Hilton`s

We accepted an offer on our house a couple of weeks ago, we had already
dropped the asking price by £3000 and after a lot of negotiation finally agreed
to another £6000 below the asking price. Anyway the house was surveyed
and just our sh*t luck the surveyor was being audited and so seemed to go
over everything a million times! Needless to say when the vendors got the
report back the surveyor had pulled the house to pieces. Since then we have
had an electrician, a gas engineer and a building company round to check all
the problems. We have managed to get out of these companies a rough
guestimate of how much all the work is going to cost and have been told it
could be around £4000. We have been told from our estate agent that the
vendors bank are holding back a £2000 retention on the mortgate. For all I
know the vendors may well pull out but if not, what would you do? Would you
drop another £4000 or would you offer to drop £2000 or would you not drop
at all, they are getting the house at a good price as the one 2 doors along
has just gone on the market for £10,000 more than ours was initially on for
and is the same as ours.
I have to say I don`t want to lose these buyers but they have p*ssed me off
it feels like they have sent everybody round except the butcher, baker and
candle stick maker! and want a brand new house in a 1930`s build.

So come on help me out, what would you do????

Tracey x

Bert'n'Stella

Is it possible they could find a similar house in same condition/location for this price? If not then I'd probably say to them they are still getting a bargain! As is.... no?

Hilton`s

I do think they are getting a bargain but I forgot to mention that we have
to validate our visa`s by the end of January 06 and so if we don`t sell then
we will have to validate anyway, but it still niggles me to think that we are
being had!
Don`t know whether to try to call their bluff as they are obviously serious
or they wouldn`t have paid out for all of these companies to come round,
the estate agent says they are just nervous as they are first time buyers.

Tracey x

TrickyTrev

Difficult one this Tracey! You could call their bluff but may lose your buyer - mind you if they are first time buyers they may not be so street wise as to try to bluff you - if you know what I mean!!! They must know themselves they are getting a bargain?? You also need to consider that it will cost you $X to validate your visas if you don't sell now. How long till your next buyer comes along??? September now remember. Don't mean to be all doom and gloom!! Good luck whichever decision you come to. Love Trev xx

Welshie

Mmm that's a tricky one!! My house just on the market, but if it were me I'd most probably drop because I have to get out to Oz early Jan!

Yeh, they are having a bargain and there again they have forked out all that extra money..mmmmmm I would hate to have to make the decision.

Sorry of no help whatsoever!!!!!

Good luck...lemme know what you do

Rachel

timk

I think I would take the drop if you can afford it, the housing market is not that great at the moment and it may take a long time to find another buyer and then it could happen again.

I have found selling the house has given me the most worries as we could not afford to go without the sale. We complete next week and therefore I have a new worry, still do not have a visa.

Where are you heading to, I'm just down the road from you in Upminster.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

Cheers
Tim

chatty34

Its a hard one. I am sure your instincts are to say take it or leave it and that you already have a bargain.
It really depends on how desperate you are, we took an offer of 10k below asking price cause we had been on for a year and totally fed up.
What do the agents think you should do, the problem may be that they needed every penny of the mortgage to buy your house and may not be able to now that the mortgage providers are cutting the offer by 2k. I would certainly not offer to drop the full 4k as I would always expect to have to spend some money on a house over 50yrs old, but may feel compelled to drop the 2k.
What did the surveyors value the property at, did they under value it by 4k

Steve G

I think it depends on how much you are selling the house for.

If you are selling for £100,000, then £10,000 is a large drop - if you're selling for £300,000+ it's not quite as painful!!

Either way I would be inclined to try to compromise just to get it sorted!!

Mrs M

No way would i drop the price i would tell the purchaser the 6 grand would allow for the works. If they want it that much and it is market value or below they will swallow and buy the house whatever.
However the old adage anything is only worth what others are prepared to pay
i would go with my gut feeling but dont torture yourself with all the scenarios it will sell its all fate in the end.

spottydog

What have the buyers requested, they may have been expecting this which is why they offered lower in the first place? Also what is the mortgage valuation is that OK since a retention is only kept by the mortgage company until the required work is completed.

I would certainly not offer anything but if they request a further £4000 off the price then I would probably try to compromise at around £2000 each with a proviso of say exchange within 4 weeks.

woodyinoz

Beware Whatever you do at this stage could cost you a lot when it comes to terms of $$$$

I thought that dropping a few £ would make life easier but now we are this end I realise that in haste those £ are costing us nice new cars!!

Obviously a validation trip needs to be taken into consideration if it doesn't sell but then again a validation trip can be a life saver. Knowing where you wish to head for can make the whole game much easier.

Comer

They have saved £6k already so I'd say that they either take it as it is or pull out.

Then you should get the work done for £4k asap whilst it is back on the market at the original asking price. Then if any offers come in you should only come down £2k at most and then you will have only lost the £6k that you were prepared to lose in the first place.

Good luck

Hilton`s

Hi Tim,

We are going to Brisbane. It seems like everyone is leaving Hornchurch/Upminster, everyone I speak to knows someone and there are
about 5 people round at my local school who have applied!

Tracey

sid_s

I wouldn't offer to do anything until you hear from the buyers. As far as I understand they haven't yet come back and said what they want. If they ask you to drop 2000 I personally would do it. If they ask you to drop 4000 I would probably counter-offer 2000, but would probably drop 4000 if I had to. It all comes down to how much you want to sell it and what you think the market will do.

It's impossible to say they are getting a bargain because it's possible that in a year's time they could own a place that's worth a lot less than they paid for it. I wouldn't worry about what your neighbours are doing. People can ask as high a price as they want but if you didn't get a buyer at that price it's pretty certain they won't either.

Melchels

One question, what are you paying your estate agents for? They are supposed to be professional negotiators and should be advising you accordingly! Ask their opinion on the market and if the drop is something you should do!

If the house along the way from you is with a different agent, they may be one of these, flatter with a high price but lock you into a contract for 12 weeks agents and the price will be dropped within a few weeks!

Good luck, hope all works out OK!