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Original poster

"I'm a cash buyer so I'm offering you 20k less than your asking price"

30 replies

AlanBstardMP · 02/03/2015 22:17

Just aaaaaargh. I shouldn't be phased by this but it really got to me today.

House has been on the market a week. We've had three offers so far, none of which are quite what we want to settle for. The last of these came today, obviously from someone chancing their luck.

Does being a cash buyer really make you that attractive? We're going into renting for a bit so we're not desperate to sell, and our house is prime first time buyer material. So I might be naive but I dont see a huge difference between cash buyer or first time buyer really in our situation.

I never knew this house selling lark was so ruddy stressful.

OP posts:

KittiKat · 02/03/2015 22:23

A cash buyer is only attractive if you are desperate to sell. Ignore them if you are happy for someone to sort their mortgage and go through the usual motions. £20k is an awful lot of money to lose so stick with your guns.

OddFodd · 02/03/2015 22:23

House selling is v stressful but you're in a good position to wait until you get the price you want. Cash buyers do mean that you know their mortgage isn't going to fall through but if you have a good solicitor, they should check that any non-cash buyer has their mortgage agreed in principle anyway so no, in your situation, it doesn't make that much difference.

As for how cheeky they're being, I guess it depends how much the house is on the market for. £20k can be a big or a tiny percentage.

But you're going into rented so you can tell them thanks but no thanks very smugly :)

PurpleWithRed · 02/03/2015 22:24

Saying you never knew house buying was this stressful is like saying you never knew childbirth was a bit ouchy. How could you not know it's stressful? Gird your loins dear it's going to get a lot more stressful than this!

VivaLeBeaver · 02/03/2015 22:25

A cash buyer wouldn't make any difference to me at all. I don't really see the benefit. You could get a non cash buyer who has a mortgage agreed and isn't in a chain who would be just the same.

Three offers in a week is good. If you're not in a hurry hang in there as long as you're sure you're not asking too much.

MsAdorabelleDearheartVonLipwig · 02/03/2015 22:26

You usually get about 10% less than your asking price, or you did when we last bought about five years ago. You factor that into your asking price.

Original poster

AlanBstardMP · 02/03/2015 22:28

You got me there purple! Like childbirth I knew but didnt really 'know' until I was doing it for real. If that makes sense .

I will be sticking to my guns. I'm just finding the whole 'game' that seems to come with selling a house a real eye opener.

OP posts:

TheCrowFromBelow · 02/03/2015 22:29

In theory It's good if they actually are cash, as they have all the money ready and waiting, with no need to sell or get mortgage to OK the valuation etc. not sure it's worth £20k off the asking price though, and it's amazing the lumber of people who say they're cash who actually turn out not to be. If you do think you might accept this offer then ask your agent to get the buyer to provide proof of funds befoee accepting the offer. Moving is stressful, it took us 3 years last time with a few hiccups.
If you are not desperate then don't settle for less than you want to.

Confusedhousehunter · 02/03/2015 22:33

We had cash buyers offer 50k less than asking price! They were convinced we would accept their offer because they were cash buyers, even though the estate agent told them we'd turned down much higher offers.

Original poster

AlanBstardMP · 02/03/2015 22:42

The 20k offer is 15% less than asking price, just for comparison.

I've also heard that about some cash buyers crow so I will be asking where the cash is coming from if needed (one of the other buyers who has made an offer is also a cash buyer).

50k is a lot confused!

OP posts:

PigletJohn · 02/03/2015 23:03

these chancers are often fantasising, and will still apply for a mortgage. Sometimes they are the kind of people who will spot an easy mark and demand another £20k off, the day before exchange.

If you are considering them, ask for evidence, such as copies of their bank statements for the last three months.

Original poster

AlanBstardMP · 02/03/2015 23:13

Thanks for the tip piglet

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OnBlueDolphinStreet · 02/03/2015 23:40

We had a chancer "cash buyer" make an offer. We were out when he was shown round by the estate agents, but our neighbours told us of the drama when the wheel of his fancy sports car fell off as he drove away! We thought - nah, he sounds dodgy and didn't accept his offer.

We sold to someone else who didn't muck us around. The estate agents told us that Chancer kept hassling them to get us to sell to him instead...but would we wait until he had put his property on the market!!

RaphaellaTheSpanishWaterDog · 02/03/2015 23:45

We also had three offers in the space of a couple of days when selling last year. One of these was also a cash buyer - had been living/working overseas and was currently in rented with cash in the bank from a previous sale - who offered £25k under AP.

One of the other offers was at asking price but from a couple requiring a mortgage who were in a short chain. Our EA actually thought the cash buyer might be the better bet - I should add he did try to negotiate her up to the level of the other offer - as he felt the couple at AP were a bit flakey due to the fact they'd withdrawn from another purchase.

The person making the lower offer did make a big deal about them being in a good position being a cash buyer etc, but whilst we wanted a quick sale - having found somewhere to buy - we also had a gut feeling they would be the picky type when it came to the survey. For example, they not only insisted our new (and bloody expensive) engineered oak flooring was laminate, but that the floor was sloping.....it wasn't!

As it happened the flakey couple not only offered AP, they didn't negotiate us down at all post survey - despite it being a 200+ year old house that had a few obvious issues.

On the subject of dropping the price at the eleventh hour - our buyer's buyer did that - dropped their offer by £10k a couple of days before the whole chain was due to exchange. Our buyers were desperate to get our house and all things being equal considered it such a paltry sum they just sucked it up and didn't pass it up the chain......

BackforGood · 02/03/2015 23:50

If I were chain free, I would definitely be offering low on any house I was thinking of buying, as it is a big bonus for most people.
The fact you say anyone who buys your house is likely to be chain free obviously makes it less of a bonus, but for a lot of people then it would carry a lot of weight. How much, of course, is never clear until they have an answer back from their first offer.

Trufflethewuffle · 03/03/2015 07:58

We sold our house last year to a couple who were chain free, I have no idea if they took a mortgage or not. Being chain free was the important thing for us.

A few months previously, we had agreed a sale to a couple plus their friend who were apparently cash buyers. As we approached exchange it came out that there was a related sale after all. They had made a big thing about being cash buyers which sounded great. One of them was a builder and they felt they didn't need a survey or valuation. Their choice, we thought.

Then they pulled out on the day we were due to exchange. This was, evidently, down to doubts about their buying/sharing issues but if they had had to shell out any money for surveys etc. this might have been thought about earlier.

As they were not taking a mortgage they had no need to cough up any significant money until exchange. We felt it increased the risk of a buyer pulling out and when we accepted the offer from our eventual buyer we said we would only take it off the market when they arranged a survey so that we knew they were financially invested. Obviously they could have still pulled out but we felt a touch more confident knowing they were spending some money on it.

Baddz · 03/03/2015 08:04

We sold to a cash no chain buyer.
We were so desperate to sell we sucked up all manner of shitty behaviour from him.
Sadly chains cause all manner of issues and I know of people whose chains fell through the day before moving.
Nightmare.

specialsubject · 03/03/2015 09:57

as you have another 'cash buyer' who has made a higher offer, why bother?

as repeatedly noted, your agent needs to ask for evidence. That means bank/building society statements showing that the total is held in accessible accounts and ready to go. That is the ONLY definition of a cash buyer.

hereandtherex · 03/03/2015 13:10

Depends where you are and if they are a proper cash-buyer.

EAs tend to get confused/over-excited about people who turn out to be getting their 'cash' from a provisional mortgage offer.

15% off asking is pretty normal in a lot of places. Outside of London (and in London now!) houses are not selling anywhere near asking.

Get firefox+property bee. See how long local houses have been kicking around. I know a lot of people would bite a cash buyers hand off for 20% off asking - even after knocking 20% off the original asking price. T

here's stuff near me that has been on the market for well over 4 years, bouncing back forever in 'Under-offer'->STC->Available.

Original poster

AlanBstardMP · 03/03/2015 13:48

We paid very close attention to the local market for some time before putting ours up here - our area (not London) is a very buoyant market and I know what other houses in our area that are like ours have sold for. Demand is high and supply is short. Not that I'm saying ours definitely will get asking price but given the state of our local housing market and the condition our house is in I still think it's a cheeky offer.

Lots to think about still.

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hereandtherex · 03/03/2015 13:54

I don't any area is very buoyant at the moment.

The number of transaction have been bumping along the lowest on record for a good number of years.

DayLillie · 03/03/2015 14:09

NDN accepted a cash offer, as they were moving abroad.

Unfortunately, down the line, the 'cash' buyer suddenly decided they needed to sell another property , so they had to accept a lower offer (with mortgage, but no chain), as time was getting short.

They also had to get rid of white goods, that the 'cash' buyer had wanted, which was a pain and would have been done earlier, had they not been messed about with.

unlucky83 · 03/03/2015 14:17

We were cash buyers, we put in a 5% below asking price offer in a sealed bid type of situation. We got the house. The sellers weren't in a particular rush to sell (owner had gone into residential care).
I found out (by chance) later we had put in a slightly lower bid (think one not several thousands) but the fact there was no chain etc involved did sway it in our favour - because it was a guaranteed sale, no chance of the sale falling through etc and them having to go through it again.
We didn't offer less because we were cash buyers but cos I thought the asking price was a little high (and and was pleased that someone else had considered it to be too...)

Cacofonix · 03/03/2015 14:24

We have an acquaintance that always says he is a cash buyer but he never is. It's just his way of getting accepted. Once part way down the line, when people are committed, he mentions he needs a mortgage. So unless you have evidence of funds, don't believe them! Having said that another friend sold their house to a cash buyer who had his funds checked by the EA and the week before exchange he apparently couldn't release his funds anyway. IMO cash buyers are only good for this who need a very quick sale.

jeee · 03/03/2015 14:27

Bottom line is, the buyer can offer what they like. And the seller can accept or decline as they see fit. If you think the offer's too low, tell the buyer. They can decide whether they wish to offer more.

But if you do accept a lower offer on the basis of a cash buyer, make sure that you get evidence of his status.

GooseyLoosey · 03/03/2015 14:29

If you're not in a real hurry, I can't see the advantage.

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