Reducing offer after offer has been accepted


yes i'd agree with Mr Man there was a delay in getting the Contracts signed so you have had time to re access the situation and possibly pull out of the deal. I 'm in the process of selling a house at the moment and of course i would be annoyed if it happened to me but at the end of the day no contracts were signed so you owe nobody anything and it is your money afterall
 

The truth is that there is not any similar 4 bed semis for sale in the same estate at the moment. I hope I did not give that impression. There are other, older ones in a poor state of repair. There is also this bungalow and possibly another detached house about to come on the market. We are not talking about a huge, identikit estate here, rather, a small, established estate.

I do really like the semi-d, for lots of good reasons that I don't need to spell out here - if I didn't, I would not have got this far with it, and anyway it would not be wrecking my head so much to be considering putting that at risk.

That's why I had it in my head that these estates and properties would hold their value more than the mediocre identikits in huge mediocre estates. Maybe that wasn't 100% naive after all.

All this debate has helped me hugely so far to get things in perspective.

Thinking about it, I reckon here are my choices:

1. Go ahead and buy the damn semi ;-)

2. Go see the bungalow.
If I can see it next week, before the contracts have to be signed,
if it is in as good condition as the semi,
if the layout and use of rooms/space is suitable for us,
and if I really believe that it can be bought for 315 or so without getting into a long saga of any kind (which would be hard to guarantee),
only then consider pulling out of the semi.

That's a lot of if's. Before deciding, do pros and cons of each house, and pros and cons of pulling out vs buying the semi. Also try and identify and quantify risks and benefits of those actions.

Realistically, either the bungalow is so good that I feel I have to buy it at that price, or I just go ahead and buy the semi.

If I pull out, I really think now that the vendors would at best give me 15k off, more likely 7k or indeed 0k and tell me where to go.

I have fairly high rent to pay, which will add up if it all goes pear shaped or drags out. I have a job to hold down (and this is no joke, I really need to concentrate the next few months to ensure I get my contract renewed). Plus, add into the mix some busy and important personal stuff happening over the summer. That and the fact that I would ultimately prefer a quiet life and not to be going round peeing off people and getting a bad name for myself.

I think I know what I will prob end up doing, i.e. buying the semi. Sorry, now that I have it straight in my head, I guess it sounds like a no brainer.

I know I am a bit of a slow learner! But I would rather buy it having really satisfied myself that its the right one than to go into it half heartedly.

Am waiting now to hear back if I can get a viewing of the bungalow on Monday, otherwise I think I will just forget about it and move on.

Thanks for bearing with me folks.
 
Without seeing the semi-d or the bungalow i can only make a generalised statement but ; i would regard a bungalow to be superior to a semi d.

Privacy, ability to expand, etc etc.

To me, it seems like a no-brainer to choose the bungalow. ( or to now change your search parameters to include bungalows )

Simply put, you have just realised that you can now afford to buy a bungalow.

That is good news and you should take advantage of it.
 
jimmy47 said:
Am not worried about being taken for an eejit, am worried about being an eejit...!
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I like that one...very good!

This house buying business is just that, a business. As another poster has said, do it clinically and as unemotionally as possible (but realising that this is one of your major life purchases, it will be difficult!)

DOn't buy if you're not SURE! Wait a while and see how things develop in the local market, but realise that it is part of the experience that you won't necessarily get the one you think you really want, but that something else will always turn up! Good luck.
 

THat is where I was coming from - but you have put it much more clearly.

I know I am not comparing like with like - would be very easy then. But I agree, a bungalow generally has a higher intrinsic value than a semi, everything else being equal.

Having said that, ironically the semi-d has more options to expand as it has a bit of room on the side and a high pitch roof, whereas the bungalow doesn't - strange but true....! And its garden is as big as that of the bungalow.

No wonder I am a bit confused ;-)
 
Why do you think there is a delay with contracts coming from the Seller's side? For all you know there could be something else holding them up - like they actually are not in a position to move out till next September or something? If you have a particular moving date in mind, put this right out of your head because it's not over till you have the keys in your hand and ANYTHING could happen in the meantime. So don't let the need to be moved into a house, any house, by a certain date influence your decision. This actually happened to us and we ended up pulling out of the deal because it was one delay after another. If the seller hasn't gotten you contracts after 6 weeks you need to get your solicitor to ask them why - then when you do get contracts you take your time signing them. And never sign for any house unless you've had a structural survey done on it.
 
Some of the banks are increasing rates for new business. Making potential sellers even more nervious. Morality has nothing to do with this dont buy this house in the current climate. Back out and wait. Or pay 30-40 grand more that you have too. your choice
 
Jimmy - you refer the property a 'the Damn House'. Your sub conscience mind is telling you to forget it. I moved from the smoke to a small country town in the West and you know what - it's every man for himself. People don't act like that anymore. This is a business transaction and the vendors have dicked around. Six weeks for a contract - these people are not serious. Suit yourself and your family - no one else.
 

I'm told that they are awaiting the title deeds to be released by the bank. My solicitor has been chasing them.

Again, I have had a full survey done, approx 7 weeks ago.

And yes, good point, I am not holding my breath waiting for the contracts.

I have already refused to sign the contract until good title is establised (there was a proposal this week to get it signed with a proviso relating to that, in other words that we sign with a get out clause if good title was not subsequently established). I felt that if we signed that, then the pressure was off them to sort out the title deeds and to complete, hence I refused to sign something like that.
 

Haha nice bit of pop-pysch there Mercman! I'm not saying you are totally wrong mind you ;-) Nah, seriously, when I talked about 'buying the damn semi', I was thinking more in terms of people reading my story and them saying, for flips sake stop trying to be clever, get off the fence and just buy the damn house.

Or as you say it could be my sub-conscious !

I take your point that it is every man for himself, but I still think that its nice to be nice if at all possible, and its easier to get away with (what people may perceive as) bad behaviour in a large city than a small town.

As for people dicking around - well, I suppose its possible that their new house may not be ready and they are stalling. On the other hand, I suspect their conveyancer is probably useless - I spoke to him myself when I was looking for a solicitor, and I would swear he was drunk, and if he wasnt then that's even scarier - so when I saw his name mentioned as their solicitor I was not filled with confidence...! So really I am not suprised that it has taken a while, and indeed it may take a while longer yet.

Ultimately I will suit myself and my family, just struggling with making the right decision, and trying my best not to outsmart myself ;-)
 
Well here is another hypothetical point. If you buy the 'Damn' house at the agreed price and the market drops another 15%, do you really think the vendors are going to come knocking on your door with a bag full of cash of 45K. Nope. I bought my house in the country when the market was going the other way, and when I drove in after booting down from Dublin (my mother was dying at the time), he looked out the window and the price went up 100k. And i see him and have a drink with him and guess what its been forgotten, in a very small town.
 
It's just another business transaction. No need to take it personal. Where you ever at a Mart ?? Same ol, Same ol.
 
No contract, no deal. If you don't like the house anymore, just withdraw your offer. No one will think you're a bad person. You've waited long enough for the contracts, just tell the agent you were forced to consider other options due to the delay (if you really do care what the EA or the neighbours think).
 
Sorry on both counts there Mercman. And I do hear what you are saying.

Trouble is, if I pull out, I could be paying expensive rent for the next year (I know most people will say that it will be pay for itself), I might not get a suitable house in this area again for a long time, I have to spend yet more time and energy on househunting (belive me I am not being lazy here, its just time and energy I don't have), I might put my job at risk (and the current one is paying me very well, but is highly vulnerable for external reasons, so I need to protect it as much as I can), and personal business that is happening could get neglected.

I am still thinking I will prob go with my plan as per item #23 above, and bearing in mind that if they do drag things on hugely, maybe something else will come up, and at that stage my compunction about pulling out if it suited me would be much less, as they would indeed be screwing themselves over.

And by the way, yeah I have been to the mart more than once or twice ;-)
 
You may be paying rent if you wait, but you won't be paying mortgage interest. Chances are they cancel each other out rather neatly.

If there's a scarcity of houses in the area (where is it, Killarney National Park?) well of course you should take that into account.

Then again, if your job is highly vulnerable, why are you considering buying at all?
 
You may be paying rent if you wait, but you won't be paying mortgage interest. Chances are they cancel each other out rather neatly.
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Good point, but in this case the rent is quite high (big place, long story)
If there's a scarcity of houses in the area (where is it, Killarney National Park?) well of course you should take that into account.
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Not at all but as in most cases there are not huge amounts of good quality houses in good areas. Of course there are loads of indentikit houses in mediocre or even bad areas.

Then again, if your job is highly vulnerable, why are you considering buying at all?
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Because I am paying cash and I have savings, and my wife works, and we have to live somewhere and we want to settle, and we don't want to rent any longer. I can always get another job even if it is minimum wage in the short or medium term.
 
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