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Original poster

Property downvalued - how to renegotiate the offer?

141 replies

polka14 · 13/05/2022 19:46

Hi everyone. I made a thread about a month ago to say I'd had an offer accepted on a property that we'd offered almost 10% over in this crazy sellers market. It has now been downvalued a little bit from the asking price. So now the same offer price would have gone from about ~9% to ~11% over. There was a fair bit of interest and it went to best and final. The mortgage broker has advised we renegotiate - any suggestions on how to go about this? How you'd word it and how much to suggest?

We are new to all of this as FTB but on decent stable incomes with a decent deposit/savings but haven't had the geographic stability to buy till now.

Asking price: £465k
Originally offered asking, but at best and final went up to our max of £505k (obviously not knowing what the other offers were)
Lenders valued it at £455k

What is a reasonable renegotiation offer? I of course don't want to offend anyone but equally would like to get the best we can at this stage.
Thanks!

OP posts:

bellac11 · 18/05/2022 19:43

OP have you communicated this to the EA yet?

Lifeat40 · 18/05/2022 20:30

Seems you are wrapped up very emotionally in this house, which can lead to the wrong decisions being made.

An excellent point made about loosing FTB rate with anything over £500k.
So really you should avoid paying over £500k.

If you have the money to spend and don’t mind paying more because you really want the house and can see yourself living there for many years they pay what you would like.

However if you want to pay a fair price according to market value, go back to the agent and explain the valuation is way under the original asking price but you are prepared to pay X.
Be strong on the value X and push you have FTB and no chain etc.

You may have to be prepared to walk away and maybe this house wasn’t meant to be.

Also look at it from the seller point of view, if the valuation is down if they re market, they will have to decrease the asking price.
So now the original asking price of £465k to a FTB is attractive to the seller as it is 10k over current valuation.

erhsla14 · 18/05/2022 22:12

Hi everyone, yes I have communicated this and am waiting to hear back while crossing all my fingers and toes.

erhsla14 · 21/05/2022 07:52

In case anyone is still following - good news! the EA was surprised at the earlier hard no from sellers and after some conversation they have knocked back the 10k difference in valuation, 495k!

Alexalee · 21/05/2022 09:22

Ok but the difference in valuation to offer was 50k... not 10k?

BluecheeseandBaskerville · 21/05/2022 09:29

@Alexalee but she voluntarily offered the rest to secure the property.

Alexalee · 21/05/2022 10:16

And.... when she originally offered she didn't have a professionals valuation.
She could be from out of area and think that 505k for a 3 bed semi is a bargain because she lives in London where 3 bed semis are over 1m...
Then the professional told her the value, and she has the right to change her offer accordingly

DougalToo · 21/05/2022 11:06

erhsla14 · 14/05/2022 13:11

What do you mean by negative equity sorry? @MissWired

How can someone who can afford the mortgage for a half-million quid house not know what negative equity is?

Maybe you need to refocus; learn the basics before putting in ridiculous offers of £50,000 over the asking price/valuation.

A580Hojas · 21/05/2022 12:26

You seem pleased OP, good luck! no way in hell I'd pay £40k over the lender's valuation, even in the current market.

Hope it works out for you.

rainingsnoring · 21/05/2022 12:31

DougalToo · 21/05/2022 11:06

How can someone who can afford the mortgage for a half-million quid house not know what negative equity is?

Maybe you need to refocus; learn the basics before putting in ridiculous offers of £50,000 over the asking price/valuation.

Show quote history

I'm really sorry but I agree with this and said the same thing earlier.
I think you have got swept away with this process without doing your homework.

£495,000 is not a bargain if the valuation is £40k lower.

RoaryLion1 · 21/05/2022 13:49

erhsla14 · 21/05/2022 07:52

In case anyone is still following - good news! the EA was surprised at the earlier hard no from sellers and after some conversation they have knocked back the 10k difference in valuation, 495k!

Congrats OP, I’m pleased for you! Good luck in your new home 😊

NoSquirrels · 21/05/2022 14:21

Glad you have a result you’re happy with, OP.

erhsla14 · 21/05/2022 22:15

Hi everyone. In case anyone would like an update - so far negotiated down to 482.5k. 20k over asking, 20 under original offer. 30 over valuation made by 1 bank. I don't think I'll push my luck any further. We do really like the house.
Next step I imagine is the structural survey? as this was just the bank valuation for a mortgage. Really hope there's no issues there.
At 6% over valuation and ~4% over asking, thats probably pretty reasonable for this area and type of property to be honest.

Thank you to all those that helped, much appreciated!

To those questioning how I can afford this house and not know the property lingo.. what a bizarre thing to say. If you must know I guess I can afford it because I've worked hard for years throughout my education/career to be on a decent pay for my age and saved hard for years and just hadnt got on the property ladder yet. I didn't know the lingo because I hadnt come across it yet? nobody knows anything until they know it, we're all learning all the time. I could probably bet my bottom dollar many of you wouldnt have the foggiest about many things that are within my expertise, that's just life.

Thanks everyone :)

erhsla14 · 21/05/2022 22:18

485 sorry not 482.5 (thats what I was considering suggesting) but probably wont.

Starseeking · 21/05/2022 22:40

As long as you stay there for a good number of years you should be fine. I've just received a second valuation which is £20k under what had been agreed. I thought my vendors might kick me into the long grass when I told them, however they've offered to meet me in the middle, which I am going to go with.

So paying £10k over valuation, however I intend to stay in the house for 5-10 years, so think it's a good result as nothing in my price range has come on since I found this one.

Katkincake · 22/05/2022 08:48

Glad you managed to agree a new price OP. Maybe they panicked at first and thought you wanted to drop your offer right down to the valuation price, hence the hard no? Good that they’ve seen sense, as I’m sure they appreciate just how tough the market is and probably don’t want to lose their onward purchase.

Our buyers have offered £25k over asking. Their survey on our house is on Tues. We fully expect them to come back and renegotiate, as their buyers did it to them. If we have to meet in the middle then that’s fine as they were £10k higher than others to start with.

Seen a house we want this weekend. It has 17 viewers, so we’re fully expecting to have to go above asking as it’s in a popular area.
It’s hopefully a forever home, so we’re happy to go above mortgage valuation (within reason) as the difference is the price we’re willing to fund to live in location, rather than the financial bottom line. We have a healthy deposit (circa 50% of estimated price we think may have to offer).

Good luck with onward process and happy home owning

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