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Original poster

Guide price on house, offer declined

19 replies

pitttapatter · 29/06/2018 17:22

Hi there
Our current house is sstc and owned outright.
We've seen a house we like, up for guide price 200k. It's been up for 2 months. It has a tenant there who apparently is a friend of the owner and is in the middle of moving out.(No sign of moving out when we viewed it though)
This house needs some work on it, which we imagine will cost around 15k.
We put a cheeky offer of 185 in which was declined, so then made a final offer of 195k which we thought would be accepted. We are buying outright with no mortgage.
This has just been turned down too, apparently the vendor wants the 200k and has been told the house is worth 225k which is nonsense.

Any advice on our next step? We can go to 200 but that would eat into our upgrading budget which I'm reluctant to do. Also worried about the tenant...

OP posts:
Singlenotsingle · 29/06/2018 17:24

Better look elsewhere. This one isn't going to work for you!

BackforGood · 29/06/2018 17:25

I would just left them know that is your final offer, but, as you are SSTC, then you aren't able to wait around and will be looking at houses. They can take it or leave it, but suggest if they do want to take it, they let you know before you see another house you like.
Having a sitting tenant is offputting enough to lots of housebuyers, before you even get to it being overpriced (if it is).

Original poster
pitttapatter · 29/06/2018 17:28

Thanks
I'll give the agent a call to let him know we're not budging on 195k.

OP posts:
squiglet111 · 29/06/2018 17:38

They probably are changing it because they know you are a cash buyer. Just say no and I bet the estate agent will come back saying they now accept your offer!

squiglet111 · 29/06/2018 17:38

Chancing not changing

Original poster
pitttapatter · 29/06/2018 17:43

Squiglet

I never thought of that.. This heat is addling my brain!!! Not going to budge from 195 and hopefully they'll change their minds

OP posts:
AniSL · 29/06/2018 17:45

Send friends round as prospective buyers and offer much less than you have 🙊

Original poster
pitttapatter · 29/06/2018 18:02

That's a good idea, bit naughty 😂

OP posts:
SassitudeandSparkle · 29/06/2018 18:05

I'd look elsewhere tbh, they don't seem to be in any rush to sell if they have a sitting tenant (that would leave when they needed to) so they may well hang on for that last £5K!

problembottom · 29/06/2018 18:08

Depends on the seller's situation. We had ours up for a few months and had three asking price offers but all the buyers had sold already and wanted pretty quick moves whereas we needed time to find a house. We started getting cheeky offers near the end as buyers obviously thought we were getting desperate but that just wasn't true, we were actually struggling to find anywhere else.

Kit10 · 30/06/2018 11:39

It's so frustrating when there's a stubborn seller, it all comes down to who is more desperate. If they've got a tenant in paying the mortgage (or just income) they probably aren't in a rush. We had a similar issue last year, exact same figures actually but we refused to go to £200k as it was massively overpriced, so we got nowhere. He sold it at the price he wanted eventually but took 15 months! There's just little you can do unless you are willing to pay the price, we weren't as the house was a short term investment. If it's a long term home for you I would bite the bullet.

NonnoMum · 30/06/2018 11:44

The vendors believe their house is worth £225k.
You believe it is worth less. You are willing to pay £195k.
Either they won't take it or they will.
Or you look elsewhere. Simples.

OR you offer £200k but put a timeline on it (be out in 6 weeks?)

PurpleTigerLove · 30/06/2018 12:31

Stick to your 195 and walk away . If you’re a cash buyer chances are they will accept . Make sure the tenant is out before you sign anything final though .

BarbaraofSevillle · 01/07/2018 08:26

Sounds like you have to walk away or pay what the seller wants. They obviously have different ideas to you about what the property is worth and they will find out in time whether their gamble (rejecting £195k) pays off or not.

Sometimes sellers are delusional about what their property is worth. We once offered £125k on a house that the seller had done up to a very high spec, which simply wasn't justified at that price bracket. It was on for £135k so was unsurprisingly rejected and that house sold over a year later for £125k, so they could have had that money from us a lot earlier and they probably lost thousands in lost interest on the money.

To them it was an especially bad decision as the stamp duty threshold was £125k at the time, and other similar houses were selling at £115-£120k at the time so it was never worth what they wanted/needed, despite the overly fancy fixtures and fittings.

Growingboys · 01/07/2018 08:30

Sit tight. They're trying it on.

flumpybear · 01/07/2018 08:38

If sit tight but also look for alternatives - I'd even book more viewings go to other properties via same estate agent so they know you're not waiting for that house

BubblesBuddy · 01/07/2018 08:48

There will be other houses where the vendors are desperate to sell and will bite your hand off! Look elsewhere. The vendor doesn’t really want to sell. Is it with an agent? What are they saying? It all sounds unrealistic to me regarding holding out for more in the current market. However this tells you why it’s not sold! Do you really want to enter into a purchase with this vendor. Walk away.

Vendors might agree to what you want and then don’t stick to it: eg. Moving out! Our vendor moved out 7 weeks later than agreed. It took from January to mid May to get my first time buyer DD into this flat and she had the money available too. People are just not reasonable and don’t stick to agreements!

Original poster
pitttapatter · 01/07/2018 11:08

We haven't heard anything back from the agent yet. Not really happy that the advert didn't mention the fact that there were tenants in the property and reading up on it is making us nervous eg if they refuse to move out, or don't allow the surveyor in.
We've got some more viewings on different houses this week so hopefully we'll see something else that we like.

OP posts:
NotSuchASmugMarriedNow1 · 02/07/2018 00:02

Are they Sitting Tenants?

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