House price negotiations

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be tontos or lose the house?

Poll ended at Sat Sep 03, 2005 12:57 pm

homeless and searching
8
89%
tontos with a lovely house
1
11%
 
Total votes: 9

Kelly4
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House price negotiations

Postby Kelly4 » Mon Aug 29, 2005 12:57 pm

hello

I'm after some worldly advice from the forum.

We have found a house in our village that we love. Vendor is asking too much. House needs work and she wants six million over the price of the bank's valuation. we can't pay that much but we've offered her two million over the bank valuation. Whole village thinks we're mad....nobody in the village would pay half that BUT I feel that they are not aware of how much house prices are rising in the area and how much they will rise further if more extranjeros come. They also have a different view of the value of old houses. It may seem silly to even be asking the question, but we really love this house. it's cheap in terms of prices back home. It's a casa señorial for less than 150 thousand pounds. She will NOT budge much. no hurry to sell.

Do tasador valuations in spain tend to come in below market value? I thought so, but a friend recently suggested that the banks often OVER value houses for the mortgage.

Have other people been in similar shoes? Have prices in small villages really risen that quickly when more brits move in? Any clever tips for convincing the greedy woman that she really should accept less?! We don't want to lose the house, but we equally don't want to be taken for tontos. We've been to-ing and fro-ing with this lady for about six months now. we had agreed a price but at the eleventh hour, she decided she wanted more. it's becoming a bit of a joke in the village but we've stopped laughing now and we just want a house! What do we do?

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hillybilly
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Re: House price negotiations

Postby hillybilly » Mon Aug 29, 2005 3:00 pm

Kelly4 wrote:Vendor is asking too much....Whole village thinks we're mad....nobody in the village would pay half that
I think you've answered your own question here.
Are you really prepared to risk financial hardship, if not ruin, based on a "feeling" that prices will rise in your village? Maybe they will, maybe they won't but until they do why pay over the odds now just because you've fallen in love with a particular house? Continue looking for an equally lovable one at a sensible price would be my advice.
If you pay over the odds now, everyone in the village will charge you over the odds for their services because you'll be seen as the guiris with more money than sense.

JohnP
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Re: House price negotiations

Postby JohnP » Mon Aug 29, 2005 4:19 pm

hillybilly wrote:If you pay over the odds now, everyone in the village will charge you over the odds for their services because you'll be seen as the guiris with more money than sense.
hillybilly makes a good point but it also depends on the position you are in and why you want to buy it.
If its for investment then you are taking a big gamble.
If it is your dream house, you intend to stay there a while and you can afford the extra then why not buy it. The resale value is only a problem when you come to sell.
Time is presumably on your side. If it is overpriced then it won't sell to anyone else anytime soon so you could continue to look around!

Good luck

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silver
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Postby silver » Mon Aug 29, 2005 5:31 pm

Love is a strange thing indeed, and its not always easy to fall in love...
We have found a house in our village that we love
Do you already live in this village?
Whole village thinks we're mad.
It seems that everyone knows you are in love...you have to change this..and the sooner the better,quote]nobody in the village would pay half [/quote]
Vendor is asking too much.
she/he knows how powerful love is and that's not making it easy for you.
casa señorial
not everyones choice so don't panic.
First step is to let the whole village know that you are not in love any more..you could even tell lies like you have heard ghost stories..well anything to make them believe you are not interested..news travels and the vendor will here very soon..and maybe fall off her high horse..lol
You could go to another village and find the local "corredor de fincas" offer his a good commission if he can buy it at the price you wish to pay.
No muerdes la mano que te da de comer.

Kelly4
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Postby Kelly4 » Tue Aug 30, 2005 11:04 am

Some great advice there. Thanks. Amazing how all reason, logic and professional knowledge abandon you when you've fallen in love!

Silver, yes we do live in the village. Coming up to our first anniversary in fact. That's why we're so keen to buy quickly and not wait around for another house of our dreams. The kids need a bit of stability, having moved from rented house to rented house since we arrived.

I love your idea of using the local corredor. Will look into it. And you're absolutely right about her being aware of the power of love. It will be hard to backtrack now and pretend we've fallen out of love with her house but we can certainly let it slip out that we're having an affair with one down the road!

Thanks again. Keep you posted.

Jennifer
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Postby Jennifer » Tue Aug 30, 2005 11:09 am

I know a Spanish family that have been encouraged (by an English estate agent!) to put their house on the market. So they have - for way above the real value - they have no real intention of selling. They say that if an English person comes along and is silly enough to pay them that price - who are they to stop them! Then they will have more than enough to find themselves something similar but at a sensible "Spanish" price and have money left over!

So I agree with Silver: move on, or appear to, leave a "contact number" and if the vendor really does want to sell any time soon, she'll come back to the negotiating table!

samizdat
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Postby samizdat » Tue Aug 30, 2005 12:05 pm

dear Kelly,


I'm afraid you are in a no-win situation :cry: I was in same situation as you saw a number of houses that we would buy, but were to find out later that the family didn't really want to sell, where just interested in what the house was worth to a rich stranger!

The one we really feel in love with was probably 30% over market value if selling to a local! however we REALLY feel in love with it so after some deliberation decided to pay the premium, (Does this sound familiar:lol: ) then the Senora offered to throw in the furnishing which she had collected over the years. She had original doors from convents and objects from old palacios. We agreed a price, all seemed fine until Senora went to Marbella to visit a friend, on her return she announced that the contents were worth 200,000E based on prices she had seen in antique shops in Marbella, sighting 8000E for an antique door she had seen.etc

Shocked stunned silence from us - big smile from Senora at ripping off rich stranger (isn't she clever! ) and embarrassed silence from Senor.

We approached several people involved i.e. agent and lawyer to try and talk her down, but basically her opinion was if we where so stupid to pay over the odds for the house, then she should charge us over the odds for the contents, most of which she had been paid to take away by the owners!! Interestingly Senor phoned us after about nine months to see if our original offer was still on the table, but by then we had found our current house, I guess they had run out of "rich" foreigners to fleece.

I'm afraid your conundrum is quite common here, It seems to be every one knows someone who ripped off a rich foreigner and got 100,000 for a shack in the country- so they all try it on. It seems to be a source of pride to them to be able to boast about it in the local bar:cry:

Maybe the local Mr Fixit can resolve the situation, but he will want a commission.

good luck

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stellastaff
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Postby stellastaff » Tue Aug 30, 2005 12:25 pm

Have you not tried to call her bluff? 6 months is a long time to be bartering. :? Tell her you cannot be bothered with the hassel any longer and have realised that maybe you don't love the property quite as much as you thought!! (or something along those lines). Pull out and wait...she'll probably poo herself and think twice ab :twisted: out the offer that you want to pay! Chances are she could even come down a bit lower. You've nothing to loose, as, in 6 months, someone else could have come along and bettered your offer, which, she could have jumped at. They didn't, so give it a go!

Good luck and don't give up! If you want something bad enough, think of all the options and try out each one til you find the one that works!! Thats how we got to Spain with four kids, two dogs, only £40,000 in the bank, no jobs and still managed to buy the house of our dreams, find good jobs and be totally happy and secure...all leagally too!!! :D
Donna

katy
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Postby katy » Tue Aug 30, 2005 1:22 pm

There is something about Southern Europeans that encourages them to put up the price if someone shows they really like it. My brother put in an offer of 4000 less than the asking price and the Spanish owner came back with a figure 10000 more. He did get the house though, he told them he didn't have the money and walked away. They try it on in Greece too.

Donna , let us know the secret of your success, most people come here with a small fortune and manage to lose it here.

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stellastaff
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Postby stellastaff » Thu Sep 01, 2005 12:04 pm

katy wrote: Donna , let us know the secret of your success, most people come here with a small fortune and manage to lose it here.
Positivity, and lots of it. Fighting every obsticle (and believe me we had a few!-thats another story!) and NEVER giving up!! That's it!
Donna

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kevin77
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Postby kevin77 » Thu Sep 01, 2005 9:23 pm

Good luck to the the vendor, she sounds like a character.
If a plane load of foreigners marched into your village in the UK offering silly money, urged on by the latest 'Living the Dream' Channel 5 programme what would you do?
And of course the estate agent has to take his cut.

Lets face it - is she the only greedy one?


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