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Original poster

House on the market for over 6 mths, vendor won't except a 7% drop in price

47 replies

Paintpot22 · 02/09/2015 11:14

We're FTB, house has been on since March. We viewed it twice. Started out low and gradually went up.

We knew vendor was after a certain amount (£220000) yesterday we offered £217500. Vendor won't budge from 220. Feeling like walking away TBH. We don't want to pay 220 and ideally I wouldn't have offered more than 215.

Thinking about phoning the agent and saying 217 is our final offer, we'll leave it on the table for a week.

OP posts:
Original poster
Paintpot22 · 02/09/2015 11:14

ACCEPT....sorry

OP posts:
MovingOnUpMovingOnOut · 02/09/2015 11:17

There are always other houses. Walk away if the price isn't right but leaving it on the table for a week is fine.

But do look at other places too.

PoppyBlossom · 02/09/2015 11:18

I think that's the best move op, final offer and it will be withdrawn on x date. However what is the rest of thie market like? Have you seen any other properties you like? You can only play hard ball if you mean it, and have other options available to you. Are you prepared to lose this house for 3/5 grand?

SWFARMER · 02/09/2015 11:19

If you don't want to go to 220 then don't. State it's your final offer and say you've been looking at other properties. Vendor will soon panic or if they're not that bothered it sounds like it'll be on the market a lot longer.

There will be other houses. We had our heart set on one and offer was declined which was slightly over asking price. Then we fell in love with our current one but didn't get hopes up. It was on for 156 they dropped to 150. We offered 145 they said no. We offered 148 and they accepted. We moved in last week :-)

SWFARMER · 02/09/2015 11:19

Also a FTB

specialsubject · 02/09/2015 11:30

you can't force them to accept any price. Make your offer, take it or leave it.

I'd look elsewhere.

I bought 3 years ago. There are still some houses that I looked at on the market because they are over-priced. Not your problem.

NoArmaniNoPunani · 02/09/2015 11:33

Keep looking at other houses. It will either make you see that the house is overpriced or else you'll realise you don't want to lose the house you love for the sake of 3k

VacantlyStaring · 02/09/2015 11:48

It depends what the area is like OP.
Where I am, most houses sell for asking price within about three weeks with some in the more desirable areas going within days. Here, you can't negotiate and play hard-ball because someone will come along and pay asking price.

So it depends on the chances of this happening where you are. If you don't think someone will come along and pay asking price (doesn't sound likely if its been on for a while) then it's perfectly reasonable to give your final price, say its valid for a week and after that you're walking away as you've seen other properties you like in the area.

You should also get on EA's 'hot buyers' list which means you're ready to move, have a healthy budget and are engaged with the market. If you're on this list EA's often recommend to vendors that they sell to you as you're ready to move and will move fast.

NatFrenchie · 02/09/2015 12:01

Had a similar situation and had to walk away. The vendor had paid too much for the house originally when she bought it several years ago and couldn't afford to go down to a realistic price (I checked with Land Registry/Zoopla).

House is still on the market though...

IssyStark · 02/09/2015 12:10

They are eejits.

Give a deadline and then walk away.

(out of interest, what did the vendor pay for the house in the first place?)

PigletJohn · 02/09/2015 12:25

"Started out low and gradually went up."

I fear you have trained the vendor to think that if he says no you will increase your offer.

Original poster
Paintpot22 · 02/09/2015 13:42

We started at 210 (based on area/boiler is from the ark/some single glazing/and new carpets throughout. Then 215, then 217.

Have called EA and said 217 is final. They bought the house about 20 years ago so I don't think they are losing money!

OP posts:
Curioushorse · 02/09/2015 13:51

Move on. Look at others. There will be others!

cestlavielife · 02/09/2015 13:54

if you love the house then 2.500 is very little in the grand scheme of things... 1%?

if you dont like the house then don't go up.

howabout · 02/09/2015 13:59

2.5 is a small step more, but actually you have already gone up 17. Unless it is your ideal home I would walk. If you pay too much and then find yourself needing to resell 20k over would feel like a lot and if it has been on the market that long it sounds overpriced.

Petallic · 02/09/2015 14:04

When I bought my first house I ended up paying about 5k more than I wanted to originally (was only a £120k house) I upped our "last offer" when I worked out we had to pay only an extra £1k deposit and the mortgage increased by about £40 a month. When I looked at it that way I was less bothered by paying a little more to get a house that ticked more boxes than anything else we had seen.

JeffreySadsacIsUnwell · 02/09/2015 14:04

As others have said, if you don't want to offer more, then don't. Nobody's forcing you to buy the house! But equally, if the vendor doesn't want to sell for less, they don't have to and nobody's forcing them to sell.

Our house is on the market (though not even six weeks, let alone six months) but we don't have to sell or move. We'd quite like to be closer to friend and family but OTOH our DC are at excellent schools, moving would be a PITA and no guarantee of an equally good school, and we haven't found anywhere we want to move to. If someone offers us our asking price, we'll take it and find somewhere. If they offer below, then quite simply it's not worth it for us. We need to have enough of an incentive to move, and for us, that incentive is somebody paying us enough money for our house that we can afford a better lifestyle than we already have. Sorry if that sounds mercenary and not what you want to hear, but that's a potential vendor's POV.

Good luck with a purchase.

IssyStark · 02/09/2015 14:07

In a well functioning market, houses tend to sell at 5-10% under their asking price, so if this were a well-functioning market, the house should sell for between 198-209K.

I agree 2.5K is not much more if the price is 220K for your prefect house, but realistically you know that 220K is too much, so final and walk.

If it is still there in another couple of months and you haven't found anything else you like, I'd go in with an offer at 200 but I'm cheeky Wink

PosterEh · 02/09/2015 14:08

I agree. You're thinking - well it's only 2.5k off the asking price, the vendor is thinking - well it's only another 2.5k when they've already been willing to increase their offer by 17.5k every other time we've said no.

PosterEh · 02/09/2015 14:08

Sorry, I agree with PigletJohn.

JeffreySadsacIsUnwell · 02/09/2015 14:16

The other thing is that 2.5k may be crucial for them, once they've taken off EA commission, solicitor's fees, moving costs, etc - might make the difference between being able to afford a new house or not.Just because they bought 20 years ago doesn't mean they didn't remortgage in the interim and are now stuck with a v high mortgage. Unfortunately there's no way for you to tell whether that's an absolute necessity or whether they're just being stubborn and unreasonable, except by walking away and seeing if they chase you.

mandy214 · 02/09/2015 14:56

The vendor might already feel like they've accounted for the old boiler or single glazing in the price that they put it on the market for. Are the carpets so bad that they need to be replaced (rather than cleaned for instance) or is it just your preference? The vendor might be justified in holding out for the £220k or have no option. As others have said, regardless of whether he is wrong / deluded, you can't force him to accept your offer.

Is it worth paying the extra? Depends where the house is. If you don't get this house, might it be another few months until you find another one you like / can afford? House prices in our area (not London) rose at 9.1% over the last year - for a house worth £220k, thats an increase of around £20k over the year, a bit more than £1.5k a month. It might be that a house worth £220k might cost you £230k in 6 months time. Would it be better to pay the £2.5k and get the ball rolling, knowing that you are at stalemate? Do you like it enough? Only you can decide what the house is worth, what your local market is like and what options you have if you don't get this house.

greenbanana · 02/09/2015 16:31

Walk away, leave the offer on the table. If it's a good offer they'll realise it once they've had time to think, and come back to you. This is what happened with both properties I've bought - my first flat and our more recent house purchase. Obviously you need to be prepared to lose out to someone who offers 220, and you should start looking at other properties (ideally with the same agent, they'll sense the sale slipping away and push the vendor).

It might only be 2.5k, but I think you know it's not worth that. Have a look at some other properties, if you don't find anything for a while and this place is still on the market you can go back and up your offer then.

MissBattleaxe · 02/09/2015 16:38

I think a house is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. If you put your house on for say, 250k and nobody wants it in three years, then it's not worth 250k.

NoMoreRenting · 02/09/2015 16:51

In 2007 at the top of the market we offered 650k for a house in at 675k. The owner had paid 12k for it 35yrs earlier. They resolutely refused to budge and said they wouldn't accept less than 674k. Anyway, we said no and bided our time as we were in rented and good to go. We signed up for another 6mths rental. Within 6mths the market had collapsed and we managed to buy a much bigger better house for far less money.
They finally sold in 2012, so 5 whole years later for 585k. Oh the feeling was fantastic esp because the vendors son has children at my children's school and I was able to say to him 'oh I see your parents house finally sold. We offered them 650 for it 5yrs ago but they were holding out for 675.'
I'm not a smug person by nature at all but it felt wonderful.