House Purchase: DH - seller is going to be difficult

[Stellaaaaaaa]

Need some advice re a house purchase.

The house we are interested in is being sold by the children of the owners, to pay for their care home fees. The parents have both in residential care for over a year.

The house came on the market in late spring/ for £750k but was later reduced to £735k.

It remained on the market at £735k and an offer was accepted in July / August.

The house has come back on the market because the prospective buyers failed to sell their home.

We’ve had two viewings and placed an offer of £705k which was rejected. We placed a second offer at £712k, a day later, which has also been rejected.

I think our offers are reasonable based on the condition and other comparables. The local market has had a slow down this past month, and a few houses are back on the market.

We are chain free, having sold our home earlier this year.

I want to place another final offer but DH is no longer interested.

He thinks the sellers will mess us around because there isn’t the incentive for them to push through sale, unlike a normal sale. He also thinks they won’t negotiate on price if the survey reveals faults.

Has anyone purchased a house which is being sold by someone who has power of attorney? Does it make things more complex?

Id like to get people’s thoughts if they have similar experience?

Two years ago maybe!
Very regional but many areas are back to normal

Good points previous pps have mentioned, as poa’s they need to act in the best interests and may not be able to accept offers under a certain amount

MN: your house isn't selling because it's too expensive, it's always the price, drop your price.

Also MN: do not view houses you can't afford.

👌🏼

Your DH seems to be thinking a lot of things! Simply because they won’t accept an offer considerably below the already revised asking price.

If the price compares unfavourably with other houses in the area, just go for one of the others instead.

Yup!

I had a buyer like your husband OP, they kept coming back with silly low offers thinking they were clever. The following week another buyer came and offered asking price, I accepted.

The previous bidder then offered over, I rejected it and refused point blank to deal with them any further as I knew they would be trouble down the line.

4% below asking?

That's not particularly low at all.

I agree. In a normal market (i.e. not like the madness we saw in Covid years), offers of 4% below asking are entirely normal and reasonable.

I have twice been successful at 5-10% below asking, but it depends on the house and the local market. I have offered asking when I thought that was a fair and realistic price (we didn't actually get that house as another buyer offered the same and was more proceedable than us).

House are worth what a buyer will pay, which is determined by the local market. The price set by the EA or the seller is a guide, nothing more.

You've no idea if they will be more or less awkward. Involving more people does tend to add complexity but they may get pressure to pay fees and that might focus them too. I've no more idea than the next man.

I'd get on with what you can control and don't be pushed to overpay (unless, I guess, you really want to secure it as a dream.home). If I'd reached my maximum I would say so and walk away but let them know the offer stands but you will be continuing to.view whats on the market.

I fail to see how the seller is being difficult. You each have a red line; unfortunately they don’t overlap. You can offer what you are prepared to pay; the seller can accept or reject if they wish, and for any reason.

The emphasis was on need. I was simply referring to time marching on, and the requirement looming as current cashflows run out. Thought that was clear. Apologies I had to explain it to you 🙄

If your DH doesn't want to pay more than £712k then there's no point discussing it. Presumably he's worked out that amount plus your renovation costs is the maximum you have.

They aren't obliged to sell to you at the price you'd like. They need to get the best price possible for their parents' care. Maybe look at cheaper houses.

"He thinks the sellers will mess us around because there isn’t the incentive for them to push through sale, unlike a normal sale. He also thinks they won’t negotiate on price if the survey reveals faults.
Has anyone purchased a house which is being sold by someone who has power of attorney? Does it make things more complex?"

I don't think the sale is more complicated presuming that power of attorney has already been granted. I do think though, the sellers are likely to push for the highest price they can. Normally a seller will want to sell. Provided they can get the money to cover the house they want to move into, it's going to be more beneficial for them to sell quicker and get moved than hold on for extra pounds.

However, care home fees per month or even year won't be the cost of a house, so there is no rush for a lump sum. Assuming that there are some other savings either that the parents have, or that the kids have, which will cover the care home fees for a while, the most beneficial thing is going to be to wait longer to get a higher price for the house. E.g. If they have the money for 2 years of care home fees, but parents might live another 5 years, it's going to be better to get 3 years of care home fees when they sell the house in 18 months, than to get 2 years of care home fees, selling the house in 5 months time....

Honestly zoopla are useless.
They take recent sales within a postcode then how much yours sold for last time and stick it all in a calculator.

Apart from the price what is there to agree on.
During the buying process the sellers fill out a form re info on the house.
What more is there
Why does there have to be extensive discussions unless you want to lower the price later.
Theres no chain which makes this sort of property a lot easier than most

Exchange and completion dates. Very stressful when you need to know when you're actually moving so you can book the removal company and make sure you've finished packing, etc.

True
As there’s no chain though this would be a much easier sale than most.
Although I can see there might be issues with where everything goes and disagreements on that.

We were supposed to complete on 11th November. Our buyer is still stringing it out for absolutely no reason that they are prepared to disclose. It’s not just OPs type of sale.

Juat agree a target up-front with the offer.

You make it sound so simple! Maybe in some cases it is, but in my experience there's always something unexpected that delays exchange.

Isn't that a sensible way of getting an estimate of value?

But as others point out, they are only worth what somebody will pay. The house in question was marketed over 6 months ago. Has had a buyer drop out due to a chain break. It isn't wrong for the buyer to use their position as a bargaining tool. It will depend on seller motivation as well as a degree of speculation on what way the market may go in eg six months time.

No
They have no idea if you’ve put in a new kitchen, extended or trashed the place.
Nor do they pay attention to the differences in house type.

Where I live all houses are very different, some people, like us, bought ours because of historical significance with people chomping at the bit to pay more and more.
It might work if they actually looked at houses that have exactly the same footprint, style and level of decoration but apart from that it’s useless.

The prices they give can also be off the mark if one seller sells at a significantly lower price because they just need to get rid for whatever reason. That sale then skews everything.
And so it goes on

Other than extending and adding rooms, the values really don't change by vast amounts. The only things that would affect a valuation is has the property structure been improved or reduced, ie roof, damp, windows, structural integrity. A nicely decorated house will only make it an easier sell. In the same way as a well polished car.

I recall talking to a kitchen fitter on holiday from if I recall correctly one of the commuter towns for London. He laughingly told us of how often he would fit kitchens and see all sorts of other decorative work done to sell houses, then how often he was back within a year to change it to the buyers wishes.

Motivated sellers that sell low are counter-acted by those that hold out for top dollar. Hence why it is an average.

That’s all it is though
An very basic average

Which of course is the only reasonable guideline for valuing. As you say the previous sold price of the particular property and when that took place is factored in. The increase or decrease in value contains the percentage change in local values.

So if the change is an increase of 10% over the same period, the £100k house is £10k more. The £500k one £50k more.

Just bcos u have made an offer doesn’t mean they have to accept it, offer them the price they r asking if u want it.