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

because a “reasonable offer” is something definitive! 😆

It's worth what someone will pay for it.

Of course it is, it's the highest offer you get.

How long are you planning on staying in the house?

I had an old boss who gave me really good advice when we were in a similar position. When he and his wife were buying their first property they ended up having to pay £10k more than they’d have liked due to the threat of being gazumped. But they stayed in the house 20 years, the house doubled in value over that period and that extra £10k ended up being a drop in the ocean that really didn’t need to be as stressful as it was at the time.

If you love the house, plan on being in it a long time, don’t cut your nose off to spite your face for the sake of £2k. It doesn’t matter what the house market is doing right now if you’re not planning on flipping it.

if the figures have been edited OP

why not give the percentages

at that point in time

In that case you're a kite flyer and don't really want to move

Hence the buyer is correct not to budge

What is "unreasonable" about saying "No that's not enough, this amount would be enough" ???🤔

Just because you consider the buyer's offer "reasonable" doesn't mean the vendor does, or should.

If you aren't going to sell your property 3% below ask in this market to the highest bidder after several weeks negotiating with them, you're an unreasonable ass and shouldn't have put it on the market.

or just happy to wait a bit and see if better offer arrives

it’s not brain science

Agree
swings and roundabouts
although tbf OP hasn’t commented on their financial situation so they may not need one and it could backfire on a buyer in assuming everyone is in the same financial situation.

Like I said I don’t think an offer worse than 2% below ( unless they want a quick sale ) is fare and obviously we disagree which is fine.

( Of note we have accepted 4% reduction but based on a quick sale….not that the buyers kept to that! )

has the op confirmed percentages?

Or stupid enough to pass up the highest offer they'll ever get

Or just another greedy ass

sure thing
but then you must be prepared to let it go 🤷

I have no idea who is right about the house, but I dislike the way he speaks to you. Does he usually resort to belittling and name-calling?

goodness
it’s like you know the ins and outs of this entire situation in RL 😆

Yes @11:51

Housing aside, things are excellent.

He is annoyed with me because on another property I made an offer without checking with him. The offer was at the asking price but was rejected by the seller, he thought we'd go higher with a second offer. We couldn't afford to go higher and we lost out.

exactly
that’s what’s i picked up on

i imagine this is the tip of the iceberg of an otherwise pretty shite marriage

£5k increments would also be annoying if the house is over 350k.

I wouldn't penny pinch over such a small amount unless the house is under 150k.

Alternatively you could potentially negotiate by asking them to leave white goods in, fix something that's broken, replace carpet etc to whatever value.

and the name calling… that’s normal or you were, as i would be if my husband did the same, floored by it

He is annoyed with me because on another property I made an offer without checking with him.

and how did that go down at the time?

I know it well. Don't go and view anything that's clearly overpriced. You wait for the first round of reductions to adjust the inflated reality that the Estate agent has given the seller to win their business.

Well you’re just plain amazing! 😊

OP hasn’t said it’s overpriced.