AIBU to decrease house price offer?

[Onefortheroad1]

Our offer on a house was accepted in late summer. Since then obviously there has been a lot of upheaval, lots of mortgage offers pulled, rocketing interest rates and house price drops widely expected.

If you were buying would you seek to renegotiate and lower the price because we are not committed to buying yet and the economy has got significantly worse since our offer was accepted? Or do you just think this is part of home ownership and we should proceed as agreed.

If it makes a difference the sellers have lived there for a while and the value of the house has increased significantly so I think they are mortgage free so a lower offer won’t push them towards negative equity or a financial loss.

I want to be fair and reasonable to the seller but can’t afford to overpay as prices come crashing down.

You thing they're mortgage free? But you don't know?

yabvu

I agree.
And I would hope I was considered up to now a fair minded person in rl.

If you are our buyers then I'd pull the house from you and re market and sell for more.

We had offers over but our buyers were in a strong position, we had viewings and sold in a matter of days as we priced really well.

I think you run the risk of coming up against a stubborn person like me and you loose the house.

And I gain, or loose but I can afford too do both.

People invest a lot of emotion in buying and selling their house but it's just business. If you think it's worth less, offer less. They can say yes, no or tell you to sling your hook.

www.standard.co.uk/homesandproperty/property-news/london-house-prices-fall-five-year-forecast-b1037280.html

If you 'overpay' 10% say think about how much money that is and how long you will take to make that. Debt is a real long-term obligation and the world has totally changed in the last few months. I'm afraid a lot of sellers are going to have to adjust to that or just not sell. Are you a ftb or cash buyer?

If buyers have done this twice then there's a pattern forming. Is maybe the survey dodgy or your house is being down valued ? People are putting themselves first in a financially tough market. Sellers aren't going to pay the bills for the buyers are they ?

I don't see it as being cheeky if a buyer wants to offer less and I'm a homeowner. It's a business transaction they don't owe me anything and I don't owe them. It's not personal. I wouldn't take it to heart. In OPs position I would push forward as prices wouldn't lowered enough to justify the higher mortgage payments as long as they are on a long fix on the old rates.

Are you prepared to deal with the possibility that they may tell you to fuck off and will pull out of the sale?

We've just backed out of our sale due to economic environment. Im really surprised at the comments you are getting here. Things are looking very different to a few months ago.

t's not unreasonable to prioritise your own financial security above that of a stranger who is selling you a house. You can't commit to a financial decision that no longer makes sense just to be nice.

I absolutely agree with this puppers

The thing that has rankled me is that OP thinks the sellers should take the hit because the sellers are in a better financial position.

If it makes a difference the sellers have lived there for a while and the value of the house has increased significantly so I think they are mortgage free so a lower offer won’t push them towards negative equity or a financial loss.

All wrong.

They either think the house is worth it or they don’t. The finances of the seller are not their concern.

Should have said purchase, not sale

And me, the day before we were due to exchange. I told him to piss off, knowing his mortgage offer was about to expire. We exchanged at the agreed price. I’d tell you where to go @Onefortheroad1.

I'd say it's poor form. Presumably you were happy with the amount you originally offered or you wouldn't have offered it? You can reduce, but I'd expect them to not accept this as any "shortfall" that you create by reducing the offer they'll have to make up on their onward purchase? Our FTBs tried to significantly reduce their offer a few weeks down the line and we simply couldn't do it as we needed the whole original agreed amount to make our agreed purchase viable.

It's CF territory, unless the surveys have come back with something large flagging, or the valuation has come back much lower than the price you were going to pay

It’s a really shorty thing to do. Suck it up or pull out entirely and do it well before exchange.

If helps you to have a viewpoint from a seller, I have had an offer excepted late summer. If our buyers tried to renegotiate, we would have to redo our mortgage to borrow more, as we would be getting less from the sale, during which time, the buyer’s mortgage offer may expire, putting them into a higher interest rate and losing them any savings they may have made on the renegotiation. As we secured our mortgage offer later than our buyer, I would put the house back on the market again, if they tried to renegotiate, as we have 5 months until it expires. The buyer may well end up with a higher mortgage rate and there is no guarantee that they would find another home they liked any time soon. With my situation, I already have a home, so no real risk to me as the seller.

I guess it depends on your situation, really and how invested you are in wanting this particular home. Also on how desperate the seller is to move.

We have just been through this whole dilemma. We decided in the end that we had done a deal on the price that was right at the time, and we wanted the house. So we didn’t reopen it. Morally that felt right. House prices haven’t dropped yet (certainly where we are moving to) and my mortgage is fixed for five years already. We exchanged last week and I’m now keeping away from rightmove 😂

I own my house outright without a mortgage if I come to sell it it will be at the market price as it exists then if it's 20% down then so be it. Housing is so overvalued especially in the SE that a crash will be good for the younger generation. Waiting this one out for a few months won't do you any harm indeed it could be very beneficial.

If it makes a difference the sellers have lived there for a while and the value of the house has increased significantly so I think they are mortgage free so a lower offer won’t push them towards negative equity or a financial loss.

^^All this has literally nothing to do with value. If you want to negotiate, I would be thinking:

• location
• size and style of house
• nearby amenities
• etc.

You have given zero facts on which to base a renegotiation so how the heck are any of us supposed to give an opinion. Otherwise it sounds like you are just trying it on.

I've decided houses are almost certain to drop for the next couple of years so pointless looking at the minute. Every listing seems to be reduced some sellers seem to be living in cuckoo land what the market is now like. I want to upsize so I don't care if my equity takes a hit. I'm just saving and making sure I don't make any large purchases. Supply has been dire with really crappy houses going for top money the last few years. Better stuff seems to be coming on already.

@Mummbles
So, no, I didn't misread what you wrote at all.
Mumbles you are being tiresome
I wrote my post with a quote of the poster OnlyFools saying

OnlyFoolsnMothers
I’d call your bluff- I assume you have a mortgage rate agreed, if I the seller pull out and you offer on another house wouldn’t your rate be higher?

And agreeing with them

You need to read what you criticise - when you are shown to be wrong don't double down!!!

What stage are you at in the process OP. Generally speaking, although people on MN are being negative about lowering your offer , I believe as the economic conditions have changed, you would be sensible to also change your offer. You aren't doing something 'cheeky'. It's a shift in the economy that is causing it. It's not the sellers fault but it's not yours either. No idea why people on MN seem to think it's on the buyer to suck it up. Your interest rate will be much higher than when you offered. If not immediately ( if you've locked it in for a few years) then definitely when the fixed period ends you will be stuck with a much higher interest rate. They aren't coming down in the medium term. The idea that 'oh no, you'll just have to suck it up' rather than renegotiate is naive and very parochial. So weird.

@pocketvenuss
We are November OP said they had offer accepted late summer
At least 2 months ago then of sale processing solicitors fees being paid, surveys should have been done, searches... mortgage offers arranged ...

It's a shifty thing to do

It's a game of chance.

Happened to me in early nineties, offer accepted, then when the competition was out of game, he lowered his offer, by A LOT.

Never entertained the new offer, back on market and he ended up battling with others for the house, well over his intial accepted offer.

He didn't get it, I wouldn't have sold it to him anyway. I enjoyed his dissapointment.

So have a go, it may backfire, it is wrong though to demolish the competitors and then start again with you're own suggested price. Personally I would just tell you to go away.

I suppose if you are half hearted in the property and don't mind losing it.

What a dick move, I hope they bin you.

It's because people get into their heads their house is definitely worth what the estate agent says so get annoyed. My house was valued at 225k in 2019, I bought it for 210k in 2016. 5k above the 2007 value. In 2022 it's been valued at 300k. I've done nothing to earn that money just sat in the house 🤣🤣. It definitely won't sell for that now. People think they are owed it because the EA says so.