wwyd? Survey says we are overpaying a little for house - so we renegotiate? isn't that just gazundering?

[oranges]

Not sure what to do really - we sold our place fast to buyers who were straight forward so I don't have a desire to screw our vendors around BUT, the survey says the property is probably worth about 20 grand less than what we are paying (which is already a discount on asking price). and there are little bits of work that need doing - fixing a garden wall etc. Do we renogiate, or stick to original deal and maybe ask for a discount for the repairs?

by the by - we renegotiated on our current home (offer was subject to survey anyway). Even though the vendors agreed (after a lot of swearing at the ea) they took EVERYTHING!! picture hooks, blinds, curtain rails etc
we just thought it was funny and petty though didnt rile us the way they'd hoped

The mortgage company are priamrily concerned with their risk so if you have a decent deposit and it still falls within the loan to value ratio of the mrotgage deal on a lower valuation then that is really all they need to know. Surveyors tend to cover their own backsides and valuation is fairly subjective anyway. What % is 20k - is it 20% or more or less than 5% ? You could go for a more detailed report than homebuyers and get another set of "problems" and different valuation. A property is worth what a purchaser will pay.

20k is about 5% less. Put like that it doesn't seem too much. I could just ask them to discount for repairs to wall and boiler (which is marked urgent) mentioned in survey.
Lol at taking everything.I have a feeling these people will too, as they are already miffed that they had to reduce their asking price long before we came along.

That sounds more reasonable . What is the boiler issue ? Can you ask them to have it serviced ?

yeah well they had rubbish taste in furnishings anyway so it just saved us a trip to the charity shop LOL

If I wanted the house I wouldnt renegotiate for 5%
Maybe get a quote for the work done and get a discount for that depending on how much it is

they said the ventilation for the boiler was inadequate. not sure what that entails, but the survey was adamant that had to be fixed. the garden wall was the other main thing - the rest is cosmetic really.

Ventilation may simply mean the boiler is in a cupboard, also used for storage or that the flue is too close to an opening window. Regulations change all the time so it may well have met the regulations at the time it was installed but not latest ones iyswim. Doesn't necessarily mean it is actually dangerous though. It may be as simple as not hanging coats adjacent or fitting a cage to prevent anything coming into direct contact. A gas safety check - less than £100 - should identify the issue fi surveyor isn't specific or the vendors may already have it noted (if they have it serviced annually by BG for example).

thank you. this has all really helped clear things in my mind. feel able to make all the calls tomorrow!

good luck with it !

Do the vendors know that you have a large deposit? If not, I would be tempted to say that you have to reduce offer because bank will not advance you any more on basis of surveyor's valuation. Unless you really love the house - and, although I have only skim-read the thread, don't remember seeing words "dream house" - then it is pointless paying too much for it just because you feel a bit squeamish about negotiating. £20,000 will pay your stamp duty and buy a new kitchen...

I also think there is a difference between renegotiating a price after offer because of a survey or long conveyance and getting vendors over a barrel the day before exchange. You are acting completely honourably in this case.

It is not unusual for a servey to downvalue a house and in this case the norm would be to go back to the vendors and ask them to drop the price by that amount. Honestly this isn't gazundering, it's standard practice. In most cases the sale will fall through if the vendors don't agree as the mortgage company won't pay up.

It's not a dream house - my dream house would cost a fortune and I dont want to have an unmageable mortgage. but it's a good house, lots of space, good area and most other places round there are either much more expensive or really rundown.
The vendors do know about the deposit - it was part of our negotiating tool in getting their asking price down, that we would have no problems getting a mortgage.

Oh well, I'd still play hardball and tell them that the surveyor doesn't think it's worth what they are asking and you are revising your offer on that basis. £20,000 is a huge amount of money to pay because you feel a bit sheepish about haggling. Good luck.

god now i'm fuming. called ea just to ask that the repairs mentioned be made etc and vendor just started being really difficult about it all - saying they needed all the money they had to move, and so couldn't afford to repair a leaking boiler etc. Not sure just what they would do if we dropped out - there are hardly buyers lining up outside.

And I hadn;t even asked to renegotiate the price. Wish I had now. Almost told them to go jump.

i would call EA and explain that the house has been valued below asking price and you too need all the money to facilitate your move as well - otherwise you will be paying over the odds for the house AND paying for work to be done to bring it up to the value of the amount you paid.

I know its hard when you are involved but you need to see this as a business deal

good luck x

Call them now and just tell them that you will not be paying asking price. It is not your dream house and, if they do not like that, you can walk away. If you have only just had your survey done then the conveyance can not be very far down the line. Do it now.

bloody hell oranges!

while you were on MN having an attack of the guilts, they were obviously deciding they were not going to budge, the hard-face fuckers

like lala said, unless this is your dream house, something else will turn up and you may find that in the time this has taken, prices have dropped a little more (widening your market) or vendors have got a bit more desperate. It is a buyers market after all.

are your buyers still keen, how far along is your sale ?

Oranges - I would call the estate agenents and say "well you know as well as we do that if anyone else puts in an offer that they will find the same result from their survey and no-one in their right mind will pay more than its worth. If the vendors need more money than their current house is worth to move then maybe they've set their sights too high and should be looking for cheaper houses in line with what they can afford - if their eyes are bigger than their bank a/cs its really not my problem, I'm not running a charity here"

If you say it in a way that implies you think the EA has more common sense than the vendors it'll appeal to their egos and get them a little on your side and they might then give the vendors a dose of reality

god, after my rather pathetic version of hardball, they agreed to do the repairs, if we didn't change our offer.

The ea said vendors still fuming that they had to drop the price from its much higher earlier valuation but I did say that's not my problem and a little courtesy would help greatly. think things are back on track now. thank you!

We've sold our place - squeezed in with relatives with stuff in storage waiting to move. so we could wait a bit longer, but would also quite like to get moving.

god some vendors live in cuckoo land dont they. I've come across more than one who did not want to sell to anyone who intended to redecorate???
Once couple had switched from combi boiler to a very bulky boiler and when we enquired about switching back they said that we obviously werent the right kind of people???
Also, I've found that elderly vendors dont understand offers and negotiation and think that its an insult if anyone offers less than what the estate agent told them its worth (cause the estate agents dont point out to them that most properties in our area sell for about 10% less than asking price)

just seen your latest post - great news oranges - well done!
Just make sure you get someone independent to check the repairs before completion
x

our vendors are going through a divorce, which may explain their bad temper. They still think I'm ripping them off, even though house next door just sold for 40k less than I offered, muggins that I am. feel like I'll need to do an exorcism if I do move in, to get rid of the bad vibes.

their divorce is not your problem

this thread has just reminded me of my vow, 10 yrs ago, to never ever move house again

my mental health could not cope with it

dont worry about the vibes
the people we bought off HATED us. They were in serious financial trouble so reluctantly took our offer and our new offer when we renegotiated based on the survey, but MAN did they resent it

I think they were in negative equity cause they had remortgaged at an amt that took into a/c predicted rise in property prices based on the trends at the time - that of course never happened and the place never actually reached the value of which it was mortgaged for.

Anyway once we moved in the flat was filled with OUR vibes and we're very very happy

oranges - funny you should say that. Our EA actually suggested (only half-jokingly) that we get an exorcism done on the place we bought. The vendors were weird in the extreme, totally resentful of us even though we were completely straight with them, the flat was pretty much unliveable and everything had been soooo bodged it was actually funny (almost). Now, five months later, the renovations are almost completely finished and it finally feels like OUR home (and we thought it might never feel like home - we bought it cos we wanted a family and it's huge - nearly twice the size of anything else we could afford in the area). You'll put your own stamp on it and it'll be lovely.

I also know we paid 10K-20K over the odds for ours, BUT it is a home (not an investment) that we plan to live in for at least five or six years, so it's probably best to think of it like that.

Good luck.