Which offer would you accept? (In a dilemma)

[Whoopsscotties]

We are in the extremely fortunate position of having two offers on our house.

A) is a cash offer for 10k under asking. No chain.

B) is an offer for 5k under asking from a buyer with a decent deposit but who needs a mortgage for the rest. In rented accommodation for another 6-8 weeks. I have enquired whether their mortgage is in place but presume it is.

What would you do? We are stuck.

[Spandexpants007]

Check the cash offer is a cash offer. Ask for details.

Ask the cash offer if they are able to match the second offer.

Both don't involve a chain so either could be good

[bearbehind]

I'd ask A to up their offer and if they won't i'd go with B after requesting the EA views their DIP.

Cash buyers with no chain, whilst having many pluses also have the massive disadvantage of being less financially invested prior to completion so more likely to pull out at the last minute.

[thecherryontop]

When I was buying I was up against a lot of cash buyers, 1 estate agent told me that the majority of their sales that fell through were from cash buyers as because they had the cash if something better and along before exchange they just went for it.

I would check that the ftb had mortgage in place.

[ThroughThickAndThin01]

Check the cash buyers have actual cash sitting in a bank that they can withdraw without waiting 6 months or whatever. The estate agent needs to see it. If they csnt produce it, I'd probably go with the other buyers.

[StepAwayFromTheThesaurus]

I would probably go for B. There's no chain either way, B's offer is higher and the process of paying mortgage arrangement fees, survey fees etc is likely to make them more committed to it all than the cash buyer.

B won't have a mortgage in place, just an AIP because they'd need to have an offer accepted to start the process of getting a mortgage in place for your particular house. The EA should be able to advise further about the affordability of the mortgage for the buyers.

Have you gone to best and final offers?

[shovetheholly]

I would ask the EA to tell A that you have an offer 5k under the asking and whether they would meet it. If they say yes, then brilliant. If they say no, perhaps they are not that committed.

[Whoopsscotties]

We haven't gone to final and best offers yet (and would feel a bit greedy, maybe I am an idiot)! Am I?!

We could accept either as it stands and I know Chap A has worked hard to get money off relatives etc. Rest is in savings. He has been thinking about it for a couple of months. Estate agents say the cash is there.

Buyers B saw it for the first time v recently and fell in love with it. Second viewing early this week.

The thing is, I have been in this situation (on the other side) and I know how it feels, and though I want to do the right thing for us, I don't want to treat the other parties badly and hate the venality the house selling can arouse!

[StepAwayFromTheThesaurus]

Don't feel bad about going to best and final offers. It's fairly standard when you have more than one offer, and it feels fairer than some protracted 'they've offered X, will you better it?', 'oh, they've come up to X now. Can you do more?' And so forth. That feels more manipulative from a buyer's point of view.

Also never underestimate the difference that being in love with a house makes. We had 3 offers and they all came up in best and final. The people we chose were not FTB but have no chain (and they love the place). They weren't the highest offer either (although there wasn't much in it) but we thought they would be the most reliable buyers.

[StepAwayFromTheThesaurus]

Meant to say, our buyers increased their initial offer by £7k for the best and final. Another buyer increased their offer by £15k (she really adored the place, but we thought she might be a real gazundering risk).

So don't imagine that the offers won't improve from this point onwards. Best and final is useful as it gives you a set of things to really compare.

[Whoopsscotties]

I suppose so. It's just so tricky. I take the point that a cash buyer has less 'invested', but it seems a simpler and less prolonged process with a cash buyer, and the owner of the empty house we are buying is getting v impatient.

I just don't want it to seem like we are trying to squeeze every last penny out of the buyers. But I guess we need something to differentiate the two.

[StepAwayFromTheThesaurus]

Don't worry about appearing greedy.

We felt very weird about going to best and final offers. But, having done it, I actually think it was the fairest and least horrible way of doing things.

Buyers (unless they're very odd, and you'd want to steer clear of them anyway) totally understand that it's about achieving a decent price. If there are multiple offers, then it's fair to offer a chance to try to get the place if they want to. It would be worse, from a buyer's point of view, to have an initial offer rejected in favour of another without being given a chance to improve upon it.

No one has to increase their offer. They can stick where they were if that's all they'd be willing to pay.

[sparechange]

Is B a FTB?
What is the asking price?
If B is a FTB, I'd go for A without hesitation.

My last buyers were FTB, and if someone had said they could have taken away the headaches for £5k, I'd have handed it over straight away...

[Spandexpants007]

It's fine to go from first offer to best and final offer. What's not ok is playing two buyers off each other in a checkmate game. You're not doing the later by asking now for final offers

[Whoopsscotties]

Spandex, yes, I definitely don't want to play them off against each other. We are not interested in squeezing the most out, either would be acceptable as we put it on for 15k more than we would accept.

Spare change - yes, B are first time buyers. Do you think they are a lot more hassle?

[sparechange]

In my experience, FTBs are slower and want to question every.single.thing. Sometimes twice
And they want money off for everything. There is another thread running at the moment where the FTB is furious that the vendors won't let them drill holes into the wall to check the condition of the cavity wall, because they want to deduct the quote of repairing it from their offer.

I've sold to 2 FTB and both wanted to get money off for ridiculous things - the last asked us to remove some built in shelves for them before completion, and then asked to knock off the cost of redecorating the room because there would be marks from where the shelves were removed

[StepAwayFromTheThesaurus]

In that latter case, spare, I'm sure you were glad you got the demand through an intermediary. Although I doubt anyone would have the sheer cheek to put that to someone themselves.

Not all FTBs are as difficult as that. Although I do agree that they can be a bit less pragmatic and realistic about the whole process. We certainly were as FTB (but we were also dealing with a developer selling a part exchanged property so there was less need to be nice). Having done it before does tend to give a sense of perspective.

On the other hand, some buyers are just a nightmare however many times they've done it.

[DustOffYourHighestHopes]

Ask A to match and go with him.

Cash/no chain is something to be cherished!

[Kaddy]

Depends on the price of the house. How much is it as a % of the house price (roughly)

I'd go with A.

As cash buyers we offered £15k less than someone else who had a house to sell and needed a mortgage. The sellers went with us.

[Kaddy]

I wouldn't ask A to match B unless £5k means a lot to you IYSWIM

[Whoopsscotties]

Basically, agent says A can't increase his cash offer. He has borrowed a lot of it from relatives.

B would probably go to asking but are first time buyers who need to get a mortgage (they have an offer in principle).

Despite the fact that A is offering less I am erring more to him, on the basis that he might be a lot less hassle. But I could be v wrong.

[Whoopsscotties]

Oh, and 5k is approx 1.5% of the asking price.

[StepAwayFromTheThesaurus]

You could maybe just ask B for their final offer and decide from there. That doesn't stop you going with A if you feel it's a safer bet (although, from the sounds of it, you might find out that it isn't quite the cash sale promised a few weeks down the line since it has involved gathering money from family etc).

It's impossible to say whether a buyer is going to be easy or a nightmare though, until you're done with the whole process. So you can really only go with your gut instinct.

[Viviennemary]

I'm always suspicious of people who say they are cash buyers and agree they can sometimes prove to be unreliable buyers changing their minds at the last minute if another house comes along. I think I'd go with the highest offer. But it's always a gamble I suppose.

[Madbengalmum]

Vivienne, why? There are lots of genuine cash buyers, providing they can show proof of cash why be suspicious?

Go with the cash buyer and get the sale done quickly, stipulate you accept on the basis the sale is done within a month.

[Viviennemary]

I'm just the suspicious type I suppose. Also it isn't unknown for people to say they're cash buyers when they're not. Money coming from abroad, coming from a relative tied up for x amount of months and so on. What a nightmare house selling/buying is.