AIBU to feel I have sold house too cheap?

[PampassGrass]

Put house on market just before lockdown. Valued by three estate agents who all gave exactly the same valuation.When market reopened, accepted a price £16500 less than asking price as thought there would be a crash due to pandemic. The reduction was 6% less than the asking price of £295000. The buyers are cash buyers with 25% deposit, so a good bet.
Now, it is a sellers' market and prices have gone up rather than down. I can't help feeling gutted we panicked into accepting too low a price. I know that there is nothing we can do now as we agreed to the price and will follow through with the sale out of respect for the buyers who have had the survey and all the legal searches done.

Has anyone else ever regretted selling too cheap?!

It is gutting but trying to time exactly the best time to sell is a fool’s game. In my experience, sellers and buyers who held out for the best deal tended to lose money. It may be different if you have a better counteroffer, but you will be taking a very big risk that may not pay off (and treating others badly)

Have you found somewhere to buy?

@GiddapGreyWaynesKeat

Did you get a good deal on the house you are buying? Is there a risk you’ll lose your new home if you pull out of this sale? Tread carefully

I'm not actually buying. We used to live in the house and couldn't sell it prior to moving areas for work, so it has been rented for the past 8 years.

I don't think 6% under offer is bad. Have you made more then you paid for it?

Will your buyers be saving money on stamp duty with the recent changes? If so perhaps you could say you need to increase the price not to the full original asking price but by what the stamp duty would have been.

There is a risk they will walk away though.

Why did you struggle to sell it 8 yrs ago?

We used to live in the house and couldn't sell it prior to moving areas for work, so it has been rented for the past 8 years.

Given this history (hard to sell previously), the position of your buyers and the uncertain state of mortgage-lending/people's jobs/long-term trends rather than a short-term uptick, I'd stick with your buyers at the price you agreed and be happy you'll get the sale done. A bird in the hand, etc.

If you couldn’t sell before I’d go with the buyer you have. Depends how bothered you are about selling? Must you sell or could you just rent it again? There’s slight alarm bells - you’ve got a house you haven’t been able to sell before. I’d not take the risk for a theoretical buyer that may or not want to offer you an asking price.

@Ultimatecougar

I wouldn't honour it. Why would you give a stranger 16k? What is to stop them flipping it straight away for an increased price?

Haha this is serious? So you would "snatch" the house back, collapse the process....

If it makes you feel better my brother accepted an offer about 10% under (slightly inflated price) which amounted to about 55k. This was in March & now loads of his neighbours have put their flats on the market for 5%-10% more however the flats are pretty identical so who knows what they will go for & he got a similar percentage off the house he bought which was more money (80k) cause he was moving up the ladder.

Won't the house you're buying also be under-valued though if house prices are going up? It all becomes relative. Also, who is to know what will happen in the next month or so if there's a second wave. House prices will plummet. A new buyer may pull out etc.

I think your're doing the right thing by sticking with them

House buying and selling is always a lottery. It's a big bonus to get cash buyers so no chain and much less potential for the sale to fall through. All these houses going under offer after advertising at higher prices may have accepted lower offers and may complete much less again.
I had to drop my price a lot to sell a couple of years ago due to the Brexit effect in London. It was annoying but I still have a nice house and you just never know when will be the key time.

@userd

Why did you struggle to sell it 8 yrs ago?

In 2012 it was much harder to sell property in general. Very much a buyers' market. Also we were selling at too high a price. Took valuation from estate agent who gave us the highest valuation in 2012. We had it priced at £259000, which was just above threshold for higher stamp duty back in 2012 which put people off no doubt. Stamp duty rules have changed since then.

This time, we got a realistic valuation, which was confirmed by multiple estate agents.

You can't know you would have sold your house for more. There are so many factors involved, it really just isn't that cut and dry.
Prices are always moving (and can go up and down) and when you accept an offer you have to make that decision in the knowledge that the market might move afterwards.
I really would stop thinking about it - you accepted what seemed like a fair price at the time.
Also people saying you're 'giving £16.5k to the buyers' are totally wrong - houses are only worth what someone is willing to pay and that's the offer you received and accepted at the time. On that logic, no-one would ever sell when prices are rising.

I think 6% under the asking price is realistic. My DS completed on a flat during lockdown. He paid 6% under. His best mate has since made an offer on a flat across the road and has an offer of 6.5% under offered.

I would let this play out. Prices haven't risen dramatically, and chances are it will be a blip while the stamp duty thing continues. It isn't a massive percentage discount, well within the bounds of normal in buying and selling.

Also people saying you're 'giving £16.5k to the buyers' are totally wrong

This is really odd, how does anyone know what the house will be worth when the buyers decide to sell & Id say it's highly unlikely they are going to "flip it"!

@userd

I don't think 6% under offer is bad. Have you made more then you paid for it?

Yes thankfully. We lived I house from 1997 until 2012, so it has increased in value since then.

@PampassGrass but that's the market, I would say the fact you couldn't sell it then but you now have no chain buyers & a realistic chance of selling go with it. Have you made money on the property?

just seen your reply. Then I say go for it as your not physically losing anything.

Don't forget they will save on stamp duty as well won't they? I'd be tempted to ask them to meet you half way

We met the buyers for the first time a week ago. They were very sweet people with lots of plans to extend. It would pain me to renage on the sale to such nice people. I do think a bird in the hand is worth 2 in the Bush.

We are almost ready to exchange. Buyers have mortgage set up and survey and searches have been done. It would be cruel to pull out at this late stage.

I'm not sure I respect anyone that much, let alone perfect strangers

Someone on this forum wrote a post about how they honoured a house sale even after they lost out on the house they were buying and the time they spent renting and out of the housing market meant they are now in a 3 bed instead of a 4 bed. The people who bought their house probably never gave their situation a second thought.

Do what you want to do. These things collapse all the time.

One of mums old neighbours tried to sell her house off & on for 10 years. She wanted the highest possible price even though the house was old fashioned. She wouldn't entertain any offers even though it had gone up by hundreds of thousands of pounds. I don't really understand why she was so set on a particular price as she would have been able to afford all her future plans regardless. Well she died before she sold it at 75 never getting to experience any of her cruises etc. Complete waste imo as she had no dependents & should have been living it up with the proceeds.