Is this normal when making an offer on House?

[offerquery]

I've seen house to buy. It's been on the market for around two months or so. It's already been reduced in price online.

When it was reduced, I made an offer slightly under the asking price. After a couple of days they said they want full asking price.
So I immediately offered the full asking price.

Anyway, I haven't heard anything so I've just called the estate agents and they said the family want to think about it. So they will get back to me on Tuesday.

I was really confused about this because I've offered the full asking price so I'm not sure what there is to think about?

She said they feel somebody else might be interested in the property. I asked a couple of questions about this… It turns out the person who is "interested " hasn't sold their house and hasn't said they want to make an offer. They've simply said they like the house. But have not indicated at all that they are looking to make an offer.

I have a feeling I know who this is because when I was viewing the house for the second time, a woman was there and I heard her say that she likes the house and that was it. So I'm not sure if that's the person

I just don't understand. I'm not sure if they're trying to get more than the asking price from me. Or if they're just waiting to see if they get any other offers over the next few days?

Ah, they were keeping you on hold, while trying to get something going, either a higher price or a bidding competition. Well, that bold move alters the landscape and fair turns the tables. To further mix the metaphors, they may suddenly change the tune and become very interested in courting you. At which point, play your advantage and if you still have the desire to buy this house, play hard to get or offer below the asking price, with conditions that you want.

By how much precisely depends on the price bracket, price of comparable properties, the demand and momentum of the market, the seller's hard or soft stance, any other offers made etc. Is there another real offer?
Absent that information, thinking in terms of percentages to arrive at a figure, generally speaking, up to 10% below would not be an insult to the seller and it helps if you can point to reasons for the offer figure. You can then sit still or enter negotiations for what you want (quick move, taken off market, exchange solicitor details), what they want (more money) and increase your offer little by little, in two or three steps if negotiations proceed.

I think you’ve done the right thing, I’d speak to them though, say you’ve till close of play it comes off the market, or it’s done for good. But I’d be inclined to worry about buying from them,

PS: If / when they phone you, don't be rushed into anything, especially not impulsive decisions, offers, etc. Always give yourself time to think over any new information by saying you've noted what they say and you'll get back to them.

There are some good lessons here...

It is important to (as mentioned above) split emotion and reason - yes a house is very often an emotional purchase, but letting that be known puts you at a huge disadvantage.

This is most people's biggest ever spend of money - bigger amounts than most businesses spend in a transaction, it is a business transaction - not friends buying from each other, so there is absolutely no expectation that anyone else will ever be on your side - there are 4 sides:

• seller
• you the potential buyer
• any other potential buyers
• the agent

All will have their own agenda. The minute you indicate weakness (such a chasing every day etc.) then you lose power in negotiation - it is a psychological battle and you have to play the game. Play the game professionally

• the minute you show that you are desperate for the property - they have the upper hand
• the minute you show that it doesn't matter - you gain the upper hand.

So, giving them deadlines, making your offer conditional:

• property off the market or your offer is withdrawn
• acceptance of offer by xxxx or the offer is withdrawn
• exchange of contracts by xxxx or the offer is withdrawn
• completion by xxxx or the offer is withdrawn

In a house purchase, the person who sets the pace and expectations drives the bargain they want. It always amazes me how passive people are with such a big purchase (I do understand, people don't automatically have the experience) - it is worth looking at how to be more proactive - in the last house I bought I asked the lawyer for plans for Exchange dates etc. - turned out that they were waiting to see what everyone else was doing - rather like 4 cars waiting at a roundabout for one to go first - so I said fine - we will exchange on this date please inform the others - and we did!

@akkakk

Yes I definitely showed them how keen I was. I went from offering one price to upping it twice within the space of four days. Then they left me waiting seven days and still haven't given me an answer.

They're still letting people still view even though I've offered full asking price. I've told them they have until 4pm today or I'm withdrawing it.

As hard as it is, you need to seriously step back now or they're going to play you like a fiddle. Even if they accept your offer, there is no stopping them from accepting a higher offer from someone later. If you do go ahead, make sure you get homebuyers insurance.

@mightymam

Homebuyers insurance before I buy the house? Is that because after paying for a survey and everything they could still pull out?

Is that because after paying for a survey and everything they could still pull out?
Yes. Everything is "subject to contract". Nothing is certain until both parties have signed on the dotted line.

Yes. They could pull out at any point for any reason before the point of exchange. Get the insurance so that your survey and conveyancing costs are covered if the sale does not progress- it's the best money you'll ever spend. Ours cost us £15 or something like that but when our chain collapsed, we were able to recoup £1800k+ in costs. This was after a previous failed sale when the vendors changed their mind about selling their house and we'd spent money that we couldn't get back. I wouldn't trust these sellers of yours personally.

@mightymam

My God, I didn't know that. I will definitely be getting that with any house that I purchased.

I still haven't heard from them. It seems clear now that they have been playing games, especially as they are still allowing viewings and the fact that they are telling people booking to view that there are two offers already on the table. So I don't trust them at all

Good on you op, don't let them mess you around

Good for you.

The sellers are greedy fools to walk away from a keen cash buyer like you. If they get a higher offer, you can bet it gets reduced after survey, or even in the day of exchanging contracts. A chin can cause long delays and can even collapse. Once a house has been on the market for a few months it tends to receive less interest. Honestly, there will be other lovely houses. I’d wait. When we bought we made it clear it was a fixed price offer, take it or leave it. Any attempt to bargain or use us as leverage and we would walk away, but if they accepted we wouldn’t try to negotiate them down later. Our offer was accepted and sale complete within six weeks.

I'm sure ours was around £15-£20 but here's more info:

hoa.org.uk/advice/guides-for-homeowners/i-am-buying/homebuyer-protection-insurance/

I know you're really vested in this house but try to keep yourself grounded (I know it's hard when you've fallen in love with a house and imagined the rest of your life there!).

@Genevieva

Yes mine was on for months and eventually I accepted a price £25k below asking price.
Usually if I see a house that's been on the market for months, I wonder what's wrong with it.

My thought exactly. And there will be other houses. We had an offer rejected before finding our house. We ended up looking in a completely different area that I much prefer, so it worked out really well. And the other house took a further six months to find a buyer and sold for what we offered!

Well I guess it’s after 4, did you hear back?

PS
The housing market is very wobbly at the moment. in their shoes I wouldn’t delay. Houses around us are down about 15% on 2 years ago and as more mortgages come up for renewal and families face triple or quadruple the borrowing rate compared with a few years ago, the need to sell will be urgent. It’s a buyer’s market.

It sounds like your offer is on a probate sale. If there is IHT due, they will have to pay IHT to get probate before they can distribute the estate, so unless they have a lot of cash of their own, they will have to borrow from the bank to pay inheritance tax, then reimburse themselves later.

We offered below asking on a house that was being rented, they just rejected and said that they wouldn't take below asking which we couldn't afford. They came back to us 3 months later when the tenancy had finished and they still hadn't had any offers, to ask if we were still interested. We re-viewed and ended up buying it for around £10k more than our original offer but still around £30k less than their asking price!

They've just phoned me now to say they've been unable to get hold of the seller. They've been ringing and emailing him last couple of days but have had no response. They said they have had another offer.

They have emailed him to say that I have withdrawn my offer. And they will give me a courtesy call when they do eventually hear back from him.

@jolota

It's amazes me when I hear stories of them coming back months later.

Sadly, that can't happen in my case because I don't have months as I need somewhere quickly.
I literally have weeks so if they were going to come back to me it would really need to be over the next couple of days.

Yes it's kind of crazy on the sellers part! They were lucky that we were at the start of our search so we were still looking when they came back to us. Especially since we'd actually offered on 2 other houses in the meantime!

@jolota
My God. That was lucky. I'm going to have to get looking for something else I think. My heart was set on that one, but i've withdrawn it now, so there's not really anywhere to go from here except looking elsewhere

They might still come back to you, but you'll have to make peace with it either way.
Good luck in your search!