To think being 'offended' by an offer to buy your house..

[slingingtothemusicinmyhead]

Is a bit over dramatic?

Currently put in an offer on a house. 15% below asking price.

It's over priced. It's priced similar to other houses on the street that have recently sold but it needs a bit of work (new kitchen, ancient electrics etc) and those houses had been thoroughly modernised.

They're offended and do not want to hear from us again.

Is this sort of hysterical behaviour now normal when buying and selling houses?

Some people are just testing the market - we encountered someone like this when we were buying our current place. He was chancing his arm - if someone had bitten and paid the top price he would have sold, but he was in no rush. In the end we looked at something very similar round the corner which was on for the price we’d offered to see if he was taking the piss - we loved it and it was 100,000 cheaper. We got it for even less than that. Our seller really wanted to move and was priced accordingly. Your seller is obviously in no hurry - I’d move on.

I've always seen house buying and selling as a business deal - I take nothing personally and I don't allow any emotions to influence. I have loved houses that I've lived in over the years, buut once I put it up for sale, I have already started detaching. I know not everyone will like it, or want to pay what I am asking. If I don't like thier offer I just turn it down and wait and see if they offer more - no problem at all.
And once someone has bought it, it is theirs to do what they wish with. I once bought a house and the previous owners kept turning up for spurious reasons so they coud nose into what we were doing to the house - none of thier business.

When buying, I decide what the absolute maximum I want to spend is and I don;t go higher - that way disaster lies if you start thinking 'it's only another thousand' or even another £500. I base my offer on what market value is and what the house needss doing to it. If I have to spend money on updating etc. Then that is calcuated into my offer my offer is what I can afford. If it's not enough, then turn me down. (Although I have had offeres turned down and then people come back to me and ask if my offer is still open - often I've found somewhere else by then)
I can't stand preciousness about buying and selling -it's a house, no different from buying a car or whatever (just a bit more expensive !) it only becomes a home when your family and your personal belongings are in it. And you aren't leaving them behind when you sell.

Why on earth would their estate agent let them write you off so quickly? They must be so used to cheeky first offers and talking the seller through handling it.

I've said 'No way, not even close, I'm not opening negotiations based on that figure,' before now, when selling a property and getting a low offer. I wouldn't say not to come back to me at all with a raised offer - that's cutting off one's nose to spite one's face, surely?

I also carefully consider when making offers, and always come in realistically, rather than with excessive space for haggling.

Depends on:
1.how much 15% is, i.e. how much the house costs. For most that's going to be a huge chunk of money.
2.If you justified your reason for offering 15% under the asking price.

They probably think that your not a serious buyer and don't want to waste their time.

This. They think you're a pisstaker.

When did the house go on the market?

I think your response is “overly dramatic”

Someone tells you that you have offended them.

You then post on mumsnet multiple times expressing, in pretty OTT language, how dramatic they are!

I wouldn't be offended, but I wouldn't take someone who offered so low seriously - and rightly so, since you say you would go to 10% below asking as your final offer, which is a very low point to end negotiations, and in most cases unlikely to be accepted.

Most vendors are looking for the asking price give or take a few thousand.

It seems that you and the vendors don't see eye to eye on what the house is worth, so best to walk away and not give it a second thought.

They sound like loons. The problem with house buying is that you are forced to deal with irrational weirdos who have no idea about the process.

Our seller ranted, raved and sobbed at us and literally slammed the front door in our faces. Our crime? We had employed a surveyor to survey the house - she saw this as a "strange man" "poking around all day". Yeah we were about to sink half a million pounds into an old house without getting a bloody survey right

People are very very easily offended these days by the slightest thing, next thing you know they'll have 'issues'.
If your house is on the market you need to develop a thick skin and a sense of humour. We used to have a good laugh at the women who would need a new kitchen when they clearly never cooked, looking at their nails etc. Another viewer offered well under to give her the money to add a conservatory she wanted, the estate agent tried to tell her that had it had a £20k conservatory it would be £25k dearer!

Offended is ridiculous!
They could just say no, we will only accept something close to asking price, or similar.

Fine to reject your offer.

To be all offended and say you won't ever speak again is silly nonsense.

they are avoiding wasting everyone's time while you possibly submit a series of marginally increasing offers which will only irritate everyone.

Yup. Been there. Piss taking offer comes in. Declined. Slightly less piss takey over follows. Declined that. Very slightly less piss takey offer follows, and so on.

Your gut tells you when someone will be a pain to do business with. Best to call a stop the nonsense at an early stage.

Surely it totally depends on the price of the house?
100k house; you're offering 85k seems reasonable for a first offer (still cheeky but whatever floats your boat...)
500k house; you're offering 425k, not at all reasonable

Being just north of the 500 mark if you offered me 15% under I'd ask the agent to tell you to do one, on the basis you're a pain in the ass now, you'll be even more so down the line and probably try and negotiate more. I genuinely wouldn't be interested in hearing anything further from you.

Also, a full structural survey isn't unusual so not sure what your comment is about there.

We had a similar experience. The house needed A LOT of work so we offered 40k less than asking price as it would cost that much to bring it up to standard. We were dead keen due to its location. House next door went for the same asking price but it was in a perfect, move in condition.

Anyway..vendors were offended too..refused to engage in any dialog/negotiations and insisted on asking price or more.
Well it's a year on..We bought a different house and love it. Their house is still on the market 20k reduced and not selling. I'm guessing it will sell when they reduce it further to our first offer. Serves them right.

Haha. They are the type who'd be an absolute nightmare to buy off and would probably take the light bulbs with them and try and charge you £400 for a dilapidated shed

I sold a house for £125,000 and someone offered £99,000. I did think that was ridiculous and asked the estate agents not to have any further communication with them.

We put in an offer for a house below the asking price, had already sold our house but they accepted another offer from someone else. The sale fell through and the house came back on the market 3 months later but the agents were instructed by the vendor not to contact us as they were insulted by our offer! Anyway, after much negotiating we finally got the house and paid the full asking price

It's the game you play and I don't know anyone who has ever offered the full asking price initially

People are ridiculous when it comes to these things. If you're that 'offended' over someone else's valuation of your house, then perhaps you shouldn't be selling it in the first place if it's so great.

I also think Sellers frequently forget that just because they 'want' or 'need' a certain amount on their house to go towards their next house purchase, that 'want' or 'need' doesn't necessarily mean that the house is worth that much. It just doesn't.

And as for the poster who was a bit outraged someone offered £60k less than the asking price, whether or not that was taking the piss depends on the price of the house in the first place. A £1m asking price? That's nothing. A £200k asking price? Possibly taking the piss ... but even then, maybe not depending upon the area.

Do people really just offer the asking price straight off?

Sometimes, if it's a unique property or it will definitely sell quickly. We did with ours; it had been on the market a week and they'd already had offers, but accepted ours at the asking price. We think we bagged a bargain - still do.

We're also selling a 2 bed house and had an offer pretty quickly at £3k under asking price (£120k). Buyer then made a 2nd viewing and took a builder with her. Apparently, the house is damp with visible water marks on the outside wall, needs a new roof and doesn't have a damp proof course! Yeah, ok. The house isn't damp - I lived in it and I'm pretty anal with this kind of stuff. It doesn't need a new roof at all and there most definitely is a damp proof course. Clearly a chancer so negotiations ended at that point.

Feedback from the EA from another viewing was "buyer could find a 3 bedroom house in a different area for the same amount of money". Duurrrr.... yep, they probably could. Off you toddle then...

But estate agents often inflate asking prices, and most first offers are low to introduce a starting point, not a finish point.

I mean, once you’ve offered you can always go up but you can’t really go down.

We offered 6% under asking on a property in February this year. Vendors were “offended” also, not willing to accept a penny under asking apparently. (London, ftb so chain free, large deposit, mortgage approval in place). Their property was priced quite a bit higher than recent sold prices nearby.

We said fine and walked away. They’ve since reduced their asking price by 10% and given the market here it’s still clearly overpriced.

15% could be a lot, and way more than the value of a new kitchen and electrics so without knowing I'm not sure! I offered asking price for a house that was worth it to me but it wasn't over priced.

YANBU. Is it newly on the market? They had better get thicker skins if that offends them as they may well have plenty more like that!

They sound a nightmare tbh, it's a shame if you like the house though.
I'm surprised the EA told you they'd said this, rather than explain to the sellers that all offers should be considered.
I'd tell the EA you won't be offering any higher as you'd planned due to the unprofessional attitude of seller and EA.