Vendor won’t make a counter offer

[Firsttimebuyer91]

We saw a house we love on the market for £775,000. The house was initially on the market in January for £800,000 then came off the market and was put back up last week at £775k. The agent told us that the property had sold for £800k but had fallen through due to a change in the buyer’s circumstances.

It seems odd to put it back on the market for less than it had previously sold given it’s a much better market now (May rather than Jan) unless they’re in a rush to sell.

We made an offer of £745,000 yesterday which we thought was reasonable as a starting point for negotiations (3.5% below asking price). We agreed between us that we are willing to go up £765k but of course would like to pay less if we can!

This afternoon the agent came back and said the offer was far too low and so we went up to £755k. The agent came back again saying it was too low. I asked if the vendor had made a counter offer and she said no, they are willing to negotiate but won’t negotiate on £20k below asking price.

AIBU to now not want to go back with a higher offer? I think £755k on a £775k house is worthy of at least a counter offer to begin the negotiation process.

Any advice on what to do next?

Exactly. OP clearly thinks she's going to get a steal but I suspect would also want asking price when it comes to selling it later. She's trying to act like a pro in a game she's never played before.

There's no such thing as a good deal in life, well, rarely. The sellers will get what it's worth and will soon find out what people are willing to pay, although it takes longer than 1 week to determine that.

It wasn’t an arbitrary percentage off the asking price. We based the offer on what similar properties in the area have sold for, allowing a bit of room to negotiate.

The price was reduced just over a week ago but it’s been on the market since January (according to the EA because it sold and fell through). Similar properties have been on the market several months so I wouldn’t be surprised if it does stay on the market for a number of months if they won’t accept below asking price.

The vendors bought the property for £580k in late 2020 and are now moving to a much cheaper city for work. They don’t appear to have done any renovations in that time so I don’t think they’re worrying about bills to pay. It’s natural that they’ll want to get the best price they can for the property just like as buyers we want to get it for the best price we can.

I think it’s fair enough that they’re rejected the offer and I wasn’t surprised by that, I was just surprised they didn’t try to counter offer to keep us interested rather than lose a potential sale.

Trying to act like a pro by making an offer on a house? The only way to buy a house is to make an offer! You sound like you have a chip on your shoulder.

I’m not trying to get a steal, I’m trying to get a fair price of what the house is worth. I’m well aware that BOTH parties will be trying to get the best deal - you and some others on this thread don’t seem to realise that!

OP, this thread is going round and round and round in circles now. The simple fact is you don't have a counter-offer and the next move is on you. Are you going to go back tomorrow and offer your full and final?

I said about 7 pages ago that we’re going to wait until we’ve viewed the property across the road and then decide whether to offer on that one instead or go back with a best and final offer.

It’s going round in circles because people are still posting the same comments about it being an “unreasonably low” offer and expecting to get “a steal” which is not what we’re trying to do at all!

Yes, I saw that, but if you're happy to pay X amount - in your case £765k - for the property you have already viewed and love, wouldn't it make sense to put in that offer sooner rather than later? You don't know that there hasn't been several viewings this weekend and fresh interest. The same could be said of the second property you haven't seen.

The EA told us they don’t have any more viewings booked in so we’d prefer to wait so we can compare and decide which property we actually prefer - it might be that we prefer the property across the road and those vendors are willing to accept £755 or £760 because it’s been on at £775 for a few months now.

I think this rests on different definitions of the word “negotiate” - it’s not very usual for the vendor to counter offer; they will just wait for you to offer an amount that is acceptable to them.

Your offers are very reasonable and not low-ball at all. However I would just accept that their definition of negotiate (from the sounds of it) is “we’ll accept less than asking but we won’t tell you what that figure is”. If you love the house you honestly won’t care in a couple of weeks that they didn’t counter-offer. But perhaps sub-consciously you don’t LOVE it?

'The vendors bought the property for £580k in late 2020 and are now moving to a much cheaper city for work. They don’t appear to have done any renovations in that time so I don’t think they’re worrying about bills to pay.'

Doesn't sound as if you are getting 'a steal' at all if you were to pay your top price. Have prices really risen well over 30% in your area in 3.5 years, given that, on average, they have been falling since mid-late 2022? That's considerably above average. You are probably take on a huge amount of debt as a FTB (unless you have had large family gifts, etc).

The vendors bought the property for £580k in late 2020 and are now moving to a much cheaper city for work. They don’t appear to have done any renovations in that time so I don’t think they’re worrying about bills to pay.

If this is true OP, I'd seriously consider giving this property a wide berth. Most areas are struggling with the boom in 2020/2021... if nothing has been done to the place I struggle to believe it's worth 200k more.

I've never made a counter-offer as a vendor. As a buyer I don't think I would expect one.

There is no fixed value - amount or percentage - that can be considered cheeky or offensive. You are not responsible for a vendor's feelings. And you're not responsible for any marketing price they and their agent have agreed.

It's simply the process of matching the buyers level of desperation to secure the home with the sellers level of desperation to sell it.

As a vendor I have never made a counter offer before, as muddyford says.

Bought and sold many times. An offer is an offer - I decide whether to accept that offer and if not, it is up to the potential buyer to come back with a better offer or walk away. I'm not going to guide them by telling them what I would accept, that's for the buyer to decide whether they want to increase their offer, and if they do increase their offer, they decide how cheeky they want to be. If the increased offer is still not enough as far as I am concerned, then I would probably reject that too. But all depends on how desperate I am to sell, how long the property has been on the market, whether the market is rising or falling, whether the buyer is in a good position, and if there are potentially other buyers keen on the property.

I agree that one week into marketing at the new price they won’t be up for offers below asking, OP, even with no viewings currently booked. The agent will have told them that dropping down means they’ll attract offers around asking or just below, to convince them to drop. Your plan to check out the other house is sensible, and then take stock of your options after that.

The house next door to me has been on the market nine months, has dropped the asking price by a full 25%, and still no sign of going under offer. In an area which was red hot in 2022. A 200k hike in price for an unchanged house sounds very optimistic in the market most of the country is in right now.

Exactly. I would really think hard about whether you want to pay these sort of huge uplifts right now or keep looking and monitoring the market.

That’s a crazy amount since 2020 with nothing done to it. I’d be worried about ending up in negative equity the way prices are falling.

You have found a house you love.
They didn't accept your first 2 offers (the first quite ridiculous) so why not offer what you can actually afford and buy it?
Honestly, £10k on a 3/4 million pound house really isn't worth the squabble.

Not much of an insight! Once exchange has taken place both parties have financial penalties if they choose not to complete.

I think counter-offers only really come into play when you are close on price - for instance where a buyer can say "come up another 5k and we'll accept that". If the asking is 775, you can take that as their counter until they say otherwise.

Update: just had a call from the EA saying “we can get the deal done if we can come up to £765k” so they have now counter offered! He was really trying to hard sell it and saying he needs a decision by tomorrow morning so they can’t wait until we view the other property - some story that didn’t add up about the vendors planning to offer on another property tomorrow and wanting a decision by then, otherwise they’ll be less receptive to a lower offer after that. He also said they’re moving out to temporary accommodation in August so it’s being sold as vacant. Thoughts?

On the price increase, prices in this pocket (essentially a few streets between all the public transport in one direction and a nice high street and village green in the other) do seem to have rocketed in the last few years. Other houses on this/adjacent streets have sold for around £775-800k but they’ve had big kitchen extensions and newly renovated which this isn’t so I still think it’s a bit overpriced.

Exactly has we have all been saying - offer the £765k and get the deal done. You are trying to sugar coat the response as some kind of win that the vendors will now negotiate. Everyone wants a deal, everyone wants a price they can agree with - the vendors quite rightly did not counter offer because your initial offers, whether right or wrong, were too low in their opinion.

You need to make a decision it is as simple as that - you are prepared to pay £765k, the vendors are willing to accept it - so I suggest you say yes if it is the home for you.

”The vendors quite rightly didn’t counter your initial offers” - they have just countered our initial offers, we haven’t made a further offer.

When do you see the other house? Is it worth ringing up and seeing it today/tomorrow?

Had you offered the 765, they may well have come back with 770, so I think you've done right so far.

Do you prefer this house over the other for any reason? Which way do the gardens face if the other one is across the street?

I'm irrationally invested in whether you end up buying this house OP and at what price 😁
You've had quite a lot of stick on here. I'm really not sure why! I'm looking to buy at the moment and I'm the type to go straight in with my final offer and walk away if they're not happy with it (might be asking price, might not depends on the house) but DH is like you. Would on principle go in with a lower offer with a view to negotiate. Clearly there are 2 types of buyers, doesn't mean either one is wrong though!!