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.

Didn't read the rest but agree with this!

The world has moved a lot since then - you're not a charity and if they don't want to sell at the lower price, they can find someone else. It's called a market for a reason - while crappy in normal times, a deal ain't done til you've exchanged.

The market hasn't dropped yet so I don't think it's fair.

But OP thought the house was worth the money she offered @Worriedddd. That’s completely different to an agent over valuing it.

She thought it was worth it in summer 2022. The market looks a lot bleaker now.

What am I reading?

Of course you are being unreasonable. You made an offer, made these people wait 2 months for you in good faith and now you want to drop the price?? You should have completed by now! Basically you are holding them to ransom because you have wasted their time and now want to put a gun to their head.

This is a proper dick move. No, there is no legal contract but there is basic decency.

As ppl have said - unless you can’t afford the house anymore you should go ahead with it. You can’t just reduce the price because your reckon the sellers might be better off or the market might move. If prices were going up and the seller asked you to pay more for the house after stringing you along for 2 months how would you feel?

Also, their finances are irrelevant here. You have no idea why they are selling and even if they are mortgage free that is none of your business. You liked the house, you bid on it, they accepted. Now get on with it.

Prices only matter if you are planning to sell during the dip, if this is a long term family home, so what?

Don’t screw people over. People like you are the reason why the property market is so utterly filthy. No integrity.

If you want to lower your offer, do it (but agree it’s cheeky and as a seller I would walk away), but for goodness sake don’t wait until the day of exchange when the seller will have incurred all their legal costs and planned their move. If you’re going to renegotiate, do it as soon as possible and be prepared to lose the house if it goes wrong.

Agree that estate agents remember this stuff and if you end up back in the market they’ll warn sellers of your behaviour. Your solicitor also won’t thank you for wasting their time.

Depends whether you are actually ok with walking away if they say no. The actual value of the house is what a willing buyer will pay to a willing seller. If you are no longer prepared to pay the amount you originally offered then yes lower your offer, but they may then refuse to sell to you on principle, so only drop the price to an amount £1 less than the price that is so high you don't want to got ahead at all.

PS we accepted an offer late summer and are nearly at exchange. We would pull out if our buyer lowered their offer now and relist and the buyer would be back to square one (and need to reapply for a mortgage at a higher rate).

I've noticed a lot better coming houses on now that would I rather get a reduction and paying more money to the bank. Some of the stuff that has been on has been utter dross for top prices. If the house is the dream I would still go for it. If it's because you couldn't find any better I wouldn't go ahead paying over the odds for something you aren't keen on.

A good rule of thumb is to treat others as you would like to be treated, even if you are an atheist

I think Lidl Deluxe Parmesan cheese should be £2.49 which it seemed to be for years now it's £3.19 which I have to pay if I want it. House prices are a function of supply and demand and affordability as determined by interest rates and cost of living. Interest rates and cost of living are only going one way for the foreseeable and house prices will have to fall to accommodate that. We are at the peak and the only way is down - don't overpay you will be saddled with that extra debt for the rest of your working life. Other people's problems are not yours worry about yourself.

Unpopular opinion but the market is completely different than it was in summer. We are in a recession. Offer what you think it’s worth, it’s your money and you have to live in the house and risk any potential negative equity. Be prepared to walk away or for your buyer to walk away if you do this.

Business is business.

This , the seller isn't going to pay your mortgage for 25 years or the energy bills. Put yourself first. It's business.

Are you broken? The entire thread is written here in black and white. You're very clearly wrong and trying to backtrack. You said I misread what you wrote - I pointed out you never said what you claimed to have said, now you're agreeing you never said it but someone else did. So, by what logic did I misread what you wrote, given that you accept you never actually said it?

I have bought and sold 4 times during my working life and had a lot of stress and grief during that time. The major lesson I have learnt is don't buy and sell together if you can avoid it - chains are the devil's work and take the emotion out of the process in a flat or falling market you can take your time there are plenty of dream houses if the buying window is left open long enough.

@BrightYellowDaffodil oh come on, stop being so mealy mouthed and say what you think!
🤣🤣🤣

I can see a contradiction in your posting.

House prices have gone up (since your offer was accepted) Vs house prices will/may fall.

So ‘your’ house has appreciated since you negotiated your offer and may fall later - back to what you bought it for?

Assuming you’ve got your mortgage at a decent, past, rate you stand to loose out.

So you gazunder your sellers, they stand their ground and put the house back on the market. They may well refuse to sell it to you - I would.

You’ve then got to look for another house, at post summer, raised, prices and apply for a new mortgage, again at increased post autumn prices.

This idea is best forgotten and never spoken of again.

If you think house prices are going to drop then you pull out the purchase and stop house hunting until that happens. Of course there’s a risk it doesn’t and if it does what will interest rates be by then?

But you can’t offer a lower price in relation to your crystal ball saying house prices will/may go down. I may become Prime Minister. I may not.

I put YABU because as a seller I would pull out as it would ruin my ability to afford up chain, however as others have said you really need to do what if affordable to you.

If your only reason for lowering is the housing market forecast, you have no idea how long it will be before house prices lower or if they will just stagnate. However if your reason is because your survey has valued the property as less than your offer or your mortgage rate has changed for the worse those are definitely valid reasons.

Also if you try to gazunder right before exchange to try and strong arm the seller, they are much more likely to pull out out of principal and as PPs have said your name will be mud to the EA.

At the end of the day do what you need to do and if you need to offer less tell the seller as soon as possible so they have proper time to consider your new offer.

You made a deal. Have the decency to stick to it, unless you don't want the house!

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

Where are you living currently? Are you buying the house to live in or as an investment? If it's to live in then I can't see what your issue is - you've agreed a price you were happy with, you've presumably got finance arranged at a cost/rate that you're happy with. So what if the market dips? It won't affect you in the long term. How can you suddenly not afford to proceed as planned? On the other hand if you're buying at a high LTV, and you have job/income security worries, then you'd be crazy to buy right now regardless.

Thank you @Dexionmagic

This is what other PPs and I were saying earlier (& then got mixed by by another PP misreading it)
You've explained it clearly and simply

Except in this scenario OP is saying houses prices are dipping but it's the same event and consequences

Have you no pride OP?

If my buyer did that I would pull out of the sale altogether, even if I lost my new house. I would never have my feet held to the fire like that, it’s not a moral thing to do.