Deposit on New House Purchase

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ghost

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3 months ago I agreed to buy a new house from a developer. I have paid a €7.5k deposit, and exchanged contracts. However I now think that i have over-paid for the house and it is worth at least €10k less than my agreed price. Can I "walk away", and will I loose my deposit? Can i be forced to complete?
 
Of course you'll lose your deposit if you walk away. That is the whole purpose of charging you the deposit when you sign the contracts.
 
Negotiate with builder....strong chance he will cut the price rathe rthan have you walk away.......he will make too much money by sellign to you at a lower price anyway.

If not you need to think hard and remember that at least one more interest rise will happen this year.
 
Sorry, should have been clearer with my question: If I am willing to forgo my deposit, will i have any further liability?

I have signed the contracts, paid the deposits, but it would be cheaper for me to buy a different house (via someone "flipping") as I appear to have over-paid. Am I liable for anything in addition to my deposit? Can I walk away and pay nothing else (than the deposit) and treat the deposit as an expensive lesson?
 
If you have signed and exchanged you are not in a good position at all. The builder won't negotiate. How has the house price dropped that much though?
 
I think I paid a price on a rising market and did not negotiate well...... but would like to walk away, loose the deposit, but no more.
 
If the house is worth 10K leaa than what you paid and you're willing to lose 7.5K then the 2.5K difference you save when you purchase another one isn't going to be much. I'd be inclined to bite the bullet and go ahead with the purchase.

You could try and negotiate with the builder but it's highly unlikely he will have too many morals or scruples but it's worth a shot. He'd want to be an ignorant bastard to hold onto your 7.5k really but he doesn't have to give it back to you unfortunately.

To be honest, I'd rather pay the 10K overvalue than to throw away 7.5K!! Unless you've money flowing out your ears that is!!!
 
Thanks,
I have tried talking to the builder, however this does not appear to be working.

What is the legal situation? The builder is trying to force me to complete the transaction, do I have any legal options?
 
Who is the builder and where is the house?. Builders are very difficult to deal with, thing is if you really wanted the house and had paid a deposit and had difficulty with your mortgage and delayed signing contracts, he would not hesistate in pulling the house from under you. Can you not tell a while lie like the other guy suggested about your mortgage falling through, then again you are still likely to loose €7.5k, which is alot of money. Are you sure you are doing the right thing?. Are you in a position where you could just go ahead with it and sell asap??.
 
Have you told the builder that you're willing to forego the deposit? His solicitor's might be making noises in order to eventually 'let you off the hook' if you're willing to forego this. Personally, I wouldn't be willing to lose this money lying down! I'd try to negotiate a lesser amount.

At the end of the day, the builder is in the right, you signed a contract and put your money down. Presumably, you initially paid a booking deposit and had X amount of weeks to sort out finances/pull out etc. Technically he can force you into completion AFAIK and he can afford to pay the legal bills more than, I imagine, you can.

Are you sure the property has gone down by 10K? Flippers can afford to undercut the builder by a huge margin, as they originally bought in the first phase, but this does not mean the properties, themselves, have devalued. Unless you're thinking of buying in a different location altogether?
 
But you seem willing to make a loss of 7.5k now????, dunno just a suggestion. Nobody wants to see somebody else at a loss!!. If you feel so P*ssed off about and you can afford to loose that money just pull out, it's obviously causing you terrible stress and trouble!!. I don't envy you.
 
Hi Ghost, - how did you get on with this? Did you successfully negotiate to pull out? I am in a similar situation (however reason for needing to pull out is different).
 
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