I've gone sale agreed on a house. The market I'm currently in was extremely competitive, houses were all generally going for significantly more than their asking price, as mine did.

I have nearly everything ready - loan arranged, survey of the house completed, solicitor ready to sign everything.

Now with Covid, a recession is more than likely coming our way.

Furthermore, with lock-downs in place - the seller is extremely unlikely to find an alternative buyer in the near future (it's an executor sale if that makes any difference).

I was thinking of trying to put some pressure onto the seller to lower the agreed price.

While I don't want to lose the house (and the money we have spent so far on legal etc.), I would also like to take advantage of potentially lower mortgage repayments.

Is it a bad idea to put this to the estate agent and be forthright about exactly why I'm asking to lower the price? Is there a "reasonable" amount to lower the purchase price by?