House back on the market

[WhenWillISleepThroughTheNight]

Hi everyone

I have so much that's happened just lately - I've just lost a baby so I can't think straight. Hence I thought I would ask mumsnet.

We offered on a house back in May. We had a mortgage in principle when we offered.

Offer accepted, then we were waiting for the mortgage to go through fully, however 90 days later the bank changed their lending criteria and dropped us (we are self employed and had SEISS grants).

Now we have another lender but of course there have been additional delays. We've updated the estate agent as much as we can but there have been quiet moments when nothing has happened.

Agent called me to tell me they are going to put the house back on the market with another agent.

I have spoken to our bank and it seems we are about a week away from going to offer and the solicitor has already done all the searches etc and is just waiting for the offer to put forward a completion date.

This morning we saw the new advert for the house.

It is at a lower price.

We have been the unwilling cause of the delay.

What would you do? I mean, should we ask to reduce the price to match the new asking price? Would you?

The delay is on our side but we have done everything we can to minimise it and update the agent.

I am under so much stress. I don't know what to do. I envisage we can realistically complete within four weeks now.

It's not your fault the market has dropped since May, so why would you over-pay now?

Over-paying is just going to make it even harder for your mortgage to be approved as the LTV changes of course.

Or have they dropped to get a quick proceedable offer . Are they needing to sell to proceed on a purchase?

They have already moved as they're not in a chain. They want a quick procedable offer yes as they're still paying council tax there.

May - mid November is a long wait. I don’t blame them myself

Oof, May is a distance ago... I offered on a house in early July and moved last week and the chain was pretty frustrated at that!

Are all enquiries sorted?

Do you know why you're still a week away from an offer? Is it with the underwriters? If I'm honest, any time that it took more than a few days in our chain, people got nervous that there was no offer coming... everyone who got one got it in days.

If you change the price; your mortgage offer will need updating, which is another thing to bear in mind...

But I wouldn't overpay.

Persally I think making a lower offer now cannot go in your favour sorry. They have specifically moved agent to find another buyer which suggests they do not wish to proceed with your purchase.
Not your fault unfortunately. Sorry for your loss x

How much is the difference to what you were going to pay and what they want now?

5000 difference

I would split the difference between what they want now and previous price and say you can exchange next week.

You run the risk of loosing the house if you do this, but they have messed you about by putting it back on when at the final hurdle and IMO have cut their nose to spit their face.

Oh 5000 difference!

Offer at the lower amount for exchange next week!

How exactly close are you to exchanging? Because a £5k drop and you can complete in a couple of weeks. They aren't going to get anyone else quicker. Very odd behaviour from the seller.

If I were the vendor, I’d not accept a lower offer from you. The very most Id consider is taking your original offer but continue to have viewings until exchange. What matters is the bank valuation, not what it’s on the market at.

They don’t know you, and they’ve given up on you - for whatever reason they don’t believe you’ll complete. Remember, they dont know that your perfectly honest straightforward people who really do want to buy.

I think 4 weeks to be on the safe side.

You are not in a bargaining position if you need another 4 weeks.

why is there such a delay with the mortgage offer this time?
If you got an agreement in principle from them in August or September I'd have expected a full offer to have been issued well before now.

Even recently we offered on a house and had the mortgage offer in place only a few weeks from application.

They have put the house back on the market with a different agent at a cost to them. You aren’t in a position to be lowering your offer as they have rejected your original offer now and are no longer interested in you buying it after 6 months. You will have to start looking for somewhere else to buy.

Hmm mixed opinions then. Thanks everyone.

That sounded a bit rude, not meant to be. :-)

@LemonSwan

Oh 5000 difference!

Offer at the lower amount for exchange next week!

Won’t work even if the vendors agreed, as the mortgage will need to be redone, surely.

Will it? Has anyone any experience of that specifically?

Just get your offer first, then if you need to borrow less. It’s quick and easy to do.

No, I’ve done many mortgages and reduced the required value POST offer. It’s easy to do. Doesn’t require a revaluation.

@Tinkywinkydinkydoo

They have put the house back on the market with a different agent at a cost to them. You aren’t in a position to be lowering your offer as they have rejected your original offer now and are no longer interested in you buying it after 6 months. You will have to start looking for somewhere else to buy.

Rubbish. They left their agent as they got fed up, it’s no cost to them UNTIL the house is sold.

The house may be marketed at a lower price but it doesn't mean they are expecting to accept a lower price.
Rightly or wrongly, many agents often advertise a property £5-10k below their valuation to make the property more attractive and to encourage a bidding war/more interest. Also, they take into condiseration Rightmove and Zoopla search brackets, for example, a house could be worth £255k but the RM and Zoopla search bracket is £225-250k so they market it at £250k to not miss a huge percentage of potentially buyers who may well offer for the sake of £5k.
I wouldn't think you are in much of a position to negotiate, in most places there is little to nothing in the market so demand is high, certainly where I am it's a seller's market. The sellers seem to have lost all faith in your willingness to complete. Sorry

I think anyone suggesting you should try to negotiate DOWN is mad, they vendors are so pissed at you and have lost all faith they’re literally going back to square 1 rather than dealing with you anymore. You’re in no place to negotiate, the absolute beta you can hope for is your offer coming through now amd them agreeing to still sell to you. But TBH I wouldn’t count on it, they might be past the point of no return regardless. They’re actively choosing to take less money in order to ensure they sell to NOT YOU, you should be begging them to take your higher amount