Accept a loss?

[Housesellinghell]

Our London flat was on the market on and off for about 8 months until we found a buyer. Spent many months in conveyancing and were close to exchange when the buyer claimed they were unaware of an important detail and wanted to lower their offer. We’re furious as we are sure they were aware, the estate agent has assured us it was mentioned and on the viewing file and we answered their solicitor’s enquiries about it months ago. Their lower offer would mean we sell at a loss. We are still in a position to upsize so think we will take it and be done, but are we being stupid? We know the London flat market is awful anyway and it took so long to find a buyer we just can’t bear to do it all again.

It depends on how big a drop it is - So numbers and percentages really matter

Is it 1k off 500K

Or 50k off 200K

This really sucks but the market for flats is really shit right now.. Can you perhaps negotiate hard on your onward purchase?

Reluctant to say how much but it’s a lot. We bought at the top of the market unfortunately. We’d still walk away with about £100k due to mortgage equity etc.

I really feel for you and think it’s very bad of your buyers to get to this point and ask for money off. But if it’s an amount that you can manage, if it was me, I would be inclined to accept the lower price if they won’t reach a compromise, rather than have to try to sell again.

Can’t really answer then

Is the flat leasehold or freehold? Describe it please.

We’re resigned that we will likely have to accept a loss on our current place when we sell but obviously I can’t advise you whether it’s right for your situation to take a loss. I think the main thing is whether 100k plus your income will be enough to buy the sort of place you want, still?

How come you sell it at a loss, but you still make £100k?

It’s leasehold. It’s nice but has drawbacks and I think flat buyers are far pickier these days. Hence 8 months finding a buyer.

@NoCommentingFromNowOn a loss because what we paid out on the initial deposit, stamp duty, some renovations and maintenance works is more than 100k over the years. We probably would have been better off renting and putting our deposit into some kind of savings account.

Leasehold - I would eat the loss and move on with life.

8 months finding a buyer? A leasehold flat? Plus you were your own landlords for the time you had the property. How much would it cost you to maybe start the sale process again? Bite their hands off.

I'd take it and move on as quickly as possible. The market is only going to get worse with the uncertainty in the short term.

It’s a long lease and no ground rent but I know what you mean. I accept the market is has changed from when I bought but I’m just so thrown by the buyer’s behaviour and timing I’m not sure if I’m thinking clearly! I need to take the emotion out of it.

The percentage matters a lot here and disclosing the numbers is the only way to advise. Chipping away a few percentage at exchange is not nice but quite expected whereas taking off 10% is a piss take

Can you tell us the approx % of the price they propose to discount by?

I’d certainly be unhappy to accept the lower price. Was the detail the kind of thing that would usually cause a big difference in price but easily knowable eg length of lease or ground rent or whether white goods and fittings are included in the sale?

Or was it something that would usually cause a big difference in price but was less “knowable” and not in the sale particulars eg roof needing major repair, shared garden access instead of sole use.

That would sway my decision. If it just their inability to read properly I think I’d be so annoyed I couldn’t let them buy the flat.

I do know someone who proceeded in this situation and was then very ungenerous at the handover - they made no attempt to clean or vacuum and they took ALL the fittings that weren’t explicitly itemised such as bathroom cabinets, bathroom mirror, the loo roll holders on the walls, curtain pole, blinds, the three water butts outside, the nice inserts and racking in the big kitchen drawers and in the walk in wardrobe. The sale just said “washing machine included” and didn’t specify brand so they replaced the machine with a cheap one of same brand and took their fancy one with them. Nothing in breach of contract but it was enough to be quite irritating I expect!

Fiddling about with loo holders and washing machines is operating at the margins - It makes no difference to knocking off 10 or 20 K

You can give an idea using a percentage. It's not like anyone really cares who you are.

The whole system needs an overhaul.
No-one should be allowed to threaten to massively drop the price on a property last minute. there is a special place in hell for those that do.

All that said, I don't understand how you are both "accepting a loss" and "making £100K" at the same time on the same property.

They put in 250k deposit for example and are taking out 100k. Simple

This happens all the time noawadays. When market was strong sellers increased their price and accepted a higher offer without blinking. Now buyers are doing it. Totally normal

Buy flat for 500k, sell it 8 years later for 450k. You could have built up 100k of equity in that time but it’s still a net loss.

I would just get it sold however you can, you need to get on with your lives.

Can you counter with a figure that’s a deduction but a smaller one? They may be expecting that.

You probably do need to take the emotion out of it, but at the same time I know I wouldn't be able to.

We had this happen to us twice in a row. The first time they lowered their offer and we accepted, and then at the 11th hour suddenly demanded another £10k drop to pay for a fence to fill a little gap in the hedge! We were so angry we said we were pulling out, at which point the buyer came back begging us not to, and saying his solicitor had told him to try to force us to drop the price as this is 'standard practice' at the last minute.

It happened again on the next house. This time we had sealed bids (it was when the market was high) and chose the second highest offer because the woman wrote us a letter saying how much she loved the house and that she wanted to start a family there. Fast forward to post-survey and she sent a damp specialist over. We overheard him on his mobile saying, no, I'm sorry, there really isn't any damp. No I can't say that because it would be fraud.' In the end she got us on some artex ceilings, claiming they would cost £25k to skim safely as they might contain asbestos. She knew she had us over a barrel and her letter at the beginning was just lies. She has never even lived there. She rents it out and lives somewhere much grander*.

Long story short, I think it's a 'thing' now that people see as a perfectly acceptable way to behave. It's rage-making. But sometimes it's in your interests to let it go.

*AND THIS AWFUL WOMAN WORKS FOR A CHARITY!

Its called neogtiation and happens and is legal - forget morals - leave them at the doorstep

It’s a leasehold flat and it’s in London, so pretty much everything that’s not selling at the moment. Galling though it is, I’d take it and insist on no further reductions. It will be worth it to be able to move on.