Nasty disagreement over house purchase

[Alittlebyte]

We are negotiating a house purchase and found a house we both like. We have been going back and forth with the seller over the past few weeks.

Our last offer was £555k which was rejected but the seller has said they will accept £558k. My husband wants to offer £556k and not a penny more. I think we should offer the full amount but my husband has refused and is adamant he won't offer more than £556k.

Am I being thick, it's £2k more and we get the house? My husband isn't moving and has called me a clown for saying "it's only £2k more."

prices have been amended to avoid outting

HNRTT but if market prices in the location are dropping, if you are not willing to offer the sum they said is their minimum price then rather than increase your offer by £1k, I would sit on my hands and wait for them to look at the market then come back you.

For £2k if it's the house we wanted in the most perfect area, I would just agree. As house prices rise it would all even its self out in the end. But if you genuinely don't think it's worth it just leave your offer on the table and walk away.

True
However the seller at this point hasn’t spent any money
The buyer however has paid for searches and a survey.

Ive walked away from buyers lowering the price at the last minute for a variety of reasons. They usually retract their lower offer in the end.
Ive never been in a chain though

How can 2k difference be 'trying it on' when you haven't had any comparable offers?

Seller sounds deluded.

I'd just pay if I wanted the house enough - you never wants buyer that'll haggle over every penny because yes, you know they'll come back at every possible point to cause trouble.

Such a stressful business...

this!
It could be anywhere, all you know is the original asking price(which I think OP then edited to what's showing now?) and that it's a bit dated, there must be thousands of houses at that price for sale in the UK.

OP it depends, a few years ago I'd have said you'd be silly to faff around for such a small percentage (I know you've changed them slightly but presuming they're roughly in the same bracket, you're talking, what 0.4% of the overall cost of the house) but it is a buyer's market today and the fact they've met you somewhere in the middle means they might agree - at the end of the day if you go with the higher amount you can't then back down, whereas if you try the lower and they say no you can try again. But tbh if I were them I'd be a bit pissed off with you at all the back and forth and if someone else came in the meantime and offered even the £556k I'd go with them rather than you.

Also the survey might come back with some unpleasant surprises at which point you might want to renegotiate again.

However house valuations will account for work that needs doing in terms of requirements to make it liveable.

He will be paying.

What about the buyer being pissed off?

There's not a queue of them at this price, so why are they risking ending up with a lower offer?

Untrue, they have likely spent money on survey and searches for their onward purchase. Most sellers will be looking to move on, and chain-free seems to be the exception.

And I have walked away from a purchase after paying for a survey. Didn't even lower the offer, just withdrew it completely. Only fools become over-invested in a property transaction before Exchange.

Isn’t your Dh just a ruddy delight?! I don’t think it’s worth losing a house you love for the sake of £2K.

However the seller isn’t necessarily losing their onward purchase so whatever they have spent still stands.
The sellers buyer however, if they lose the property or pull out, will have to pay all over again for another one.

When a chain breaks down because a buyer pulls out it doesn’t necessarily mean the entire chain breaks. Most sellers and buyers will wait for a new buyer up the chain. They might as well wait, unless they are able to remarket and find an entirely new buyer, as the same thing could happen again and again.

Ok, clown comment aside, in every relationship there is a negotiator, and a 'oh what's the harm' person. Sit back and let the negotiator do their thing.

100%

Especially when the negotiator is the one who's paying

We sold this year. Buyer offered super low then gradually came up to asking. He then continued throughout the sale to delay and to attempt to renegotiate the price. We were so sick of him I told him if he tried to renegotiate again we'd walk. So I'd be wary of constant offering, and if it was me I'd pay the extra money. But only you and your dh know if it's worth that to you and whether you can afford it and any changes you need to make.

That's good advice if one person is being led more by their heart than their head and making daft offers, terrible advice if the 'negotiating' is basically a pissing contest over less than 0.5% of the house value. It's going to make almost zero difference to either party and the house is either worth it or it isn't.

Sorry, I was just talking generally about buyers.

The OP has actually made the monetary amounts up to avoid being recognised, so no one is actually sure of the true values being discussed here.

Is he funding the whole purchase?

I think goodwill between buyer and seller from the start, is worth it. We are trying to buy a house at the moment and unless it is obviously grossly over priced, we're likely to offer asking price "subject to survey" and as others have said, knock down costs at that point that are in line with the survey suggestions. Or try to. The whole pissing contest element that arises were each side is begrudging toward the other is completely beyond me

How long has the house been on the market

His money, his decision.

Calling you a clown is unacceptable and incredibly rude though ... I wouldn't accept such a treatment.

Well even on a very cheap house, £2k won't be much as a proportion of the whole cost (I'm assuming that amount has not been changed). I couldn't imagine letting a house I loved slip away for £2k. Unless the increase in mortgage rates has a much higher impact for you than I realise? That might explain it but you don't mention it as a consideration here.

You say he's funding the whole purchase but if you're married that's your money too.

As above. It depends how long it’s been listed and how much the seller wants/ needs to move. Have there been viewings and other offers?

It’s no good refusing offers if you’re keen to sell and it’s no good quibbling over small numbers if you’re keen to buy.

It also depends what the market is doing in the area.

If I was a seller and someone increased in only £1k increments I'd sell to someone else. That type of attitude is a nightmare when it comes to the end of the process, you can almost guarantee their be penny pinching on the fixtures list, the survey items etc.

Wonder if the OPs called him anything though. Clown is not that bad really. Your reaction is quite dramatic though.