How hard to push back on EA/Seller after them messing around

[AX35]

Hi,

This weekend, we had several viewings in an area we quite like, and we found a house that would be a bit of a project but okay enough to buy it to get the whole process started (As we have already been looking the entire year).

The house was bought in 2021 for 675k, and it is clear that the owners need to sell ASAP as they seemingly can't pay their mortgage rates after their 2 yr fix expiring. They initially offered it for 800k to reduce it to 700k with increments in the last 8 weeks. The estate agent told us the reason they are selling is that they want to move closer to the school of their kid but also that they are looking to get a house in the 500-600k price range from them.

Side note: We made an offer for another house from the same estate agent a month ago at 800k.

The interest in the house was still quite limited even after all of those reductions there were only three viewings on the weekend.

Now, we put in an offer at 700k to incentivise them to move on and sell, only for the estate agent to come back to us and tell us there is another interested party who offered higher than us and is also not part of a chain. As a reaction, we reduced our offer to 675k as either there is another party interested, in which case we are happy to lose the house, or the estate agent/seller wants to mess with us, in which case we wanted to push back.

The estate agent now came back telling us that the seller would like to accept our offer (no reason given) and to proceed with all the formalities.

Now, the whole thing left me very annoyed at the greed of either EA or the seller, and we are thinking of dropping the price further to 650k or lower. We know that that might push them into negative equity and ultimately lose the house because of it but I just don't want them to get away with their sleazy tactic for that cheap.

What would do in that situation? How much would you reduce it / would you further reduce it at all?

Dropping the offer so low that you believe they may go into negative equity and lose the house. Taking advantage of people who seem to be in a desperate situation.

I don't know how anyone can justify this sort of behaviour.

Offer a fair price or walk away.

I know, that's why we are quite upset.

A fair price would drop them deep into negative equity as that would probably be around 600k at this point.

But I think most of you are right and it would be best to just walk away from the deal and not work with the EA on any other houses in the future. We might also write the seller so they can exchange EA if they really were not aware of their shady tactics.

I would stick to your offer or walk away, I'd be worried what they would do in the house before completion and that I'd be moving into a house with already hostile neighbours.

Just as you think you've got the measure of the vendors being "greedy" they now know exactly the same about you. It could all reach an interesting impasse.

It seems you don't particularly like the house so why don't you forget about it and carry on with your year long (so far fruitless) property search? There will be someone out there desperate enough to sell to you.

You really sound quite disconnected....Are you comprehending the replies on here?

600k is certainly not a fair offer if comparable houses have been selling between 690-745. Why would any one knock off another 100k off a reduced house price?

Your tactic at undercutting someone's property value and leaving them with negative equity sounds more shady than the EA.

I don’t understand why you are upset. You’ve dropped your offer once and want to force them to drop it again. What have you got to be upset about?! Your actions are unpleasant, and made worse by the way you’re making out you’re the victims here. If you don’t want the house, pull out now.

Genuinely hope the sellers find better buyers.

Gosh those tactics are awful. Treat the sellers how you'd hope to be treated. Make an offer you think is fair or walk away.

How do you know the size of their mortgage?

Oh we are definitely not the victims and well aware of that. I guess it's the disappointment as we consciously offered their asking price and didn't even try to negotiate in the hoop of a fairly smooth buying process only to then be met by some ghost buyers that miraculously offer above asking. All of that with their EAs knowing we can offer much higher if we wanted to.

But you're right, we'll just drop out as this had pretty much turned any positives emotions towards the house into negatives and I don't want to enable business like that.

We don't, it's an assumption based on the house title, the time of purchase, the time of listing and their age.

The EA was a bit too open when we talked about the sellers position and gave away that they need to get a cheaper house and hence why they are very motivated to sell fast. That was partially also the reason why we offered their full (reduced) asking price and above what they paid in 2021.

Treat people the way you wish to be treated.
It's probably horribly stressful for them desperate to sell to be able to move on and your messing about. If you weren't going to pay £700k you shouldn't have offered it.
How would you feel if they put the price up by £25k 3 days before exchange....

I have seen your replies. You are shitting over the sellers when it's the EA doing their job, it's literally their job to get the best price they can for their customer.

If you don't want to get upset by EA tactics with your next purchase, learn more about the business and how they operate. Spend more time on here, they are talked about often enough. Educate yourself better and grow a pair and stop getting upset about someone trying to do their job.

Either agree a price and go ahead or walk away completely, not really seeing the need to piss the sellers about for a bit of a laugh.

I would never accept your lower offer even if I was desperate. And my agent would probably suggest to me that you would be difficult buyers based on this early behaviour. So much goodwill is needed to get through several months of stressful paperwork and it would have all been blown before you even started - awful.

Sorry but if I'm an EA and I have a client who needs to sell as they are already struggling to pay their mortgage then surely the best approach is the most secure buyer that can move as fast as possible and not the best price. Otherwise the house would still be sitting there at 800k with no viewings.

But hey, in that case I'm just doing my job at trying to get the best price possible for my family so I might as well drop to 600k and see what happens.

I would've gladly paid 700k if they wouldn't have come back with a fake bidding situation.

And if they would put the price up by 25k before exchange I would offer them 25k less or walk away. Pretty much what we did right now.

This

Don’t be a dick is my #1 rule for life

1st house, made an offer which was accepted so started all the paperwork. EA then comes back saying seller wants more, we offer 10K as we want the house. Accepted, off we go again. By now we've done survey etc and spent some money on solicitor. They then ask for more money. At this point we are annoyed and withdraw. Within 4 weeks house is repossessed. We buy it from the bank for 50k less than initial offer and complete very quickly.
I have sympathy for financial difficulties but a bird in the hand and all that. EA needs to advise better.

You are making an awful lot of assumptions about their finances based on the purchase timing. Maybe they need every penny they can get to help towards running a business. Maybe they have a disabled kid that uses a lot of expensive care.

Just because there is a quick method of sale doesn't mean it's the right one for the sellers. It's a tricky balancing act in a falling market.

Whatever the case is, you don't care about the house, and should walk away quickly before you do even more emotional damage to the sellers.

Whatever it is they need to sell fast and they would be buying from the same EA as well so every incentive to make this a quick deal and get on with it. But they already listed at 100k more than it's worth, got no viewings and had to drop the price 3 times in 8 weeks just to then play games when there is someone with real interest who can move quickly.

But yes we will walk away but also drop them a letter explaining the situation and their EAs approach in case they were not aware of it so they can change agents who might act with a bit more foresight.

It sounds like you are pissing about more than the seller.

You are annoyed at the greed of people who accepted your second offer which was lower than your first?

I don't follow the logic of your grievance. The less you pay, the more annoyed you get at their greed?

It makes little difference to the EA whether the sale price is £675k, £700k or £725k, so doesn’t make sense for them to invent another bidder who didn’t exist, which seems to be what you’re suggesting and has made you upset.