To think these house buyers are time wasters?

[Coolbeansjeans28]

Trying to keep this as clear as I can but it all seems a bit odd to me.

Context house on market for around a month, requires some work but this has been reflected in the price. Not looking to discuss this aspect.

Onto the real question. Had a viewing, was fairly brief and they have also got an offer in on another property but could pull out as they like our house, its location etc. In the end said house lovely but too large. Thanks but no thanks.

Later that day recieved an offer 100k under asking price due to work needed done etc. This offer was just declined as it is ridiculously below what we know the house is worth. This was later adjusted to 50k below stating they had made a mistake with the first offer (online EA). We countered with 25k below asking price as this is a low as we would like to go given the value of house and waht we need for onward purchase. They offered to meet in the middle of their offer and ours but we declined and they have said they need to consider if its affordable to them. We are happy to go a bit under with a stale market, lack of interest and just wanted to get the house sold!

But, the whole situation feels a bit off to me. The initial comment of it being too large so not for them, the purchase of another property which will be available sooner than ours (as they are currently in rented accommodation) and the messing about with wildly varied offers. My gut says avoid, but also if they come back woth an acceptable offer who am I to say no based on my own assumptions and imagining?

YABU - proceed with sale if offered.
YANBU - dont touch with a barge pole.

We sold for 550K. First time we ever sold a house and probably the last time. Selling a house is brutal at times, we even had people asking if we throw in certain pieces of furniture in with the price…it was crazy.

If you're willing to accept £75K less than you're asking it's overpriced.

Depending of course on its value.

I think you and your partner need to do some hard thinking.

Many agents won't allow buyers to view if they don't already have a mortgage in principal set up, or a broker about to do that, and a solicitor at the ready and even an offer on their own house (if they have one.)

We had a similar situation when selling our house last year. The buyers booked a viewing within hours of us listing (turned out they’d had their eye on our house for a while). Loved it and made an offer within days but £50k under asking claiming the third largest bedroom wasn’t really a double (it had a double bed in it, was comfortably used as a double and was bigger than the fourth double that they had no issues with).

We declined and then began the drawn out process of them making counter offers raising other things they’re didn’t like about it until we accepted the asking price.

On the day they moved in the husband commented that the house was £100k more than they could afford, so it became clear they were desperate to own it and this had been their attempt to afford it.

Not a nice process of selling to them. They were a pain in the arse and threatened to pull out constantly throughout the process. They also starting giving tasks to our solicitor because theirs was cheap and useless, which we put a stop to. They could only afford a level 2 survey too which involved the guy tapping a few walls and then (and we caught him) scrolling on his phone whilst sitting on our bed.

It’s a gamble but if the market is slow you might have to take it.

I viewed recently with yopa, the estate agent could not wait to get out of there, he rushed the viewing and it took about ten mins before he was asking if we are done;
I am the only person to offer and have gone in 25k below asking on a property that needs all renovating as the owner is in a care home so this will pay for the fees and they didn’t seem to be in any rush!

agent even agreed it’s over priced🤷‍♀️

being the viewer I wouldn’t use yopa, it took 4 days to reply to an email regarding an offer and they have hardly any properties up for sale in our local area.
they seemed rushed and then rang me to ask if they can sell my house, despite knowing the seller has rejected my offer

Having bought and sold a few properties now (my own homes and as a landlord), I'd say a really good estate agent is worth their weight in gold. You want someone you can actually visit - not an online one - and who will market your property effectively to get you the best price. You don't just want an online advert and a sign. You want really good photographs, a list of people they would contact who might be interested in your type of property and someone who can sell it during viewings. It is sales after all and you need a good salesman/woman. I would also get a good couple of valuations as well so that you are clear on the actual value of your house - you don't want to over or under sell it. The other thing a really good estate agent should do is vet your prospective buyers e.g. check identities, mortgage in principle in place, that they have evidence of deposit etc. This avoids any 'time wasters' or issues later on. Finally, I'd say that the type of prospective buyer is really important e.g. are they in a chain, do they drop out of sales, are they a first time buyer. Lots of sales fall through and you want a really reliable buyer as solicitors costs can mount up with all the prep work involved with a failed sale. Good luck!