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.

They are in a chain.

im presuming that this is fine for the sellers - my offer would allow them to place their own offer on a property.

‘I can't speak for that poster, but I would also be annoyed if I was the seller and, unless I was desperate, wouldn't sell to you.’

There is very little point in getting ‘annoyed.

It sounds like no decent other offers have been made and they may need to wait 6 months and a far lower offer if they don’t negotiate with the OP.

Things like gazundering a few days before exchange are dishonourable but, ahead of the survey and, in the early process, anything can change (I’ve bought and sold plenty of property and experienced lots of messing around).

But equally, they were monopolising on the fact that they could receive a higher or better offer than mine when not taking their house off of the market?

I don’t think you would be unreasonable as they didn’t really accept as they didn’t take it off the market- now you are ready go back with the offer.

Because the house had only just come on to the market, there weren’t any other buyers vying for the property and you hadn’t sold your own house. They probably assumed you were just sticking your foot in the door but would drop down your offer as soon as as you could.

If they're in a chain and really want to move, I lean more towards making a lower offer.

They've no more right than anyone else to be protected from the impact of global instability on property prices, and they don't sound like the sort of buyers who'd be in a position to take it off the market in the hope prices recover.

You want to annoy the vendors for about 2% of the price. I would be embarrassed.

Yes - we offered above asking to basically not market the house and to give us a few weeks to sell ours. Our estate agents told us lots of people would have accepted this no questions, but this particular buyer is desperate for a fast sale/offer and so didn’t.

Well, you should have not offered the fap on the property. You are monopilising their vulnerability

Reading all this is why I think England needs to adopt the Scottish house buying system.

Point taken but I still feel uncomfortable with your proposal

Your estate agent is bullshitting you.

Then our buyers monopolised our vulnerability then by putting in a low offer knowing that we wanted to sell quickly? We are inclined to accept based on the fact that we really want to offer on a property. Our sellers are in the exact same position as us and we accepted a lower offer…

I think it's fine as your offer wasn't accepted in practice. Whether you want to miss your dream house for 10k is another story.

Agreed

How?
Unless someone wanted to sell ASAP, why wouldn’t they accept this? We had asked for 4 weeks to sell our own property in return for £10k above asking price?

Yanbu to try. The vendors had "accepted" your offer but only when you were able to proceed (ie. sold your own house) - so obviously kept their house on the market.

Now you have an offer on your house but it is quite a lot less than you were expecting. You still want your vendors house though! (I am stating the obvious for the benefit of people on the thread who aren't understanding fully).

You can go back to the vendors EA and say you are now proceedable but at a slightly lower price - are they interested? A £10k reduction on a house of that value doesn't seem outlandish to me.

Why would you be annoyed? It's a business transaction, it's nothing personal. People get way too personally hung up on things like this.

No harm in the OP reducing their offer at all. Seller may call their bluff and stick firm but equally they might reduce if they are keen to sell.

These threads are always total madness OP.

I think the seller could be quite resistant to a lower offer as they know you were / are prepared to pay full asking price. However, if they need a buyer and yours is the highest / only offer they may accept it. I suspect what they might do is keep it on the market for a little longer to see if they can someone without a chain. You are proceedable but with a buyer who is in a chain you are not in a super strong position, I would say. Could be worth a try though.

I wouldn't if you really love the house and you accepting a lower offer on your own home has absolutely nothing to do with them. If there is any time to lower your offer is once you have your survey done and it throws up anything expensive to fix.

But if not too worried about losing the house, go for it.

This is different from what you said in your original post. The vendors told you that £825K from a proceedable buyer is the offer they would accept. You initially offered them one of their two requirements, the £825K, and are now offering just the other one - proceedable but less money. Also without knowing how long your chain is, and whether all in the chain are truly proceedable, it is impossible to be confident how certain they can be that you can move fast.

This is a judgement call and only your vendor knows how they would react. They may be concerned about a buyer who tried to renegotiate at this stage. If the vendors are set on a particular property, they want a buyer they are sure will not become difficult close to completion. You say you wouldn't change your offer after a survey, but are you saying that if the survey suggested the property needed a new roof at £25K, damp work at £10K etc you wouldn't be seeking a reduction? I respect your commitment to not changing your offer again, but there must be a financial point at which you would need to rethink.

You have already shown that you are very keen on the house, by offering above the asking price. This was not the wrong thing to do at the time, but may weaken your negotiating position. When you make a lower offer, you need them to think that if it is not accepted, you are willing to walk away.

Whilst it is true the housing market is extremely uncertain at present, if their property has been on the market for less than two weeks, the Iran war and issues around mortgage rates etc were already an issue when they listed it. You have decided to take an offer significantly below your asking price because of your reading of the property market; they may have a different view.

I wish you all the best getting your dream home. Moving house is ridiculously stressful at the best of times, which these are not.

You should have insisted on their taking it off the market with an asking price offer. (Why didn’t you?)

You owe them nothing.

Now, you explain the truth ie that you have to revise your offer downwards as, to meet their requirement for speed, you have had to accept a lower offer on your own place.

They will push back and say they want more.

You say ‘fine but sorry we are at the max - come back to us if you change your minds’ and you proceed with your own sale as getting this done or along the road will put you in a better position than other potential buyers.

It’s already April and nothing is shifting in the housing market - no rate cuts are on the horizon and there is nothing but gloom globally. Inflation is kicking off. House prices are going to flatline at best. No one has any money.

Just put in the lower offer if you are so convinced it’s the right thing to do. A load of people have said it might not end well- but it’s your risk to run

I definitely would offer. They can say no.
They should have taken it off the market and not had any more viewings. You could have easily been left high and dry by them if they sold it to someone other than you who was in a better position for a cheaper price.

I think you’re coming from this from the wrong angle. They’ve listed their house for sale£825k and you’ve agreed in principle to pay it. But your offer is quite meaningless as you needed to sell your house in order to proceed with the purchase and that is why they haven’t stopped marketing their property- you are not yet in a position to buy.

Obviously you don’t know exactly what their circumstances are and weather or not they’d accept a slightly reduced offer, or how much of a rush they are in. So by all means, you can ask them, but I don’t think you should be under any illusion that you are somehow more appealing as a buyer than their potential viewers next week. If you want more power in the negotiation, you need to be ready to proceed.