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?

Bit of a difference between making a low offer and being a piss taker.
A house is worth what people are prepared to pay for it.

I worked for an EA. They probably don't 'see' (accept) the work that needs doing & expect it to get what other pristine houses similar to theirs did. Happens a lot with sellers who have been in a place forever & dont realise its all more competitive these days. My elderly LL can't understand why his own wreck of a cottage hasn't sold in days like the beautiful others nearby. Everything in his home is 'tired' falling apart and 30+years old:decor, kitchen, bathroom etc. I pointed out it needed work a young couple probably couldn't stretch to on top of the 'going rate' but he expects & he was amazed.

I am in Scotland so our processes of buying and selling property is a bit different. We set a price from the Home Report which is a survey paid for by the seller. Generally speaking people offer more if the house is in the right area and even if the house is a wreck but in the right area offers are still over.
Sometimes the reason people are selling houses is not exactly their own choice. I will be selling a property soon because it is not suitable for me as my health gets worse. Even if it was not health related we all get older and the house would get difficult. If it was not for health and age I would choose that house again.
Round here we get estate agents and buy to let people trying to get properties at low prices so the houses get a low value.
It is definitely a case of "buyer beware" and the "seller beware" too by the looks of things. If a buyer really wants a house why not pay a decent price for it? Don't be fur coats and no knickers

Happens a lot with sellers who have been in a place forever & dont realise its all more competitive these days.

We had a house that was built in the 1960's as part of a development. There were about 20 houses on the street that were identical when built, then changed over time as people added rooms, redid kitchens, etc. The house across the street from us, which had zero improvements and had never even been repainted, went on sale during a white hot sellers market. The seller priced it at the absolute top of the range for the meticulously maintained and beautifully landscaped properties all around her.

For two years I watched potential buyers go in and come out two minutes later after seeing what a state it was in. It eventually sold for about a third less than the original price to someone who did a gut renovation on it. The whole time comparable houses in good condition were going off the market within weeks of being listed. Price matters, even in a good market.

I put my house on the market for just under £90000, as advised by three separate estate agents.

Someone offered £65000.

I said No thanks politely, (no dramatics or Never Darken My Door Again stuff) but yeah, I was a bit miffed. It seemed like an insult to my house. It had two lavatories and everything. (3 bed mid-terrace, usual layout, nothing untoward).

So I can understand someone being a bit offended to be honest, even though OP's ones seem a bit over emotional and ridiculous.

They have been there for quite some time. Sounds very familiar @CSIblonde

someone just offered us 40K under the asking price.

I laughed and told them if they can't afford what we're asking, they shouldn't be looking at houses that are 40K over what they're prepared to pay!

They can piss off quite frankly. cheeky fuckers.

15% is a bit cheeky, no doubt about it, but being personally offended is ridiculous. And cheeky offers are part and parcel of selling properties!

I know of someone who couldn't stop crying because she was so upset when someone put in a low offer for her house. She thought they were being really horrible. They weren't. Mad.

Thing is, you don't really know that they were offended. I'd just think it was a ploy of the estate agent to get you to up your offer significantly.

Our buyer last year offered full asking price less than 24 hours after the property went on the market and after one viewing only. It happens. They got a good deal, too, it was a bloody good house.

I wouldn't be offended by an offer 15% under, but how I'd react would depend on a few things, including whether I thought you were offering that as a fairly dispassionate investor or whether you were someone who'd been reading way too many dodgy 'negotiating' tips online and would freak out at anything less than a perfect survey report. But even then it depends on so many things; whether the house was already well priced, whether I needed to move or just wanted to, etc

A family member is selling their house for £435k and got an offer £5k under and took offence. Apparently the estate agency said it was worth that figure so she's accepting nothing less. Stubborn cow

When I was selling my parents' house, someone made a really low offer. I just told him that I wasn't prepared to accept anything under the valuation. A couple of months later the was a flurry of activity and several notes of interest so it went to a closing date. The guy who offered originally was the winning bidder so he got the house he wanted but he had to pay around 40 grand over valuation for it. 🤣🤣🤣

I wasn't offended at the original offer, just thought "cheeky bugger!“ and burst out laughing when I realised who had bought it and how much more he had to pay when he could have come back with a revised offer.

We had this. The agent phoned us and told us the vendor was "insulted".

But I'd lived in the area for decades and been watching the market for nigh on ten years while we were saving a deposit. So I knew the market like the back of my hand and offered what I knew was a reasonable price.

And it was. The house eventually sold more than a year later for less than our original offer.

But vendors and amateur landlords often don't do their own research or think from a financial perspective. If our vendor had come back to us six months later after she had received no offers (it was an inherited property so there was no chain) , she would have made up the funds in interest on the sale funds in the ensuing twelve months it took her to actually sell to achieve the original asking price.

It's the same with amateur landlords when they won't accept £50 a month under the asking rental, but then the property goes unlet for four months. They don't seem to realise that they've just lost four months of rental income that an £50 extra a month is just not going to make back any time soon.

What are they “offended” by? You think it’s worth less than a third-party (estate agent) has said they’d stretch the market to, which is what EA’s do. “Oh we sold a similar house for x, so let’s try for x+5%”. They are too invested in the charade and are comparing the lower offer as you shitting on their door mat.

See on the flip side, and to add to the similar stories from others, we tried to buy a house a while back, agreed a sale at a couple of % under asking. Full structural survey came back with the previous underpinning (which they'd neglected to tell us about) having failed, and there being likely progressive movement plus the roof appeared to be beyond saving and a host of other issues. We reduced our offer, admittedly very substantially but after research, and it was rejected. House was empty and stayed on the market for a year, deteriorating further, before it went to auction and sold for less than we'd offered.

So two extremes in my own personal house buying/selling history. Being offended is ridiculous, in any circs, of course.

Also Brexit is looming so I think buyers are spooked. We had planned to move last year but decided to stay out & do the loft.

Is it not the responsibility of the estate agent to keep negotiations going and build a relationship with the seller and potential buyer?
To give the seller your reasons for the offer, likewise give you a thought through response to the offer so you don't get offended and run a mile?
No one pays the asking price and a house is only worth what someone will pay for it.

I buy and sell all the time. I have never been offended at low offers - it’s business. Sometimes a quick turn over suits me and there’s always room for negotiation.

I paid 15% less than asking price for my house, once they realised no one else wanted to buy it. It was on for £35k more than the identical house next door.
Someone might pay that price if there’s not a lot of property around where you’re looking. Otherwise I’m surprised they said that as they do sound hysterical, and I’m surprised the agent conveyed that message to you. Their agents clearly aren’t very good if they are going to close the door on a potential sale without negotiating.

When we sold our house, the estate agent told us what they thought it was worth and then what they would put it on the market for. So they flat out said it was going on for more than they expected us to get for it.

That really influenced how I judged the prices I saw houses marketed for.

The one we bought, we made an offer we could afford. The vendors needed more for their purchase so they haggled and put it on/off/on the market. All quite reasonable, we were all just trying to buy/sell at the best price.

In the end they found a different place to buy and accepted our first offer, which we'd stuck to, we'd done or research and knew the market was stalling.

My house has just gone on the market. We got 3 valuations and went with the middle one to give some wriggle room. This price is realistic and reflects the area/condition of the house. We are prepared to negotiate but 15% is a significant drop!

Taking a look at RightMove in my area just now there is a massive variation in asking prices for very similar properties all over- up to £150k difference in properties on the same street/neighbouring street, same school catchments, roughly same size and mostly in need of only cosmetic improvements. Looking closer nothing much has sold in the past year. As a potential buyer it's very hard to know what to offer, but I certainly think many asking prices around me at least are not realistic.

Our current house was new on the market at a point when there was a dip in prices and movement on the market. It was already recently vacated and the vendor wanted a quick sale. We had no chain, a definite advantage for a house beyond typical first time buyer budgets for the area. Our first offer was cheeky and rejected as we expected. Our second offer was below asking price but more realistic. We moved in within 2.5 months of the first viewing. Everything was very simple.

DH managed to buy his first house for less than his first offer. It was in a previous slump when prices were approaching their lowest. He got gazzumped, then that offer broke down. Interest on the market was low and he was approached again. He said he was only interested if it was reduced slightly to put it below the stamp duty threshold. By this point the vendors grudgingly agreed. It was worth having to emergency buy new light bulbs and toilet roll holders taken in retribution.

There was a nearby house for sale on and off for 6+ years due to awkward/ reluctant vendors. The house had original 30+ year old features (in an area where they tend to be modernised and well maintained). They didn't even bother mowing the front lawn for a full summer one year. Several buyers were strung along and messed around with over the years and the final offer was dragged out for 9 months.

Some people are wildly optomistic about what their houses are worth (particularly if they've had it a long time and don't objectively see its condition) and the nature of the local market. Some people are just bloody awkward.

If you don't like an offer, just politely decline. No need for offense. Cheeky offers can be followed by realistic ones.