AIBU to walk away from this house purchase?

[Quandaries]

Will try to keep this short.

Viewed a house and loved it 6 weeks ago. Ticked all the right boxes and was very good value for what it was. Offered asking price and it was accepted. Survey done, solicitor engaged etc so at the stage where it’s cost us some money.
Booking deposit has been paid but is refundable (not in Scotland).

We have a large deposit and mortgage is ready to draw down. We’re not in a chain.

Our solicitor was chasing theirs for contracts.

On Thursday I got a call from their agent to say they’ve allowed another viewing from a very insistent couple who are cash buyers and offered £8k more.

Agent now wants us to reoffer and increase on the new buyers’ offer so we’ll be paying £12k above what was agreed. He insists that the house will go for even more if it goes back on the market and says that houses are being snapped up before they go on the market as more people are working from home and this village is very popular for those with just an occasional commute.

I’ve had a look at Right Move and can’t see any evidence of anything other than price drops in the area. I accept that there may be houses selling before hitting the market and I don’t have this data.

My heart loves the house. It’s in a stunning village and really ticks all the boxes in terms of schools etc.

My head is saying we’re actually in a better position than the cash buyer as we’re 100% ready to go and can sign this week whereas they will need to have survey done etc.

Head is also telling me that if the sellers are going to screw us for £8k (for context, that’s a bit over 1% of the purchase price we had agreed), they’ll be a nightmare to deal with and it’s only a matter of time until they come back to us either with a new offer from the other bidders, or pushing to put it back on the market.

I’m also guessing that house purchases slow down a bit in winter, and it’s an area where more Covid lockdown measures are likely so putting it back on the market may mean there aren’t many viewings.

For additional context, we can afford to increase our offer. I’m just loathe to get into a bidding war due to how the vendor has sprung this on us.

But I love the house.

YABU- up my offer
YANBU- walk away

"We're ready to proceed at your original asking price as agreed, chain free. You've shown the property behind our backs while we were proceeding in good faith, including paying for surveys and solicitors. We have already negotiated our mortgage which is ready to go. If you really think the new buyers are ready to go and will pay more for the privilege, then good luck to you. We won't be increasing our offer and will be asking that you cover our solicitor and survey costs. Let us know what you want to do."

along those lines is how I'd be going.

Walk away. The right how will come up.

When we bought our house ago we made an offer on the strict condition that the property would be taken off the market, that all sales particulars would be removed from advertising literature and that any viewings would cease. The vendor was happy to accept those terms and this was the only thing we asked for.

Any EA actively endorsing gazumping wouldn't be getting my business. It's also strange how these suddenly-materializing-at-the-11th-hour 'cash buyers' have a tendency to disappear - not a bad scam as it would be very difficult to prove they were fictitious. But what a thoroughly bent business model. If they're really up to this then the vendors are complicit and deserve to lose the sale.

sorry - a few years ago, that should have read. Pity there isn't an edit function.

Walk away.

I have also seen a lot of "offers over" ads, which seen designed to get the highest possible amount.

IME offers over is when the sellers aren't getting what they want because it's over priced

Not round here. I'm talking about new to the market adverts, so presumably no offers yet made. A villager did this - house sold to the second viewer on the day it went live. They were very happy with the offer, which was much higher than an identical neighbouring house which sold in February.

@StillCoughingandLaughing

The agent will not be bluffing

Agree on this point. It would be madness to take that gamble.

Wouldn't be trusting the agent though, as well as the seller.

It is a common tactic to suddenly find another buyer when money has been spent. Happened to me.

I would call their bluff.

They are sellers that mess people around and do not stick to their word.
I'd be worried that they actually may not be going to sell at all to be honest. They are 'playing the field'. They also used your bid and your good faith as leverage to wring money out of another (possible) buyer.
What a bunch of pricks they are. What is another 8k to them when they are already getting a king's ransom for the house?

This happened to us and they were bluffing. We told the estate agents that they sellers had accepted our offer and they should keep their word, and that we were not prepared to offer any more. We got it at our original offer.

I don't know why everyone is blaming the agent. It's the vendors who have allowed the viewing and now want to renegotiate. None of this is worth the agent's while. 1% of 1% of the sale price (or whatever fee the vendors are paying) is not worth the extra risk and hassle to them. They would have wanted the sale to continue with OP.

It's easy to say, but yes, I would walk away. If you lose the house, so be it. Another better one may well be on the market.

I don´t think I would walk away immediately, but I would say that you are prepared to offer x amount (maybe 1-2 thousand more) and that is it, and that they have x number of days to accept or else you are pulling out. If you really like the house, I would make a bit of an effort to keep it first. But I wouldn´t offer much more and I would be clear about the timeframe. The integrity/greed side of it wouldn´t bother me at all. It is merely a business transaction and like most business transactions, the aim is to get the best deal.

25 years ago bidding for this house I got a feeling we might be getting played and stopped taking the calls from the EA for 48 hours.

By sheer chance I met him on the street at 5.30pm with an arm full of brochures and told him we were back out looking.

9am the following morning my husband got a call to say the house was ours at our last bid.

We really wanted the house and we got it for a good price as it turned out, great bones of a large house which we fully renovated with a huge urban garden.

But we were played and I didn't hesitate to mark the card of the EA involved.

There are some decent EA's out there, but many are nothing but cowboys without a shred of decency.
Good to know the reputation of the one you are dealing with.

I wouldn't want to employ a known gangster selling my house.

What a nasty thing for the seller to do.
If you love the house, ask them to reconsider, as you are ready to go and they know you are genuine. But I wouldn't pay the extra unless you are desperate to have that house and nothing else will do.

Walk away. The trust has been broken.
Or, tell them you won't up your offer, but will leave it on the table for 2 weeks (as suggested above). Leave them room to swallow their pride if the other buyer turns out to be a non-starter.
There will be another dream home.

I think you should ring your solicitors and say what you’ve said here. You are in a good position to purchase the property and the agreed price. You are ready to exchange and move.

What’s the sellers position? Are they likely to lose their next property is there’s a delay?

Similar happened to us. Our (asking price) offer was accepted, then later along the line a 'cash buyer' came along and they rejected our offer for theirs. We increased our offer to 10k over the asking price to secure the house but so did the cash buyer and so we walked away before getting into a bidding war. We ended up losing our buyer as they wanted a quick sale and we no longer had anywhere set up to move to.

A few weeks later the EA rang and said that the cash buyer had misled everyone and was 'no longer around.' We no longer had a buyer so couldn't make an offer.

The house remained on the market for 6 months. The day we got an offer on ours we made an offer on the same house which was accepted, the next day the EA rang to say that they had apparently had a higher cash offer (after 6 months of no offers) and asked me to up my offer. I walked away and never looked back. It was a lovely house but I was tired of their games.

a decent estate agent

No such thing.

@ithinkiveseenthisfilmbefore

"We're ready to proceed at your original asking price as agreed, chain free. You've shown the property behind our backs while we were proceeding in good faith, including paying for surveys and solicitors. We have already negotiated our mortgage which is ready to go. If you really think the new buyers are ready to go and will pay more for the privilege, then good luck to you. We won't be increasing our offer and will be asking that you cover our solicitor and survey costs. Let us know what you want to do."

along those lines is how I'd be going.

I’d go with this...

Walk away. It's a common fib.

They'll be back on the phone to you once their mystery "other offer" has disappeared.

Walk. Away.

We did. Sellers tried the same shitty tactics and we walked away. Low and behold, three months later they came back and asked if our original still stood. We reduced our offer and got the house. Eminently satisfying.

Except...they didn’t move far and we see them in the local pub all the time. Awks.

I meant lo and behold.

Walk away

@SuitedandBooted obviously depends on area but when London was booming (2014/2015 I think) & things were going for over asking sellers would have open days or people would just offer over the asking price so no need for overs over.

Agree to the higher price and then on the day of exchanger withdraw it and offer a lower price!

Two can play their game.