P&B Report White Ants

Discussion in 'The Buying & Selling Process' started by Mr Dabolina, 27th Jan, 2016.

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  1. Simon L

    Simon L Well-Known Member

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    The sale will still likely go ahead if the vendor declines and the agent knows this. Agents deal with these B&P negotations all day long so they know if you're just trying to get more $ off and may not work in your favour (sticking to timeframes, letting cooling off roll over without an outcome etc). They will also potentially see you as being too fussy and a waste of time.

    A solicitor will just send a formal request to the vendor solicitor, no ifs and buts or emotions and everything is in writing. Why would you want to go through the agent?
     
    Mr Dabolina likes this.
  2. Lilylep

    Lilylep New Member

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    @Simon L that's exactly what we did! One house had some termite damages in a tree but no active ones + a few bits and pieces, and we asked for a price reduction through our solicitor. The agent was copied in the email and got back to us directly saying this was pretty common, reports always seem scarier than it really is... and we should not expect anything but then the vendor went through their solicitor to respond and agreed to a discount.... REA would have said no^^
     
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  3. wylie

    wylie Moderator Staff Member

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    Lilylep, I'm curious to know what discount you got (and what was the purchase price).

    As a vendor, this has happened to us. We dropped $2k on a $302k sale price. Desperately wanted to tell the purchasers to "go away" (and we knew they loved the house and wouldn't walk away, but her brother was the solicitor, and a more obnoxious man I couldn't hope to meet).

    We also knew we had a buyer waiting for our sale to fall over and grab the house we had put a contract on, so we didn't want to miss our next "dream house" over $2k.

    Karma got them though. We had plans drawn for an extension that we took with us. We took the full page framed under glass newspaper story from 1932 that featured the house. We left nothing... they sucked all the pleasure from it for us. Her brother (the solicitor) also pushed that the cubby house wasn't up to code, so we took that too and left a big hole in the back yard so they could sit on the deck and look into the ugly backside of the neighbour's potting shed where he stored all his crap. (Cubby was a chattel so we could take it away.) Purchaser was pregnant (we didn't know) so they probably regretted that $2k.

    My hubby wouldn't have done all this tit-for-tat stuff, but I was incensed and these people had turned our sale (traumatic enough) into a nightmare with their carry on.

    It happened to my mother also, and she stood form. Termites in a tree. They wanted a $5k reduction to pay for a barrier (in a stumped queenslander with half old concrete and half dirt underneath... really? There is no way they would have had the treatment done and we all knew they just wanted $5k off the price. :rolleyes:)

    They went ahead with the purchase after their failed try.

    I guess it all depends on the situation of both purchaser and vendor whether this sort of "try on" will work. I don't like it, have never done it and never will. Different story of course if the termites are actually active in the house :rolleyes:.
     
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  4. Bran

    Bran Well-Known Member

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    I'm under offer with strong suspicion of active termites. I'm planning a BIG knock off the agreed price, as part of my buying strategy. Part of this is I know they have been lying to me about it, and they just don't know that I already know. I didn't want to play games until they did.
     
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  5. Biz

    Biz Well-Known Member

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    Investard county

    Yep, there are always hidden problems or things that need replacing in the first few months that the vendor doesn't tell you about. Always try to knock some off the price, at least you are covered.
     
    Mr Dabolina likes this.
  6. Mr Dabolina

    Mr Dabolina Well-Known Member

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    NSW
    Thanks all for your feedback. I built a good relationship with the REA so ended up going to him with my request to get the posts sprayed and replaced or an option to knock off $1k. Vendor agreed with the 1K.
     

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