Sale agreed- Can we go back and revise offer downwards?

Hi all,

So, our offer on a house was accepted before Christmas. The house was built circa 1999 and it seemed to be in good nick. We had the survey done and there is a few repair issues- such as large crack going the whole way down the chimney breast. Cost could be up to 4k to repair. Surveyor also recommended all windows and doors in house be replaced. Ventilation and insulation issues too.

Can we now revise our offer downwards? Take maybe 5-8k off?

Thank you :)

You can try, and say why.

But depending on the vendor, you could be told where to go. One on hand it’s a sellers market and if it’s in good Nick and demand, they might try get the same or higher.

On the other hand, any new buyer would have to go through the same survey process, find the same problems and cause even bigger delays. So you might get lucky. Hard to know.

Sarn

The only thing I see there that would warrant some consideration is fixing the chimney breast. An old house is likely to need insulation and window upgrades. The doors would also have been clearly visible when viewing.

seamus

You might get away with arguing the chimney thing. But replacing all the windows and doors would be seen as optional, not essential - "sold as seen". It's generally a given with a second hand property over 15 years old that there will a few bits that need doing, and the price you ask (and pay) is reflective of that. A fully modernised house would probably be on the market at €50k more.

Sellers will generally only consider price changes in exceptional circumstances - such as a survey discovering dry rot in the roof joists or subsidence in the foundations. Minor repairs and general upgrades (like windows or boilers or kitchens) are a given in the original asking price.

Jmc25

It depends really, what was the bidding like, if they can just go to the next person they probably will.

I don't know enough about the chimney issue to know if it's a serious issue but 4k to fix suggests it's borderline in terms of whether a price reduction is warranted.

The other stuff - almost every older house will have that cut and paste into the survey report, wouldn't worry about it.

AyeGer

It was done to me when I sold a house and I did it to a person I bought a house from. It’s fairly standard practice if the survey finds a fault. The seller may accept the reduction or they may not though. The sale could fall through over it. But it is certainly up for negotiation if it’s a genuine fault that was not outlined before the survey.

Tails142

I did something like this and both my bank and my own solicitor got a bit cagey about why the price was being reduced, was there good title, was the crack due to subsidence etc etc. Think I ended up having to get a second survey done, was barely worth it in the end, shaved a couple of grand off the mortgage which was 80% ltv but only saved me a couple of hundred cash, think the vendor agreed to drop price by 5k and we had been looking 10k. Probably wouldn't do it again, you risk the vendor moving on which wouldn't be good for you in this market either.

Xander10

You can ask, but would the seller be able to get an even higher price now with the way the market is and just decide to pull t of the deal? leaving you back to square one.

We live in a small town in the north west and my husband kind of knows the vendors. Might ask in a very polite way- house went sale agreed at 318k, so might try to get it down to 315k.

Know we are chancing our arm about the windows and doors!

1874

chancing your arm, taking your chances more like, even the crack might have to be sucked up in this market, seller might just say No and or walk away and move on, even mentioning the doors and windows suggests either greed or naivete, things that can be seen and at no point would a seller consider investing the cost of doors and windows into a property for sale. The Surveyor merely putting them in there for your information that you should consider replacing them/they do not meet current standards, most Irish properties would likely have ventilation and insulation issues to some extent. What were the ventilation issues?

wassie

Legally, sale agreed is nothing more than an informal agreement between you and the vendor that you will buy the property at a said price until you & the vendor have both signed a formal purchase contract. You can pull out of the sale or ask for any change you wish without (legal) recourse. Even if you had paid a booking deposit it would be refundable in full until contracts are signed.

So in answer to your original question;

Can we now revise our offer downwards? Take maybe 5-8k off?

Yes and yes. There is absolutely nothing preventing you from doing so.

Many people will hold certain views/positions on this sort of thing from "no - it is completely unethical & immoral" to "yes - why pay 1c more than you have to".

Your solicitor, their solicitor, (their) agent, the surveyor, your lender/broker and all other stakeholders will also have a particular view, but at the end of the day its the vendors decision.

You need to make a judgement call taking into account things such as many of the posters here have written and make a decision. Are the potential savings to be had worth the risk of losing the sale (or just losing face if they say no!)? I'll leave opinions to others here.

Good luck with it all!

AyeGer

How long has this house been on the market, where there other bidders?

318K in the north west is at the higher end of the market. You should definitely ask and so long as you are polite you will be told yes or no.

FromADistance

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118507661#Comment_118507661

No badness but would you be prepared to loose a house over 3k? Less than 1% of the sale agreed price? Also it's all well and good in a big city where no one really give a **** or knows everyone's business but local people talk... you can be sure you'd be the topic of discussion over this, right or wrong.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118507896#Comment_118507896

House was only on market for 2 weeks before it went sale agreed. There were 2 or 3 other bidders, not sure.

That's my issue, I don't want to pay top whack for something that needs work.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118507924#Comment_118507924

Wouldn't give a hoot if people were talking about me.

FromADistance

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118508012#Comment_118508012

Fair enough but for such an inconsequential amount, I'd rather not have the hassle.

Dav010

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118508004#Comment_118508004

Consider if the seller would get more if the property goes back on the market. In latest house price figures the NW had one of the highest increases nationwide, wfh’s see good value compared to city properties. Best case scenario, seller agrees to lower price a little to get the sale through, worst case they say take it or leave it and they tell you they will reopen bidding.

Op, if you only want to buy a house which doesn’t need repairs/upgrades, you may be disappointed.

appledrop

Ah come on windows and doors replaced, cop on of course you will be told where to go if you ask for this and rightly so you can clearly see their condition when buying the house.

It's a surveyors job to highlight every single issue that doesnt mean the vendor has to do anything.

In fairness the chimney could be a concern more so from a structural point of view, if its dangerous or could collaspe might be an issue with your house insurance.

So this definitely needs to be fixed but doesn't mean vendors will discount it off the price for you.

KaneToad

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058229053/sale-agreed-can-we-go-back-and-revise-offer-downwards

I bought a house. My offer was subject to survey. Survey threw up an issue with drainage. Estimate cost to fix was 5k. I provided seller with survey findings and estimate to rectify. I reduced offer by 5k. They accepted.

They could easily have told me to take a hike. But they'd likely be thinking the next buyer would also get a survey and the same situation would arise again a few weeks later.

If you're honest and provide evidence to back up your reduced offer you will have a good chance of getting reduced offer accepted. If the seller won't reduce you still have the option of completing at the original (higher) offer.

Still stihl waters 3

4k to fix a chimney crack would seem reasonable, I'd nearly double it if crack is through to the fill, maybe it just needs the crack cleaned out and patched up then 4k would seem expensive

HBC08

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118508012#Comment_118508012

You would if the few local auctioneers had you labelled as a messer.

Atlantic Dawn

The deal is done, leave it, you are talking about less than 1.5% of sale price to resolve. If it was put to me and I was selling I'd pull out of the entire deal for wasting my time.

Former Former Former

If the sellers are themselves trying to buy a house and don't want to start the sale process all over again, you're probably in a strong position.

They'll either say yes or no, you've very little to lose. There is zero prospect of them pulling the sale in a huff.

dubal

Been there, done it, lost the house. Went straight to the under bidder.

It's not worth the risk

FromADistance

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118508625#Comment_118508625

True story. For less than 1% of the sale agreed price, IMO, it's hardly worth the hassle. The OP will have to live in the area and as you're said if labelled as a 'messer', it would be hard to come back from that.

AyeGer

I don't think they will be labeled a messer. This is a very common thing to do when a problem is uncovered. In a buyers market they would likely relent but it is a sellers market right now so maybe the seller will say no to this request.

The OP's husband knows the seller so its up to them to assess if he is likely to throw a strop and withdraw from the sale. I don't think that's likely.

Having said that for the sake of 1% i probably wouldn't risk it if i really wanted the house.

HBC08

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118509810#Comment_118509810

As you say it's a sellers market.Also would it be considered throwing a strop if the seller just said "there's plenty of other people looking for houses and the prices are only going up,I'll put it back on the market and probably get a better price and avoid this messer"? I'd call that a smart move.

daithi7

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118509810#Comment_118509810

It's all about how you approach it and the seller's attitude tbh.

The only thing that sounds like it needs repair is the chimney crack, and if I were you I'd declare that your survey estimated repair on this at 4k, so you'll take the house at the agreed price less this, or the seller can repair the chimney and you'll take it at the agreed price.

All the other points in the survey were as seen, and as a buyer you would be expected to have factored them into the price you agreed to, and if you didn't that's on you tbh.

Lastly, if the seller says they'll meet you halfway on the repair (I.e. at 2k) , if take that as it's both reasonable and it sounds loads anyway to get the chimney done. (The engineer was allowing a load of fat I'd imagine)

Don't mess around too much, and don't get a name for doing so in a small town. That would be far more costly than anything you've highlighted here. Good luck op.

JimmyVik

How much have you sunk into the property already? Solicitor, survey, etc.

What will it cost you to start your search again? And will you find the right house at the right price?

Could the vendor get this fixed through insurance and then put it on the market later at an even higher price? Or are they desperate to sell?

AyeGer

With prices still rising it might not be worth the risk. But if you decide to try then ask calmly and see the response but I wouldn’t want to push it too much.

Just to come back to this...We asked the vendor really nicely about fixing this issue or dropping the price and they are giving us cash back to fix the issue and they're also leaving an expensive playset in the garden for our children, as a sweetener :D

Not everyone is a (insert choice word) in the current climate and my attitude in life has always been... if you don't ask, you won't get.