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Anyone negotiating a price reduction

W

waterloo

New Member
Hi, we had our offer accepted on a flat in east London and we are edging the process along very slowly. Its so hard to know what will happen with prices and the market in general. All early feedback seems to point to a temporary price fall of around 10%. Our property agent is saying they have 200 purchases on their books and all are moving forward and nobody has asked for a reduction. This seems hard to believe so i'm dubious about believing what the agent says because they must be trained to always put a positive spin on things. We are thinking of asking for a reduction on the price because 1. our finances have been affected by the crisis 2. who else is going to come along and buy their over priced flat in this climate realistically? 3. why the hell not 4. we are prepared to walk away.

Has anyone else asked for a reduction or heard that is now a thing or been successful in getting one?

Thanks,
 
P

PostBrexitInvestor

Member
Personally I find it very difficult to believe that nobody has asked for a price reduction bearing mind the economy and the fact the property market has essentially been frozen. If you have not yet completed then I would suggest reviewing your situation. On the flipside of the coin, I also think that sellers will step back from the marketplace if prices fall too far and then wait for a recovery. As house prices are connected heavily to affordability and economic trends, there is short-term downside but how far is a mystery.
 
Z

zaffy

New Member
Waterloo, we have the same questions regarding an offer made pre-coronavirus. It took a long time to find a property that fitted our tick box, and we still want the property but have decided to put any further advancement on hold. However the estate agent rang the other day and asked if we wanted to sign a flexible contract (flexible as in a flexible date) I cannot see how this will benefit us. Prices may well go down and if we sign we are then locked in to the contract. I am wondering if anyone else has had this proposal from agents?
 
R

realdeals

Active Member
Smells of desperation to me - what benefit is there to you of signing a contract today, for todays price but leaving it undated? Is it not illegal to sign an undated legally binding contract?
 
W

waterloo

New Member
zaffy. i haven't heard of this type of contract and we haven't been asked to sign one. I think agents are getting a bit pushy and desperate. Ours was saying we can try and move in during the lock down. I had to explain that there are tenants currently living there and we could legally ask them to move out until after the lock down anyway. Have you started your legal searches yet? Are you thinking of asking for a reduction. What % do we all think the market will go down this year anyway. Some say 10-15%, i think Savills or Knight Frank said only 3%...

My partner and i were talking it over and if we pulled out of this sale and waited to see what happens in the market, we may not be able to get another mortgage offer anyway, even if the prices do go down. I'm confused.
 
Z

zaffy

New Member
Waterloo, the searches done. I have even heard prices could drop by 20%, numbers with no basis. Confused, me too.
 
Z

zaffy

New Member
Smells of desperation to me - what benefit is there to you of signing a contract today, for todays price but leaving it undated? Is it not illegal to sign an undated legally binding contract?
I see no benefit to going any further, but will assure the vendor that we are still interested, and leave it at that.
 
L

Longterminvestor

Administrator
I think the estate agent has done more harm than good for their client with this strange approach - trying to box you into a corner with an undated contract. Bizarre!
 
NewOrleansHomeBuyer

NewOrleansHomeBuyer

New Orleans Property Investor
I have negotiated price discounts based on information found from further property inspections. I have never done it due to a market downturn. I am sure you can find some issues with the property to negotiate the price and then use the state of the market to add weight to your negotiation.
 
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