To offer less than asking price even though it's offers in excess of?

[jnfrrss]

This is in England, it was on at 460k, reduced to 440k but now says offers in excess of that. Seems funny to say excess if it's been up for sale for 8 months and not sold so reduced.

I want to offer 395k as thats what I think it's worth

Presumably OP you have done your own research on valuations?

Looking at what other similar properties in the area have sold at in recent months?

We've had an offer accepted below an OIEO price before. It's pretty meaningless.

Last summer we offered £320k for a house. It had been on for 8 months at £375k then reduced to £350k for 2 months. Dh and I fell in love but it was very quirky grade 2 listed and not everyone's cup of tea. I knew the market inside out and really felt it was over priced.

We made our offer, they asked for £330k we thought long and hard but decided to walk away. This was last July. It remained on the market and in January they brought the price down to £320. It's now sold and I'm intrigued what they got for it.

A house is only worth what someone will pay for it.

It's not so much offending vendors on a personal level. It's that lowballing by that much takes the piss.

Going in a bit under fair do. Going in substantially under seems like a chancer and someone who (even if they did up the offer a bit) would be unreliable in the process, get part way through and start trying to negotiate more off etc.
I wouldn't waste my time with them.

Well yes, don't put it up for sale unless you are prepared for negotiations

You do know negotiations doesn’t mean give it to you for what you want?

Most people go into selling “prepared for negotiations. That could mean a £10k negtioation.

Just put in your offer. I don't think it's that cheeky. They want what they want, but they may have their sights set too high.
But at some point they will want things settled, and they need to decide if they will take the hit, or hold on for an amount in the very distant future that they might never get at all. It's a gamble. Plus, it's a massive pain having to check on a property every week, and it will start to deteriorate if not lived in and heated etc for a prolonged period. You run the risk of burglary, vandalism, squatters, all sorts of problems when unoccupied that could mean repairs and maintenance costs stacking up .
As someone who has been a beneficiary having to sell several properties, just getting the darn place sold can be a weight off your mind. No-one is forcing them to sell, they could wait for 15 years, but then they would not get their dream amount. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, and all that.

Going in a bit under fair do. Going in substantially under seems like a chancer and someone who (even if they did up the offer a bit) would be unreliable in the process, get part way through and start trying to negotiate more off etc.

I guess that's the difference. I wouldn't over think it to this level. I'd assume that's all they could afford or that's what they thought it was worth. I would not make the mental leap it meant they were unreliable or whatever.

Put the offer in. The market is going down in a lot of areas, I'm in Surrey and houses are not shifting. It's fine as seller to tell an agent not pass on "insulting" offers in a rising market but when it's falling it's a completely different ball game. The house has been on for 8 months, it's overvalued. For what it's worth I'd not bother with a probate sale when there are that many sellers, it will take them ages to agree a sale price.

All ours have been offers in excess of. That’s just a way of trying to get the top price, offer what you like. The price is only what someone will pay for it.

Offer what you would be happy to pay for the property. Obviously it will help to give the agent some of the background about a) your situation as a potential buyer and b) the rationale behind the lower offer.

As a buyer I find “OIEO” offputting, but usually assume that the buyer is trying to recoup costs or needs X amount for their next property. It wouldn’t put me off making a lower offer though, especially when the property is empty or it’s a time-pressured sale (i.e. probate, divorce, repossession etc) and/or it has been on the market for an extended period.

The property market is a bit strange at the moment. I know my local market really well now. Vendors always expect to make money on their homes through inflation and improvements, but this isn’t the reality in today’s market.

It's not so much offending vendors on a personal level. It's that lowballing by that much takes the piss.

Taking the piss? Really? You could say that asking much more than the house is worth is taking the piss. There is a lot of it about when you are selling a house.

When MIL was selling her house a woman arranged to look round, twice, bringing with her a white fluffy cat in a cat carrier, when she clearly had no intention of buying. That might be classed as taking the piss I suppose.

She was tiny, and lugged this cat around the place, up and down several flights of stairs. It was bizarre.

You will never be able to second guess what will happen

• maybe the children just want quick cash and so will accept a lower offer
• maybe they are not desperate for the cash and happy for the house to take a while to sell because they are not moving etc
• maybe they didn't get on with their parents and have not emotional attachment to the house
• maybe they are a really close family and hate the thought of someone cheeky getting a bargain on their parent's death
• maybe all the children get along and get reach an agreement on the lower offer
• maybe one child has always felt left out and disagrees with the lower offer just to piss everyone off
• maybe they are all laid back and won't take offence at a low offer
• maybe they will be offended and refuse to sell to you on principle

and so on

Make the offer, get an answer, be prepared for it to be a yes and a no. There really is no more to it than that.

bluntness
I wouldn't have previously but do having seen friends messed around.
Buyer puts stupid offer in
Friend says no
Buyer makes a just about ok offer
Friend accepts
Throughout the process the buyer started trying to find lots of faults with the house and then dropped their offer back to just above their stupid offer (clearly hoping that my friend would roll over because of time invested).
Friend pulled the sale.

We we advised not to look.at houses we couldn't afford. So you might look at a 300k house if that's the max you could possibly afford, maybe a 310k with OIRO, but wouldn't look at a 330k on the off chance you can knock the sellers down.
It was pretty fair advice and saves time beinh wasted.

Some agents won't even let people view houses unless they have a mortgage in principle. I think that's harsh but it will defer time wasters.

Anecdote time... We offered under the OIEO price and our offer was accepted in less than an hour. In hindsight, we could have opened with a lower figure but we really wanted the house and we're happy with the price we paid.
The wording is used to get the best possible price but it's still just an asking price. Treat it exactly as you would any other asking price an offer what you feel it is worth. Good luck!

To be fair, when we were buying this house, there were a number of properties on the market which had been there for ages, and one agent said to us "effectively the ones languishing on the market are the houses no one wants for the asking price " and it's true. It's the dregs of the market.

Whereas I wouldn't think a low ball offer was offensive, I do consider the sellers "chancers" and there were a couple of properties I didn't view because they had been on for several months with no price movement, so simply assumed the sellers were only going to sell for an over inflated price, would probably haggle over every little thing and take anything that wasn't nailed down, and as such didn't waste my time viewing.

You can tell when something's over priced very easily, it's not just length of time on the market, but primarily comparable properties sold for prices in the area. The problem is some folks look at other properties and think theirs is comparable, when it's really not, be it due to location, condition, or whatever.

I know of a probate sale where the 2 children of the deceased had a more than 2 year disagreement about what it was worth. Child A wanted to stick out for a high price, never mind that the garden was getting like a jungle and the empty house looked more and more forlorn and unloved - Child B just wanted to settle for a reasonable price quickly.

In the meantime, house prices in the area started to drop. Eventually it sold for rather less than it would have if priced realistically in the first place.

I would go in with an offer of £400k - although 395 is only a few grand less, the (subconscious) impact of seeing a 3 at the start instead of a 4 is significant and makes it seem like a much bigger difference. Also if there are 4 children selling it gives them each a nice round figure

Also, you may not see it as a discount, but they will

In answer why I think they would be pissed off, it's a psychological thing. You want to go below £400K, which to them will seem like a bigger deal than it actually is.

Make your offer. They may agree. None of us have clue what the house is worth or what the vendors will accept.

Should have read the previous comment before posting! The PP put it far better than me.

Yes, definitely put your offer forward OP, any offer is better than none, and shows that there is still interest.
Vendors and buyers cannot afford to get upset about selling/buying property, it's a win some/lose some situation.
Nothing wrong with a cheeky offer, best of luck.

Also, a lot of people choose to hang on to over priced houses, to the bitter end, instead of reducing and moving on, greed often plays a part.

Just make your offer, they are free to accept or reject it.

OIEO is estate agent greed usually. They want more commission so try and inflate prices (even when I reduced the price of our house to what I originally thought it was worth, they insisted on stating OIEO despite knowing we were desperate to move. Finally sold at 5k under that.) These days everyone can access market information too.

Offer.
If they are unhappy with the offer, so be it.

It's always worth putting in a cheeky offer. They may well turn it down flat. They might not, especially if one of the beneficiaries is desperate for the money.

If you really feel it's only worth £395, especially if you can compare it to others in the area that have sold recently, the agents might well be prepared to argue your case if that's what they valued it for. And even if they turn it down, you can leave your offer on the table in case they come to their senses.

When I bought my house, it was originally marketed at £58k, then reduced to £53k and I got it for £49k. The lady who owned it was very reluctant, but she wanted to move away to be near her son. He explained to her that prices were still very unsettled (1992) and she could end up having to drop even lower eventually, plus mine was under offer and ready to complete, so a very quick sale.

I know a £45k reduction seems like a lot, but it's only a shade over 10% of the current asking price.

To all those saying "the house is only worth what someone will pay", that is not quite true.

In 2008 a friend was selling a house in London and because of the credit crunch etc it was not selling at the set price (£400k). Many vendors not only made much lower offers but also got pushy when the offers were rejected, seemingly feeling that the highest offer should be accepted. But my friend was under no pressure to sell and simply rented the house out for 5 years before selling it for £790k. It was true that she could not get £400k for the house back then, but it was also true that the buyers could not get the house for what they were offering. Which may be the OP's situation too - the only way to find out is just call up and make an offer. Don't overthink it.