AIBU to reduce our accepted house offer after selling ours cheaply?

[Miserablestrawberry]

We offered asking price on a house (825k) a couple of weeks ago (the house had only just been put on the market), and the offer was accepted but the vendors refused to take the house off of the market (completely understandable) and have had multiple viewings but no offers since.

We’ve now accepted an offer on our house. Due to the market, we’ve accepted quite a low offer (650k when we were initially valued at 700-715k from multiple agents) as the market seems to have sunk since the Iran war. We wanted to accept an offer Asap so that we can formalise the offer on the property mentioned.

As we’ve accepted a fairly low offer, would it be seen as cheeky to amend our initial offer on the house we wish to buy? We were thinking of going back at £815k.

Me too.
You offered full asking, went back and offered £10k above asking, and now you want to knock £10k off again?
You don’t know your mind a minute and I wouldn’t play your games with you.

It's easy to just go back and say, great news, we've accepted an offer on ours so we're proceedable now. Unfortunately we got less than we'd hoped for ours so our revised offer is X amount.

And then let them accept or reject it.

This is what I was thinking too. As we have only accepted this lower offer so that we can proceed with this specific property. We wouldn’t have accepted this just to now go and look for something else.

Perhaps I can word it as you suggested - we have an offer for X below asking - we can accept this but would you be willing to reduce by Y on yours too?

They didn't take their house off the market - of course you can amend your offer! I can't understand the other responses.

If they had taken their house off the market at your request and suffered as a result, that would be different.

You are not being entitled - a house is worth what someone pays for it.

Best of luck either way!

So they didn't really accept your offer because you were not proceedable. You are now proceedable and they've had no further offers. Definitely worth now offering less. IMHO.

Me too. I didn’t know if it would annoy them a little (hence asking for opinions), but people here seem to think the sellers removed their house from the market and then I’ve reduced my offer (which I wouldn’t do!).

You sound incredibly entitled and also naive. You don't get to gain financially just because you want to. You chose to sell and buy at this uncertain time, so you are subject to the current market. You could have chosen to stay put and see what the situation was in a year or so but you didn't. You chose to accept a low offer but that's entirely on you too.

I think they didn't actually accept your offer, as they didn't take their house off the market. And if in the couple of weeks since you floated your theoretical offer the market has changed due to the Iran war, you would not be too cheeky to go in with a revised offer, now that you are actually proceedable. They could say no, and it could sour their view of you if you then turn around and say oh ok then yep we'll go back to asking. They may choose to still not accept your offer on that basis.

This is a case of 'worst thing they can say is no' meaning that you lose a house you seem to love, so is it worth it?

If you do, say that you have a low offer (££50k) before asking) you’d like to accept if they’re able to help and accept a reduced price of £815K - so you and they can both proceed. They take £10k hit, you take £40k hit and you both get the houses you want.

Much depends on what's happening in your local area and also whether they're in a position to be fussy or not. Now is not a good time to be a seller, as you've seen, but if they don't strictly need to sell now they may just take it off the market.

I'd do this, but be prepared they might say no and want nothing more to do with you, or they might accept but unless you try you'll never know.

Dunno why you offered before you knew what you could afford.

If you did this to me, I’d tell you to do one. I wouldn’t trust that you wouldn’t try to drop the price later on.

I don’t think I’m entitled to anything?! Hence asking for opinions?!

That is an odd take. What if the survey on your perfect house found a problem that you were prepared to fix, but lowered the value? You’d take that hit? Negotiating after a survey is not unusual and I don’t think it’s frowned upon.

In terms of your lower offer now, I actually think it’s fine. They didn’t really accept your offer, and the reason for that is you weren’t proceedable. Part of the reason for not accepting offers from people who aren’t proceedable is that they don’t know for sure what they can afford. So they knew there was a chance you’d have to reduce your offer once you sold your house.

We can afford. The property is not at the higher end of our budget.

Oh dear, I think you marked your card in big red CF letters there! They are probably expecting a reduced offer from you now but will be a tad surprised you are making your move so early and not waiting until the day before completion.

Most likely they will say no and see if someone else comes along and if not, they'll come back to negotiate.

This has just happened with a house my DD is buying. They rejected her offer and she just sat tight and within a week they were back to accept it.

If they really want a buyer so that they can put an offer in on the house they want, then they will be prepared to compromise.

Am I being dense? Proceedable surely means they have an agreed offer? It does here. I guess maybe your agents have a longer agreed chain requirement - so you have an offer too. But how far back do you go?

If they’d taken it off the market I’d say don’t bother it’s cheeky. If proceedable to them means you have a confirmed offer or sale, then you have some bargaining power and I’d go back on that basis first - ie we’re now in a position to move quickly and offer a reduced price as you’re more attractive. They still might say no but worth a try.

I think this is right. If you accept a lower amount for your house how annoyed are you going to be in a few years time because you overpaid for next house? Depends on whether asking price was reasonable in first place but mortgage rates have moved a lot since last year and it's not looking good. You don't want to be undersell and over pay. They haven't even taken off market so you are perfectly 'morally' entitled to come in with a fresh offer!

I agree with Wallace, you should absolutely make your new offer. This is a new offer from you as a proceedable buyer which you weren't until now. Go for it. Quick, before close of play today and your sellers might be thrilled to bits as they can then offer on the place they want to.

Proceedable surely means they have an agreed offer?

No, it means the person making the offer already has a buyer for their own house. OP didn't at the time but now she does.

We are buying with the intention of renovating so it’s a bit here nor there really. Obviously excluding major issues but the house doesn’t appear to have any.

Just suppose your buyers decide they have offered too much when they have the survey done. Perhaps they will come back to you and ask for 10 grand off.

I’d tell you where to go.

if you’d wanted to negotiate you should have asked them before you accepted the low offer. That was your decision not theirs and they shouldn’t have to pay for it.

Your taking a low offer does not make their house worth any less.

You’re not even saying you can’t afford it, just that you don’t want to piss them off because you know it’s cheeky.

This is the reason the English system stinks. There should be a penalty for any changes past the point of the offer (like exchange is). Would root people out who think they can mess people around.

Both houses are fairly well priced really. Yes this is it - I feel slightly like we are underselling and overpaying (based on the current market).