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

Thanks all - Just to add I already took a very large amount off the price before the price was agreed so this is the second bit at the cherry

Like I took 75K off the price because of the lease

Buyer has agreed to complete in five days and is ready to sign if I take the 8K hit - Does that change anything - Is london zone 2 period flats with shortish lease really dead at the moment

Take the hit. A 70 year lease is not long and a lot of lenders may not consider a mortgage for this.

Are you the sole beneficiary? I would accept their offer as you will still receive nearly half a £million. If you decline, you will have to start again and the time left on the lease will become shorter and shorter, depending how long it takes to find another buyer.

You need a cash buyer, can’t imagine any mortgage company agreeing to that lease. I’d just take it.

Doesn't sound like you're in a position to be fussy. I'd take it. 8k is a small percentage of the price and, in a short lease flat, you're by no means guaranteed a better offer any time soon.

You haven’t taken £75k off you have passed the cost of extending to the buyer rather than paying it yourself.

EA told us (cash purchaser) buyer is known to them and this would be very quick sale

That sounds to me almost certainly like a business the EA is in cahoots with, and that there'll be something in it for them too

Obviously it stinks, but it happens all the time, though IME it's more usual to claim they don't know the buyer from Adam, and you can either accept it or not

Edited to add that, since this is the second reduction they've requested, they may well be back for another on the actual completion date too

In light of your update my advice still wouldn't change. Your buyer pool is tiny - effectively you need a cash buyer who has additional funds to refurbish and extend the lease, neither of which are cheap.

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush as they say...

In this market I'd bite their hand off, especially with a 70 year lease. Your bargaining chip is the exchange and completion dates.

"I am prepared to accept a further £8k reduction but expect to exchange no later than 5pm today, Monday, 8th June 2026, and completion to within the 48 hours follpwing exchange."

I'd offer this.
You're not "quids down" - you're inheriting a property worth a lot of money which you presumably didn't contribute towards.

We are in the process of selling MIL's property. It needs work and we haven't had a lot of interest but have now accepted an offer. It's below the sale price but we are grateful that someone wants it and that we will be in receipt of half the money, which we will be extremely grateful for

I worry that I am letting the flat go for less than what it is worth - Its only listed for a month and I feel its too early to be giving up this amount of cash - First 75K off sticker price nd now a further 8K on day of exchange

You'll probably lose more than that if you refuse. It would be like cutting your nose off to spite your face. I got gazundered by 20k a few years ago which was actually a huge chunk of my small profit on a buy to let but I said yes because the prices were dropping anyway.

I'd take it. It's not a good market now and you may wait years to sell again. Also you've got the stress of keeping it reasonable

But that's the deal. £8k and the sale goes through on the date set. No more negotiation.

Agree. That sounds to me like your best way to ensure the deal benefits you as far as possible.

Given it’s an inheritance so essentially “free money” to you, I would accept the reduction (while being really angry about it, it’s a shitty trick!). I’d insist on same day exchange and having completion asap.

My answer would be different if it was your home and you needed the money for deposit or working on your next house.

Like I took 75K off the price because of the lease

But that's probably reflective of what it could sell for. Did you look at what it would cost to extend the lease?

It is sharp practice to do this but the market is bad and not getting better. A neighbour tried to sell their house and got an offer 100k below which he refused months ago...he has now lowered to that price by 100k and it's now not selling and he now desperate. A bird in the hand!

Genuinely, why? I'm assuming you must have some awareness of the London flat market these days and the undesirability of short leaseholds.

Genuinely, why? I'm assuming you must have some awareness of the London flat market these days and the undesirability of short leaseholds.

Seethe inwardly by all means, but definitely accept it - these properties can take years to sell and there are plenty of horror stories out there. £8k is a tiny percentage of £500k. It will be a weight off your mind once it is done.

@LondonSeller - I live in zone 2. The market for flats is dead, full stop. You’ve done very well to get a buyer, given you’ve got a short lease. I know someone who is struggling to sell in zone 1 with an 80 year lease, they have also reduced their asking price significantly.
Re the £8k reduction, as PPs have said, I’d either suggest meeting halfway, or just accept the £8k to get the deal over the line.

When did you put it up for sale?
How much is it costing you to own it in the interim?
Presumably, you’re not relying on the money, if it’s an inheritance, so I would be tempted to tell them to stick it and put it back on the market. You can afford to wait.

Look at it in this way. You could have £494000 in your bank account gaining interest or you could risk the sale falling through and it taking another year to sell. That’s a hell of a lot of missed interest!

As they say, something's only worth what people will pay, and it's true that we've got a buyers' market at the moment

That said the place has only been on sale for a month - did you get any other interest or has the EA squashed that too in favour of a mate - which also happens all the time?

A lease extension on a £500k flat can cost upwards of £10-£15k, probably a lot more. It takes time. The Leasehold Reform Act is coming in next year I think which will limit costs.

I think your issue is that there’s a very limited market for a short lease flat. The traditional buyer of young couple will likely need a mortgage and they won’t get one with this lease length so then you are left with cash buyers who are most likely to be developers. They are ruthless as it’s just business transaction to them.

If you had the time and money to wait and rent it or live in it yourselves then I’d say tell them to get lost. The rental market in zone 2 will be very good but becoming a landlord is a heavy undertaking with its own problems. You’d also need to extend the lease yourselves still.

I would even offer them 10k less to take on this liability.