Accepting an offer... What would you do?

[mummabubs]

Hi all, I'm turning to the mumsnet hive for your wisdom and insights please!

We put our house on the market last summer, was on for 10 weeks with 7 viewings and no offers so came off market again as we lost out on the house we were interested in.

We put our house on the market again last week and held viewings this morning- 8 in total. We're listed at £270,000 and have had two offers come in since then. One for £255,000 from a FTB (too low for us) and then another offer came in from a cash buyer at full asking price. Our agent advised waiting until tomorrow just to see if anyone else offers, and we do see the logic in this... But!... At the same time this person has offered us everything we've asked for and is a cash buyer so we don't really see how anyone will be able to better it. We're honestly happy to accept asking price and don't really like bidding wars. The only thing that's remotely awkward is that they want to complete asap (they've given a target date of 30th April), and I'm due to give birth 2 weeks later to our second child. But equally if it meant not losing the sale we'd be prepared to move into rented accommodation with our toddler and dog. The FTB was happy to be flexible to our time line but can't see them matching the offer at full asking price.

So in our position/ your experience is there any utility in waiting until tomorrow when we know none of the other viewers were cash buyers or is accepting an offer today a sensible thing to do? Just never thought we'd be in this position after last year! Thanks in advance

So many cash buyers turn out not be actual 'cash in the bank' buyers. frustratingly often they call themselves that so their offer gets accepted but then they're borrowing in other ways and they cause delays. Or they start calling the shots and dicking you around with threats/discounts. Yours might be fine and it might all go smoothly, but the fact that they're already making your life more difficult than it needs to be means I would at least wait to have the conversation with your EA instead of biting the cash buyer's hand off and being in thrall to them from hereonin. Sure they want to complete by that date. But your situation - which has as much import - means you'd rather complete by XYZ date. At least negotiate. You've had other offers, you might get more. You don't have to bend over for this buyer just because. And just to flip it around, ime most people who say they'll move into rental also back out of that promise when the time comes. Especially with babies and pets in the mix. Take a breath, keep a cool head, and don't give away all your bargaining chips in the heat of the moment. Your bottom line was that you didn't even think it would sell so don't suddenly get desperate. Be reassured and be business-like. Good luck!

you could ask for a longer gap between exchange and completion if it helps to sync up moves. You would still be committed to leaving on completion day.

this may or may not work with covid.

Would you call a cash buyer

1. someone who has all the money in their account or 2) someone who has nothing to sell but needs a mortgage?

I think only 1) is a cash buyer.

A cash buyer has cash in the bank. But I don't think they are any more likely to pull out - why would they? They still have to pay for a solicitor and survey; someone who needs a mortgage doesn't pay anything more until the mortgage starts.
As for not including a 'message' with their offer - huh? What are you expecting? They offered full ask - so they want it. Do you really need some sort of personal message too?
Frankly the issue is the completion date, which they cannot gaurantee anyway. I'd negotiate back on that - say you agree to an end of May date (or whatever) and see how serious they actually are.

[quote mummabubs]@starseeking that's pretty much where our minds are going. Even though truth be told we prefer the idea of selling to first time buyers (as we were when we bought here) and they've messaged to say how keen they are on our house. Cash buyer didn't submit any message with their offer at all so it all feels less personal from their side (which I guess is what's made us question how serious they were being about their offer or whether they assumed we'd automatically accept given their position). [/quote]

I know this is your much loved home, but you need to detach emotionally and treat it as the business transaction that it is. Once the sale completes and the cash is in your bank, it doesn't make a difference to your life who lives there after you, so pivot and focus on how you reach that point.

Try and think about what makes sense from the perspective of how many hurdles there are to get through before you reach the end, a cash buyer (assuming they genuinely have money ready to go, and are not relying on a mortgage) would win every time for me

To gauge the level of the cash buyer's commitment to the purchase, I'd want to know:

• whether they are instructing a surgery, and if so, I'd want them to instruct it within the next week (it doesn't have to take place then, just having it in the pipeline means they will have skin in the game early on)
• their solicitors details so yours can get in touch immediately (meaning they have started racking up fees)

If any of the two above delay for any period of time, that's the point at which I'd be thinking they might not be in the position they say they are.

Cash on completion is different to being a cash buyer. You need to establish which one it is OP.

@fabulousathome

Would you call a cash buyer

1. someone who has all the money in their account or 2) someone who has nothing to sell but needs a mortgage?

I think only 1) is a cash buyer.

or 3) someone who doesn't need a mortgage, so has the final say on what they pay (i.e. no bank to say a property is over valued), but needs to sell a property to release the cash.

I'd say 1 & 3 are cash buyers but 2 is not.

We were cash buyers. Type 1 and chain free. We didn't reduce the price or waste anyone's time.

If you were willing to rent for 6months, you'll probably find rented rented accommodation more easily, and that will put you in position of being chain free which could be attractive to the next person you want to buy from. By then your baby would be 5m & you could handle the next move more easily. Plus takes pressure off you to coordinate selling & buying at same time I have no idea how whole chains of people do that. We couldn't stomach the thought.

In your example @TheOnlyKoiInAPondOfGoldfish 3) is not a cash buyer, they are in a chain, if they are dependent on another sale to buy OP's. Only when their property is sold, will they move into the circumstances of 1), a true cash buyer.

Think of it this way, if a person in 3)'s position were to lose their buyer/sale fall through, they would no longer be able to proceed, unless they put the property back onto the market, and found a new buyer.

Someone in position 1) has cash in the bank, and is ready to buy a new property, so only needs to instruct a solicitor to agree the contract and pay the money, if they don't want a survey. No other parties involved.

I sold nearly everything I couldn't take with me, very cheaply, because of my 'cash buyer' and everyone telling me I'd have to be prepared to move out very quickly.

He lied - three weeks later the EA found out his ex wife in Sweden had the cash, and he wasn't getting any of it.

Choose the buyer that suits your situation.

Thanks all. We're not making any decisions today and have a list of questions for our estate agent to put to both tomorrow.
Thanks @pinkdelight3 your post definitely resonates with us and we are trying to stay level headed! @starseeking that did make me chuckle, only as I actually hate our house! I've fallen so out of love with it, even before I was confined to it for a year 🤣 I think I'm just grateful that other people are seeing it as I once did!

I dont think Id want to be tied to a really quick completion date easpecislly at the present time. How fast the solicitors And others movd is sometimes out of your hands. I'm a bit suspicious of cash buyers. Often they are not when it comes down to it.

If you dislike your current house, that's even more reason for you to detach from it then!

I have just seen I wrote in my earlier post:

• Instructing a surgery

Should actually say:

• Instructing a survey

Damn you autocorrect

Good luck with it OP, do let us know how you get on with it!

I think it's quite odd that in the current climate & the fact you had no offers in the previous 10 wk period that the CB offered full asking. I would expect them to try it on later tbh

Our cash buyer wasn’t a cash buyer. She was using the equity of her sale to buy ours but didn’t have cash waiting in the bank in that sense. She had to sell her house to buy ours and actually had a looong chain behind her. This emerged some months later...

I think a lot of your posts are reinforcing our inner concerns about cash buyers in terms of how much of a cash buyer they are and also whether they're likely to gazunder at a later date. (Seems much more common with CBs). We'll ask our agent whether they can request proof of their cash buyer status before we consider accepting their offer.

It’s common with first time buyers and others who cannot get the mortgage they thought they could! An offer is an offer. If buyers get an adverse survey, then they negotiate. Just because no mod offered weeks ago is besides the point. People saving, selling and generally reviewing finances can happen at any time. People widen searches, decide they want a different area etc etc. Just make sure both can get the money.

I’ve never been contacted by a vendor or buyer at any stage! I wouldn’t read anything into that either.

We had our fingers burnt by a supposed cash buyer who then needed ‘a small mortgage’ and then tried to hold up exchange to tie in another sale. Seems that their ‘cash’ was a) not as much as they suggested and b) not as easy to get their hands on.

We did complete in the end but it was mega stressful. It’s not that I wouldn’t sell to another cash buyer, just that I wouldn’t necessarily pick them over a motivated buyer with a house to sell.

You just want the most motivated buyer, and sometimes cash buyers can be flakier because they aren’t trapped into mortgage valuation surveys etc.

If the cash buyer is an investor buying for a BTL, I'd be incredibly wary of them reducing the offer at the 11th hour.
The fact is that they just won't be as emotionally invested in the process as a normal buyer would. Your house may be one of many transactions & it's just a business transaction to them.

The cash buyer is a dad who's buying a house for his son to live in (son currently lives in a flat, unsure whether it's rented or owned).

Sorry, meant to clarify earlier as I know the message bit might sound weird! We're with Purple Bricks so people who view or submit offers often send us messages directly (feedback on our house, or notes to go with an offer etc). Our agent handles the viewings themselves but we can be the first or only line of communication with buyers should we choose. Offers come directly to us via an app (which our agent can also view as they come in) and we can accept, decline or negotiate from our end with no agent involvement if we want to.

The first time buyers have sent us a couple of messages that emphasise how much they want our house and are in a good position to move at our pace etc etc. Cash buyer just submitted their offer and we knew they've said they're a cash buyer with no chain as everyone who books a viewing has to state their position beforehand. He told the agent during his viewing that he'd recently sold his house with purple bricks and that's what he's funding this purchase with.

@mummabubs I would advise you ask for proof that cash buyers really do have the cash, but also loose the romantic notion about your FT buyers.
Hate to say it but if you want it to be a good sale at the best price (which most people want) you need to get a bit more hardfaced, we caved to our buyers who we liked but at the last moment wanted a £20,000 reduction, by then we were invested and exhausted so we gave it to them... we were fools, honestly.

So the cash buyer has the money in the bank? That’s obviously good. If he’s sold but not yet completed, then he doesn’t have the money. Not in a chain just might mean he has a cash buyer. Do the FTBs have a mortgage? Do they have sufficient deposit? Where is that coming from? Is that immediately available? All this needs weighing up.

In all honesty, the fact that you're with purple bricks means you're in for a tough ride. They're cheap for a reason. Do not believe anything they tell you. They're great at this part, the minute you get transferred to the post sales team, your nightmare will begin

Just get a proper agent.

@PresentingPercy

So the cash buyer has the money in the bank? That’s obviously good. If he’s sold but not yet completed, then he doesn’t have the money. Not in a chain just might mean he has a cash buyer. Do the FTBs have a mortgage? Do they have sufficient deposit? Where is that coming from? Is that immediately available? All this needs weighing up.

Absolutely. We've written a list of questions (including all those that you've mentioned) plus Qs about the timescales that they've both proposed. For us it's a balance of proceedability and flexibility, we're not after more money which will hopefully be seen as a positive! Waiting for our agent to call us this morning to thrash all this out. In a way Purple Bricks being commission-free is a plus as there's no motivation on their side to encourage us to pursue more money, they'll just want us to complete to get us off their books. (Which we're also mindful means they might try and steer us towards the potential cash buyer due to their shortened timescale for completion). Just still can't believe we're in a position of having to choose between two offers to be honest!

Many, many people would love this dilemma!! Good luck with the answers.