Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Original poster

Offer made on our house- WWYD next under these circumstances?

87 replies

NewDirectionNeeded · 04/09/2018 15:25

Hi,

House has recently been reduced to OIEO 260K. We had a really positive viewing last week, then all went very quiet- no feedback, other than the initial feedback which was all very good. Then today we get an offer of 258k. Not a terribly cheeky offer, but given the viewer said she thought it was very fairly priced, I was expecting at least 260k.

We rejected and counter offered 265k, which is a bit of a jump, yes, but our absolute minimum is 262k, so was allowing ourselves a bit of wiggle room. We expected it to be rejected tbh, but with some further negotiation. They just said no, they would walk away at 265k and that was that. I know they've been looking at houses of OIEO 280K, so I don't think it's over their budget necessarily.

They're not yet proceedable, but sounds as though they will be soon. So this would only be a subject to sale rather than contract, but still, is that it?! Is this just what people do? It almost sounded as though they were so put out by our counter offer that they're going to walk away altogether, but maybe this is how it's done... I don't know.

Our EA suggested we played the waiting game. If we just lay our cards on the table today and said, this is our absolute bottom figure we could accept, they may try further negotiation, which we can't do.

WWYD?

Thanks

OP posts:
Bluntness100 · 04/09/2018 18:20

In my experience, serious buyers don’t go quiet after submitting an offer / being rejected

Of course they do if they don't eant to pay more and feel the seller is taking the piss.

bbcessex · 04/09/2018 18:23

bluntness

Having been an estate agent, I said ‘in my experience’.

If someone REALLY wants a house, they will pester the EA, even if they have no more money to offer.

In this case / the ‘buyers’ have likely gone away to get in a better position , as currently they aren’t in one.

bastardkitty · 04/09/2018 18:25

It's offers in excess of. I'm not a fan of that approach. But sit tight OP.

bbcessex · 04/09/2018 18:26

Mitzi - ‘offers in excess of’ is a Sales Portal trick.. it allows a house to be listed in a cheaper bracket, ostensibly to reach a wider audience.

It is a crap technique that invariably disappoints everyone

NapQueen · 04/09/2018 18:27

If they arent proceedable then dont cave.

I sold OIEO because I needed (eg) 125k. So offers over 124950. Got 127k.

ToadOfSadness · 04/09/2018 18:27

I don't see the point of OIEO, it puts me off even looking. There is too much messing about with buying and selling as it is without being deliberately confusing about what you want for the house.

Decide what you want and price it at that. If it is worth more you might get more than one offer. Don't faff about being vague. It is a tactic mostly used on very high end properties, not average little homes.

yorkshireyummymummy · 04/09/2018 18:39

They are not in a position to proceed.
They are not yet serious buyers are they?
Let’s imagine someone goes to a market and see a rug he wants.
It’s on for £85. He offers £75. The seller knows he wants £77 to buy more stock. Then he discovered the ‘ buyer’ hasn’t got the £75 andwont have until he sells a small table and a Cagoule. And he has to get full asking price for his table and cagoule. The seller would be mad to take the rug off the market for a price less than he needs while he waits for the potential buyer to sell his stock. Someone might come along next week, love therug and pay £83!

You need to turn this offerdown, tell them to offer something realistic but that the house stays on the market until they are in a position to proceed.

Original poster
NewDirectionNeeded · 04/09/2018 18:39

If you don't like OIEO fair enough, but we made that decision based on several factors. The market in our area being the main one.

OP posts:
Defrack · 04/09/2018 18:41

Whatbsi the point in offers in excess of?
Tell us what you bloody want for it!

Not ooh more then 260k, if you need 262k put it up for that.

Defrack · 04/09/2018 18:42

Cross post

EmeraldVillage · 04/09/2018 18:43

OIEO was all the rage in my locale 4 or 5 years ago when the market was raging and you could hope for 5-10 offers on a 3 bed terrace. Then OIEO removes the upper cap and people were often paying 10%+ over the already high listed price.

Some people are still trying it now with the weaker estate agents but the market is just now the same and the more realistic agents are going back to a target price.

Witchend · 04/09/2018 18:43

OIEO round here means they're after the asking price round here. You're basically saying you'd except that.
I suspect they went in under with the idea of brining it up to the actual price.

Gizlotsmum · 04/09/2018 18:49

I’d just wait it out. You’re not losing anything yet as they presumably need to sell or get something in place before proceeding. I always assumed oieo meant the price stated was the minimum they would sell at.

erinaceus · 04/09/2018 18:50

Given everything you've said, hang in there, keep the house on the market and consider changing the advert so that you are not OIEO. I agree with pp that if you cannot budge for less than £262k then your current price is somewhat confusing for buyers.

I am also not a patient person so I do understand that just waiting can be awful, but sometimes it is the right thing to do and I wouldn't take a property off the market for a buyer who cannot proceed anyway.

Original poster
NewDirectionNeeded · 04/09/2018 18:51

I had a feeling this would turn into a OIEO debate Hmm

People saying we're wasting time, just tell us what you want etc, well.... people rarely offer the asking price, so when we realised we needed to reduce, it needed to be a decent reduction, but with that meant we couldn't be accepting offers under.

I didn't used to get it, but it seems to work well round here.

OP posts:
DeathyMcDeathStarFace · 04/09/2018 18:56

I think your possible purchaser is trying to get the biggest bargain they can, or are trying to get more for their budget than is reasonable for them to expect.

I am no expert, but I think they reckon they have the time to wait a desperate seller out if they aren't ready to proceed on their house sale yet and are trying to find someone desperate enough to accept a lower offer. If you have time to wait them out you might find a different buyer in the meantime or the people who have made the lower offer might come back with a higher amount when they are getting closer to needing to move.

Whatever their reason for putting in a low offer and not negotiating when they had the chance, don't give them any indication you'd consider less than you suggested you want, they may well try to take advantage and squeeze some more money out of you. Every penny they knock you down by is a penny in their pocket and a penny out of yours.

I hope you get a good price for your house unless I buy it for half the asking price

GreenTulips · 04/09/2018 18:57

I wouldn't view a house with OIEO, I just wouldn't!

Sit tight - do you have a house in mind?

CherryCherryCherry · 04/09/2018 19:01

Why don't you just advertise it for the amount you think it's worth? Everyone knows where they stand then. Or a little over to allow for buyers to offer a bit less.

chchchnamechanges · 04/09/2018 19:03

What’s the difference between oieo and offers over?

StoatOfManyColours · 04/09/2018 19:07

Surely OIEO is a good idea because the vendors have stated the minimum they’re prepared to accept?

keepingbees · 04/09/2018 19:12

Sorry but I agree with what others have said about the oieo. I was a buyer a couple of years ago and it was really off putting. I think it's caused confusion in your case as your vendors have seen 260 as the asking price rather than an offer over price.
If you wanted 265k then you should've put it as offers over that, or even better, priced slightly above with a view to coming down.
I guess all you can do now is sit tight and hope they love the house enough to increase the offer.

Original poster
NewDirectionNeeded · 04/09/2018 19:28

But I wouldn't have added OIEO without doing a lot of research. I don't believe that's the problem here.

If we did OIEO 265k, we wouldn't have been in a new bracket. We've had a decent amount of interest.

OP posts:
bbcessex · 04/09/2018 20:40

OP - OIEO is annoying but fine if it works & is expected in your area. Don’t listen to anyone else; you’ve had viewings and an expression of interest so you’re on the right track 👍

Someone who loves & wants your house for their own home will enter into dialogue with you.

It’s early days - you never stop feeling sick until the keys to the new place are in your hands .

Good luck!

icebearforpresident · 04/09/2018 20:55

chchchnamechanges

Offers over is the norm in Scotland. In Scotland we have the home report which provides the property value. Say you get a home report with a value of £150k, the price will be something like offers over £148k. It’s to try and achieve the HR value. But then again, you can offer whatever you want, sometimes you’ll get a bargain.

I’m assuming OIEO is basically offers over by another name, but then you rarely see it used in scotland.

(I’m a Scottish estate agent, incase it isn’t obvious)

Originalsaltedpeanuts · 04/09/2018 20:56

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.