Pull out of purchase regret?

[Evergreen101]

I had an offer accepted on a place at 10% below asking (but it was priced very ambitiously to begin with and there were no other offers). After something reasonable came up in survey and searches, I asked for a price reduction and the seller said no (period) and put the property back on the market. I then walked away because I wasn't sure I felt as strongly about it and thought I would give it some time. Plus, I'm in a rental and my lease isn't up until end of October (that's the earliest break), so I'm not in a rush and every additional week is helpful to make sure I don't end up paying both rent and my mortgage..

It's now been 2 weeks and I was hoping that the seller would come back to the negotiating table but they have not. I have been looking at other properties but I can't get this one out of my mind. It's not perfect, but it ticks almost all of the boxes, has some really great features and I have been looking for awhile. It wouldn't be the end of the world if I had to stick to my original bid. I'm now wondering what to do. Can I try again to push for some kind of reduction or do I need to reoffer my original bid? If so, should I do it now or wait longer? WDYT?

Of course, waiting longer risks losing the property to another buyer, but it had been on the market for a few months and I was the only bid.. so maybe not, but you never know?! Please talk some sense into me, as you can tell I'm going a wee bit mad!

I would hold that view and wait as long as I had to, Would rather wait months and months than end up being messed about heartbroken and hundreds out of pocket.

Just offer your original and see what happens don’t spend your time second guessing. If you get a yes good if it’s a no move on and look for somewhere else.

If you got the deal back on track, would you then dawdle and kill time until October, so you don’t have to pay rent and a mortgage? If so, do them a favour and leave them alone. You’ve pissed about enough already.

I wouldn't waste the seller's time at this point. They will have written you off as one of those buyers who make an offer fully intending to then reduce it by pretending the survey showed something like a room needed painting, as if that wasn't already factored into the price. You don't even sound sure that you want it. Spare them the messing about while you decide.

I think you need to think about the seller in all this. A lot of people need to achieve a certain price to make it possible for them to move. You already gave them a reduced offer and then requested they reduce it even further. That’s one of the reasons people avoid using homebuying companies - not only do they offer you below market value, they also sometimes reduce their offer through the process, it makes sellers feel insecure. If they refused your second offer you should have reinstated your original offer there and then if you really wanted the house. I agree that you will seem like a time waster now at worst and someone who will keep changing the goalposts at best.

I'd not expect the buyer to come back to the negotiating table after you'd walked away. You'd walked away - it's over. Even if you go back now, if I were them I'd see you as flakey. It took one issue to put you off and walk away when the vendor didn't cave. I'd assume that could happen again at any point and that you're not to be relied upon to complete the process and not be a nightmare. Sorry, but I think you have to learn from it not to panic too much at issues in surveys as it sounds like something you could live with after all so shouldn't have walked away. But no point having regrets. You have time, keep looking and let this one go. As you already did when you were in a different mood.

You have nothing to lose by going back to them with your original offer, yes they might refuse and think you’re a time waster but just be honest and say stepping back made you realise how much you wanted the property. Otherwise you’ll always wonder.

After we pulled out of my “dream house” due to a terrible survey and vendors refusing to budge on price, I felt like this until another house I was interested in came along. Hold tight - you pulled out for a reason and there’ll be something else that works better for you.

I’d say go for it, but I’d be reticent to deal with uou as I’d feel there was a risk I’d go far down the process And you’d try to do it again. So I’d need to give a lot of thought to it.

also it depends on what it was on the survey. If it was something significant I’d be more inclined to deal with uou but if I thought you were just pulling a fast one, it would be a firm jog on.

If you have plenty of interest, why have you been trying to sell for a while? Surely it would have been snapped up?

The market isn't the same anymore and sellers need to wake up and change their expectations

I’m quite surprised by some of the reactions here. Despite my rental situation, I had been moving at pace and I raised the issue within 3 weeks of when the offer was first accepted when I got the results (it’s not as if I’ve been stringing the seller along for months). I did not pull out, I asked for a price reduction based on the search and survey results and the seller just flat out refused to consider anything off and then relisted.

I’m genuinely surprised that quite a few of you think that an offer back at the original price would be turned down for spite. I would have thought that being a first time buyer and having a mortgage already in place would count for something, especially in the current market and considering the seller had not received any other offers when they accepted mine.

I'm also now wondering why the EA isn't doing much in this situation. There is another EA marketing the property so it must be in their interest to get it sold before a competing agency does it first. Surely any sale is better than no sale and the difference in commission from a reduction in price is tiny compared to not getting any commission at all!

The market here has definitely picked up since last October when it originally went on the market.

@Drowninginoptions

It's been on the market 7 months? And you haven't been under offer in that time?

Properties priced competitively are still moving quickly here but it's a very different market.

The house we are buying was on for 5 months and had already dropped the asking price by £50k by the time we viewed. We then offered £25k under which was accepted.

You could try re opening the conversation with the agent, you've nothing to lose either way.

As a seller, whether or not I'd consider your offer again would depend on what the issue was that you found after survey and asked for a price reduction on? If it was something you'd have no way of knowing from a viewing, I'd maybe consider going back to your original price... but if it was cosmetic, small issue, or obvious the whole time there's no way I'd reconsider you at all.

Can you tell us what the issue was?

To be perfectly honest, I'm pretty relaxed and easy going about home buying, but trying to renegotiate after price agreed is the one thing I cannot abide.

Totally depends on survey issue for me.

@Evergreen101 You don’t have anything to lose by going back to the EA with your original offer. Just say that you love the property and after consideration you can accept the issues raised in the searches and survey. They don’t have to accept but I don’t think you are messing them about in any way. You are further down the line than any potential new buyer too so that might count in your favour.
If they say no at least you know and can write this one off and continue your search.

You've got nothing to lose to go back to the EA. See what they say.

It's a business transaction and if the sellers are interested then that's it and you can move on.

But in my experience with my house before the one I've just bought I'm convinced the universe was trying to tell me something. I pushed and pushed and it was a really bad decision.

I would talk to the estate agent and ask them whether anything suitable is coming up or available now, and as part of that conversation, you could drop in that it’s a shame that that particular vendor wasn’t willing to enter discussion or negotiate regarding price and see whether that jogs anything for the estate agent to perhaps go back to the vendor with your feedback?

You could also ask whether it’s under offer yet (despite being able to check on rightmove).

I don't think anyone suggested the seller wouldn't entertain you again 'for spite', rather that you proved yourself not to be a serious buyer the first time and they wouldn't want you changing your mind a second time after making an offer.

That's what I meant by 'for spite'. Maybe that's not the right term, but that's what I meant.

I thought so too.

I think you need to go back to WHY you wanted more money off post-survey. I assume it was to fund work you'd need to get done. By going back at your original offer price are you making your life difficult? Is this panic rather than a sensible decision? And is the survey issue something that will come up with any buyer? Because if it is, I'm as surprised as you that the agent isn't looking for some compromise here, or they risk another sale collapsing in the same way.

I'm not one of the posters who thinks you're an awful buyer at all. If you have gone away and thought hard about this and decided that you are prepared to take the hit on the additional factors raised by the survey, then you need communicate to the seller that you have made that calculated decision and see whether they are willing to take another chance on you. But don't do it as a kneejerk response and leave yourself in a difficult financial position if they are willing to carry on.

Only they didn't did they , they accepted the 10% less than asking price !

Why is looking to negotiate on price after a survey not being a serious buyer? Offers are accepted 'subject to survey' in recognition of the fact that the survey may raise issues. If anyone posted on here that they were planning to buy property without getting a survey, they'd be told they were foolish, but someone asking for a price reduction to reflect something identified in a survey isn't serious?

This site bewilders me.

But any issues the survey throws up have most likely been factored into the asking price already. If a seller has fixed every issue big and small, then they'd be looking for substantially more for their property. It's become very common in the UK for surveys to be used merely as an excuse to reduce an agreed price. Anyone who is offering on a secondhand property expecting the survey to state everything is 'as new' is unrealistic.

Only if they’re obvious surely? Perfectly common for survey issues to come as a surprise to existing owners.

Without knowing what the issue was here, it’s impossible to know, so I would always give someone the benefit of the doubt.