Probate sale what would you do?
So my grandma passed away, my dad and uncles are now selling her house. It’s a big house in south east England, semi detached 1950s in a desirable village. They marketed a while back, priced too high, nothing happened. Got a new agent who marketed it at £40k less, which was probably a fairer valuation, someone quickly offered and sale proceeded quickly at an accepted offer £25k under asking, which I think is really under value. My dad just wants to get rid of the house ASAP. Sounds like everything was moving quickly and smoothly, buyer had a level 2 survey, no issues, got all the way through to deciding a date when the buyer pulled out last minute because there was no parking space (odd since it was nearly completion). Since they just want to get rid of it asap, they then put it back on the market at the price that the previous buyers offer was accepted, and said they’d accept nothing less. They’ve had first time buyers offer same day as viewing at the new asking and also wanted to proceed quickly. Things have been smooth so far, but they are now saying that they had a level 3 survey and contractors do EICR of electrics, roof inspection and CCTV drainage. They said electrics are a mess and completely unsafe and the whole house needs a re wire, drains need relining and flat roof on the extension needs replacing (no leaks or damp). They have asked for my dad to do remediation on electrics and drains, or alternatively have asked to wait to complete a further 3
-4 months after the current target completion so they can save to complete the electrics work themselves due to safety. They said they don’t want to offer less because it doesn’t free up the cash to do a complete re wire imminently, and saving after making mortgage payments would be too slow. Basically my dad and his brothers are now in a stale mate with eachother. My dad just wants to sell it asap, so he wants to go back and say they would sell it to them for a cheaper price to move on quickly or they’ll find a new buyer. One of my uncles thinks they should wait the 4 months because by the time a new buyer is found and goes through the same process it’ll end up being the same timeline anyway. They won’t do the remediation for obvious reasons. If you were selling in this situation, what would you do?
Posted Feb 26, 2026, 8:02 AM UTC