Aibu to write to the house seller?

Just leave your offer on the table.

If it’s massively overpriced you will easily find something similar at the correct price. So no loss to you.

If you cannot find anything comparable at the correct price then it may be that the house is not overvalued.

Remember if you are buying with a mortgage the lenders surveyor will say if the house is overvalued. This may then affect your ability to borrow against it.

You missed out the point that some people think the rest of the world is stupid, put their house on at a massively inflated price and are willing to wait pretty much indefinitely until an idiot comes along willing to pay the price.

Maybe they are right, although in the current market the chance of that happening is rapidly diminishing. There is not much stupid money in the marketplace at the moment.

YABVU

Begging a property owner to sell you their property puts you in the worst possible negotiating position.

don't do it! They don't want to sell to you and it's their property so don't try to force them.

Estate agents generally overvalue to get the business and then drop the price after a while; rather than to inflate their own commission.

I wouldn’t sell to you at any price if you did this. I would be afraid that your lack of boundaries would continue throughout the process.

Sorry - just to add - in your case where the agent wouldn't pass it on, it is almost certainly because the seller had expressly authorised them to reject all offers below X, which is a lot more common. I don't know why anyone does this myself as I would much sooner know about all offers, at whatever value.

You have accept 4 facts when buying/selling a house

1. Some people are fucking stupid
2. Many people are greedy and see property as an easy way to make money
3. Estate agents benefit more from an expensive house than a cheap one and will encourage over valuation And
4. Some people forget this, see a house drop £10k, think they are getting a bargain not realising the house was over valued by £30k

You're just making yourself look increasingly desperate. That is no way to get a cheap deal on a house.

If I were them I would think, they obviously really want the place. So they need to hunt around a bit and find the extra cash.

Their sales history so far indicates they are not desperate to move. And the fact they are holding firm on price probably means they won't negotiate if the survey brings up any problems which means you will have to write off the cost of that if it comes up negative.

People either want to negotiate or they don't. Negotiate with the ones that do.

They really don't do this, at least not very often.

The commission difference is far smaller to an agent than the price difference is to the seller. There's always far more reasons for a seller to reject a low offer than an estate agent, and the consequences of not passing on an offer can be severe.

If the agent doesn't want them to accept an offer all they usually would need to do is pass it on and say "I'd hold out, we will get more", and they achieve the same goal with zero risk.

I’m pretty sure that the agents are legally obliged to inform the sellers of all offers, low ball or not. I don’t think it’s worth the risk of being caught out if they don’t pass them on. If you want to be double sure, follow up a phone call with an email, telling them during the call that that’s what you’re doing.

This is why society is such a mess. You want something you can’t afford and are going to stamp your feet until you get it.

They have said no. No is a complete sentence. Find something you can afford.

Definitely echo leaving the offer on the table. Don’t forget that the agent wants to sell the house as much as the sellers, for their commission. If it truly is overpriced then the agent should be having conversations with the seller about the activity levels on the listing, and the level of offers thus far. If it’s not getting many viewings and no offers above your level then your offer will start looking attractive and they may revisit it. Personally if someone sent me a letter through the door, after being told via the agent that I’m not willing to negotiate at this time, then I would probably ring the agent and ask them to discount you entirely from viewing again or buying.

Did the agent pass on your most recent offer? Or are they assuming it’s not acceptable. I’d make sure it has been passed to the vendor, then leave the offer on the table. Vendors may come back to you after having a think, you never know.

The only trying i worry about though is has the agent actually passed the offers on. You can never be 100%. He might just be holding out for higher commission.

I once called an agent to ask if they would take a low ball offer and they wouldn’t even entertain passing it on. I lowballed on another property (it was at a time when everything was being overvalued) and got it and the other property stood unsold for ages and then they eventually sold for less than I had tried to offer!

They don't give a damn whether you love the house. Why would they?

If you think the agent isn't passing on your low offers (which they have to do by law) then by all means write to them. Otherwise, they have heard your offer and rejected it. They want more. They are not going to sell it to you for less than they believe it to be worth because you love it, and they want to be nice to you. As you are not in a position to wait a few months to find out if their expectations are unreasonable, it's best just to look elsewhere.

I had this, and the letter really annoyed me. I told the EA that even if they came up with a full asking offer I'd turn them down.

You are perfectly reasonably giving a low ball offer (I have done this before and been successful)

but they have said no. They prerogative. They just won’t sell. They are probably the sort of people if they took the low offer now, would much you around nearer the time to best stay clear. Let the EA know the lowest offer stands and you will keep looking and they can come back to you if they change their mind

They want more money, I dont think it is personal so I don't see how a letter would help. Perhaps in time they will realise it is on for too much, or perhaps they will get a better offer. Think you just need to wait.

It is one thing sending a letter with the first offer (which we did a couple of years ago when buying a probate property having just had one when selling a family member’s property that was also a probate property) and then very different sending one when you had 2 offers previously rejected as in your situation.

I was fine receiving the letter when selling and I got why they did it was were offering a lot less than the previous offer which fell through when another family member died just before exchange and actually that is why we sent one with our offer as similar circumstances. I wouldn’t dream of doing one in the situation you are describing.

You literally are taking the piss.

If you did this to me I wouldn’t be prepared to risk dealing with you, even if you offered the asking price.

Exactly. If you don't ask you don't get. What the agent tells you and what the truth is can be different.