with your life up in Scotland.

It's all just too hard and stressful otherwise, given your situation, location and the market.

The buying and selling process in England really needs to change. A buyer would not be able to get away with this where I am in Australia - you put a 10% non refundable deposit down when you have your offer accepted, and the rest on exchange. The contracts is binding and if you drop out, you lose your deposit. There is no dicking around with the price, after it is agreed and in the contract.

It is fraudulent and illegal.
The Property Ombudsman would act
But would need to be proveable

And back in the real world …….