[dharder]

and it could all have been soooo easy... (sorry, rant to follow...)

We decided to leave the UK last December, and I think in January we told our upstairs neighbour (we live downstairs in a converted terraced house). She immediately said she wants the flat, and came back a bit later saying she was going to buy it with her sister.

So far, so good. Her finance person said to get three quotes from estate agents and then take the average. We did that, though we agreed on a price slighly below the average, fine with me. We had the survey, that was find, finance in order, lawyers sorted, we thought we were well on the way.

Completion date was supposed to be the 11th (also day of our move). On Saturday, she came to look at the flat for the first time, and brought her brother in law, who's some kind of building guy.

To cut a long story short, tonight she comes by to say the BIL is only willing to pay £8000 less than the price we agreed on.

I am so annoyed. She had since January! And starts to haggle a week before we move. AAARRRGHHH.

I'm not really prepared to go down at all with the price, this is the neighbour-selling-without-estate-agent-price already.

I told her to ask her BIL what he is prepared to pay, but wow, 8 grand less than what we agreed on is almost insulting.

Sorry about the vent.

I'm sure it'll all be worth it in the end...

Daniela

[wiki]

And I guess that doesn't take into account the fact the London house market has probably risen by at least 14% in six months? Really you should be asking them for £8k more.

A £150k flat in London in January would be worth at least £163k now. If I was you, I'd tell them to get stuffed. Then if they come back and offer the agreed price, tell them you've contacted the three estate agents again and the price is now xxx on the open market - then see who's prepared to deal!

[dharder]

If I was you, I'd tell them to get stuffed. Then if they come back and offer the agreed price, tell them you've contacted the three estate agents again and the price is now xxx on the open market - then see who's prepared to deal!

Thanks for this, wiki! I don't even think it's her, I think it's her BIL who thinks he has a shot because he can make the right builders noises ('oooohhhh, that'll all have to go, and this too' *make air sucking sound through teeth*), and we are two clueless women. Ah well.

But no, I really don't want to go down with the price, and I will tell her again. Once we're all out of the flat, it shouldn't be too hard to sell it, empty and chainless.

Daniela

[willsken]

Daniela stick to your guns, people like these make me sick. They thing because it's already going through you won't want to pull out. They think you'll roll over for them and I admire you for telling them to get lost!:mad:

[Nick88]

After buying property here in NZ I find the UK system to be very illogical. Over here when you agree the price that is it, you sign a contract and exchange then and there. You pay a 10% deposit, and unless the bank won't lend on it or the survey is bad you are both committed to the transaction. There can be no gazumping or gazundering, and if they try you can sue. You don't take possession until the agreed date, and the chain cannot break on the day causing a dozen house purchases to fall through.

I don't know why people don't do it this way in the UK.

[sizzlingbadger]

How frustrating, I'm not surprised you're unhappy :no

I would go with Wikis suggestions. We had a builders report done here and the builder sussed straight away our potential buyers weren't diyers, so plucked $4000 out of the sky to get 'work' done, thing was the house was perfect, no building work needed doing (OH's dad had been through and he's a builder) :mad:

Outcome was that we ended up having to drop $4k or they would have walked away, luckily our realator knocked a $1k off his fees, so wasn't so hard to swallow.

Only other suggestion is if you're prepared to meet them half way, get it sold and get out of here, if you put it on the open market it could take quite a while to sell.

Good luck and hang in there :nice1

[Belmont Babes]

Feel for you Daniela. £8000 is alot of NZD. We dropped our house by £10K and had already dropped by £5k (to make you feel better incase you have no option in the end)but I would still call their bluff and tell them to stick it up their wot nots. Can you pretend you have someone else interested, maybe a friend of a friend to pop around and do a bit of acting.?I would if we lived closer.

[red]

I have to say that I agree with Wiki. Seems to me they know you are leaving the country and think they have you over a barrel. I hate this sort of thing, personnally I would call their bluff. Get other valuations done, once they see you are planning on marketing and selling to someone else they will soon have a re think. Remember you are also in a strong position, no chain and they want your home because its next to theirs.

I feel for you though, it's stressful enough without people playing silly games. Hang in there, it will work out.:yes

[james the mechanic]

Wiki you must of graduated the same school of negotiation as me.:laugh
Personally I would get an agent round quick,(don’t tell them about the neighbors offer) get them to put a board up by lunchtime and get some friends of friends to come round for ‘viewings’ accompanied by a bloke in a suit (the agent). It would be nice of course if the people viewing could have hyperactive kids or even tie their large barking dog to gate during the viewing, but not essential.
At midday the next day tell them you have an offer from an investor (they will think no chain & shred business man) at the full asking price but your agent thinks he can get more as there are other viewings booked today. He told you ‘flats like yours are in very high demand and are selling in a matter of days, always well above the asking price’, further more he mentioned ‘sealed bids’.
They will have invested time, money and their dreams in the purchase of your flat, Wiki’s right they’ll pay!
James

[Aussie Pom]

If I was in this situation I would tell them the price was too low and that you are sure it will sell quickly being "chainless" etc. She would probably not want just anyone to move in... they might at least come back with a better offer closer to your original price.
You never know....
Anyway i think you were perfectly justified in venting... i would have had some rude words in there if it was me... so well done for not needing a censor!
Gina

[renew]

I am afraid i think this was planned especially if they know that you are leaving soon. I would go with seeing what estate agents value it at and also what price recently sond properties have sold for. Check the land registry. As you agreed a price in December i am sure that if you were to offer your flat on the open market as the same price people would have your arm off. Dont forget they have already paid for surveys etc and I dont suppose that they would want to lose that.

[wiki]

Wiki you must of graduated the same school of negotiation as me.:laugh
James

I agree James - your mind works in the same way as mine!

Dharder, I really feel for you being put in this position, but I honestly think the only people who will lose out (and should lose out) are your neighbours. They're the ones who are risking new dodgy neighbours for the sake of what isn't very much money to them, but would equal a lot in NZ terms.

Don't let them get a bargain on this - you're in the country until Dec, so you have time to call their bluff. Get some quotes in and raise the price - if they then offer the previously agreed price you've lost nothing, but they will have been given a big wake-up call!

[Caroline and Dave]

This is the oldest trick in the book and normally people do get away with it as you are commited to buying somewhere else.
We had exactly the same with one of our flats only a month ago. They agreed a price then let it go on for 4 months and then lowered the price by £7000. They thought they had us over a barrell but we told them No and put it back on the market with another agent and we sold it in less than a week to a first time buyer who is not going to back out . And we got £4,000 more than the original buyer had agreed in the first place. I notice you are in London. Prices in London are increasing still and you will have no trouble selling especially flats/apartments as they are more affordable. These people are pulling the wool over your eyes. They want this place they just think they have got the upper hand. Tell them no and you are getting it revalued to put on the market if they still want a reduction. I am pretty sure you will sell it quickly with the right agent.There should be a law in this country to stop this sort of thing happening

Hope this helps

Dave and Caroline

[dharder]

My, y'all are a shrewd bunch of negotiators! I like the hyperactive kid suggestion, James, and I'm sure that would work a treat if it weren't for the fact that we have four of those, and a family with just one will feel like a haven of tranquility to the upstairs neighbour :)

Thanks so much everyone for the supportive words. Feel a bit stronger now in my position, even though I kind of thought I should stick to my asking price. We've been neighbours for 9 years, and always got on well (not friends, but no problems at all), so this is a bit disappointing. But I do suspect the BIL, who is contributing some money as well I think, fancies himself a bit of a 'developer'. Oh well.

The funny thing is that I wouldn't even have to make anything up, strangers have accosted us on the street when they heard we are leaving who wanted to buy the flat, we had lots of interest from people we know who know someone, etc, we just told them all the neighbour was buying...

Again, thanks everyone, I keep reminding myself that we are in a good position, we don't need the money urgently, we'll be in Europe till December, and a two brm flat in London with a lovlely garden should be a piece of cake to sell.

She has agreed to feed our cat next week while I'm away (before I turned down the silly offer), so I better phrase my position nicely or come back to a starving cat! :)


Daniela

[StevieD]

Di, sypathies to you, we didn't want to let anyone know we were emigrating for that very reason, they have you over the barrel. Isn't it a coincidence that they waited til the last so they know they have a hold on you? I could swear when I think of it and I just feel so sorry for you. We lived a nightmare, I hope you can sort it soon.

All the best of luck

Steve

[Myrkk]

I'm with the others, I reckon it was planned. Hope you stick to your guns, it's a pants thing to do to someone you have lived next to for all those years......... Hope you get a good price and quick sale, which in London you should do no problem.

At least you don't need the money desperately to finance your move.

[dharder]

I talked to the guy this afternoon, told him I'm prepared to go down by £1,500. He said 'thanks, you'll hear from me' and put the phone down. I had intended to ask him to tell me asap, so that I can talk to lawyer and estate agents, but didn't get a chance because he was so quick.

Well I guess I'm looking at estate agents now, I just hope he'll tell me quickly enough so I can get the ball rolling (I'm away all next week). I really hope there won't be any bad blood, it would be such a shame and so not necessary.

Ah well, can't win them all. But to think it could have been so easy :(

Daniela

[holland]

Hi dharder,

What a blinkin nightmare, I to think it was planned. I wouldn't even wait for his phone call, you are the priority, I would start getting everything set up as if it is going on the market, because it may have too. Im sure your property will sell no probs in London, I bet you'll be surprised how much it is actually worth. It an absolute cheek isn't it....this situation makes me so cross, I suppose we are all vulnerable to these people...If my buyers offered less just before we went i'd tell them to 'sling their hook', I know its easy for me to say as I am not ( yet?!?) in this situation, but if someone was trying to push me into a corner because they think I am desperate to sell, Id rather drop the whole thing!

I try to think everything happens for a reason, you may put on market and sell in a week for full asking price!! heres hoping, good luck and keep us posted.

J xx

[Myrkk]

I'm with Holland on this. Think of number 1......you. He's only thinking about himself and not worrying about the stress he is causing you, in fact he's counting on the stress he knows he's causing you to get what he wants.

[holland]

Exactly!! He'd be absolutely sick if you called his bluff and sold for more than he is offering!!

[sizzlingbadger]

Go with the estate agents don't wait for him to reply, as every else has said they've been calling your bluff :(

Even when you get a firm offer through insist you keep it on the market until the buyers exchange. I know some people don't like this but having been through a chain collapsing the day before we were due to move we insisted on this every other time we've moved. Amazing how many people will agree to it and how hard they work to get it exchanged quickly :)

Make sure 'no onward chain' is on the front of the estate agents details but don't let on to people you're moving to NZ, just say you're moving into rented or because of work. The only time we let people know we were emigrating was if we felt comfortable telling them. It was our buyers we told and they still came back with the asking price and didn't haggle just before exchange.

Hope this isn't all too obvious info for you :)

[dharder]

Hope this isn't all too obvious info for you :)

No, it isn't, I'm glad for any tips!

I've never sold a place before, and when we bought this one, there was no onward chain, no one lived here, and the guy who sold it to us really just wanted to get rid of it as quickly as possible. He actually sold to us rather than others who offered more because he liked us better, so my one and only experience of house buying might not have been representative :)

I haven't heard from them, and I know she's in (well, she's my upstairs neighbour, I always know when she comes and goes...), so really, I don't know why they just can't let me know.

So it seems estate agents it'll be then. Except that I'm not in now till Friday and pretty much incommunicado, which is very annoying. Bad timing.

Now all that remains to be seen is if she's still going to feed that cat while I'm away...

Daniela

[holland]

Is there anyone else who can feed you cat?? Do you let her have a key to feed it, or does the cat go to her house??

j x

[dharder]

Just a quick update (in case you couldn't take the suspense any longer...)

The cat is still alive, the house sale is back on (same buyer), for 1,500 less than we agreed on. I ended up calculating what I would have spent in agent's fees, paint and stuff to make it look nicer, and decided that if they took it at that, I could live with it.

When I told the BIL last week, he put the phone down on me, never did get back to me. We then talked to the neighbour herself on Monday trying to find out what the %*$£ was going on (in nicer words, of course), she seemed surprised that he hadn't let us know. Oh well.

I'll be so glad when this whole selling business is over!!! (I don't normally do multiple exclamation marks, but I really felt the need here...)

Whishing everyone else in the middle of that it all works the way they want it to :)

Daniela

[holland]

Daniela,

Firstly, Thank goodness the cat is still with us!!!!:D

Glad things seem to have worked out for you, keeping fingers and toes crossed that everything goes through as planned!!

Well Done You!!

Think you deserved a couple of *!$%!!!!!!!!

Have a drink to celebrate this is great news:cheers

J x