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?

Haggling. Bartering means something else.

We are reluctant to keep going back with offer after offer.

If you want the house, offer your best and final price and make it clear that is your final offer.

so I would have thought they’d want to sell quickly.

That doesn't mean they have to give it away.

Maybe they're only willing to negotiate within a 5k range? Maybe the EA had misinterpreted them saying "we'll accept an offer X amount lower" to mean "we'll negotiate". Maybe the EA lied. Maybe they're waiting to hear back from someone who offered more than you.

It doesn't really matter why, you're not in a spice market in Mumbai and they're under no obligation to haggle with you. Maybe you just seem like time wasters to them. Maybe they're not keen on selling to a FTB. Maybe they think you're pisstakers who are going to last minute drop your offer to your original offer, and they don't want to waste their time.

Who knows? Who cares? The fact is they have the house, you don't, and they're obviously not as desperate to sell as you seem to think they should be. Offer higher or asking or just drop it. You can't force their hand or force them to counter offer.

I wouldn’t be surprised if they have viewings this weekend .

if you believe everything an estate agent tells you it’s a long road .

I would consider how you would feel big you lost the house . It may be worth putting your best final offer on the table and walk away although you have other houses to view - you might want to wait ?

Go to your best and final offer. Tell the EA that's your move.

It’s actually 2.6% less than asking price…. I rounded up when I said 3%.

I feel like I’ve fallen through a rabbit hole here. This is a totally normal way to buy/sell a house, surely? Buyer is testing to see how little they can pay, seller testing to see how high the offer is? But @Firsttimebuyer91 the seller doesn’t usually come back with a price they’ll accept on first offer - it’s common to just reject it and wait for your next offer; sometimes later on they will say exactly what they’ll accept once you’re near it. Sitting at asking price and refusing to budge as a seller only works if lots of people are after your house.

Asking price sales in a buyer’s market like this are rare, and agents will often advise sellers to market slightly above the price they are looking for to allow for this.

According to this report from late last year, sale prices in the UK are currently an average of 5.5% below asking. Obviously there will be regional variations and I assume OP has some awareness of her local trend - if not, there are ways to check that on the internet.

https://www.ft.com/content/2bbecece-1868-4018-a1e7-6ac308afde2d

Stop messing about and game playing- just offer what you want to pay. You are also risking annoying them to the point of wanting you to pay the most possible because you are being awkward. I would just offer near what you want to pay for the house. Forget the negotiations - they’ve put it for sale with a price tag so you know what the price is. If your max is 5k less then offer than and say it’s your maximum possible. Definitely don’t mess them about because you may well end up paying more.

In a previous job I purchased many houses on behalf of my employer... I don't remember any sellers giving me counter offers.
In my experience the buyer keeps upping the offer until it's accepted.
You can ask the agent if the seller has given an idea of what they'll accept.

It's still 50k from the original price.

Which is a chunk of money I could not find in a hurry.

They might just need the 765 you want to pay. So offer it and be done.

They might need 780. I dont know and neither do you.

They might have offers up the wazoo, yours might be the only offer. Either way they have a price they must sell it for, and you have a price your willing to pay. The Twain might never meet. You can only do your best.

You also seem to want a negotiation, yet are fed up of the offer after offer. So dont do offer after offer, just always offer what your willing. End.

@Firsttimebuyer91

I think you need to look at the bigger picture here (you're arguing the toss of a 0.4% reduction on an anonymous forum 🙄)

I understand that you want to get this house for the lowest price possible for a house you 'love' that has already sold once.
I am assuming you want to live in this house for a long time (10+ years). The difference between what you have offered so far and your top offer isn't that much. Just offer your full and final price - over a prolonged period it really doesn't matter. You will live in a house you love.

Stop fannying around with these small increments - you're coming across as hard work.

Op, you’re so focused on how you think the process should work, you’ve lost sight of what you’re attempting to achieve.

stop messing around and just up your offer if you want it. And stop focusing on some weird view of this is what they should do next in the process. They are doing nothing wrong. In fact they are behaving quite normally.

if you fart about with your weird rules with every house you will never buy

It has never occurred to me to make a counter offer when house selling. I say no until I get an offer I like, then I say yes. I once had a buyer make multiple increasing offers. Eventually i accepted his 5th offer. And I sold it to him. I never thought I should tell him what to offer and the agent never asked me how much I wanted. You’re over thinking this, your offer isn’t enough to interest them. Make another offer if you’d like, or don’t, it’s your choice.

I don’t think you’ve read the posts properly. I said we offered 3% below asking price. A previous poster tried to correct me and said it was closer to 4% which is wrong, the exact amount was 2.6% below asking, I’d just rounded it up because I didn’t feel the need to be so precise.

OP - You haven’t done anything wrong, but it just depends on the competition/level of interest. If they have viewings this weekend, they probably want to wait and see what happens before accepting.

If you really want this house, then make your best and final offer now. If you’re unsure, wait and view others.

Often in negotiations, the most patient person wins, but that only works if you’re confident you’ll see other places you like as much.

Surely it’s the price they’re listing it as now that counts? They listed it at 800k in January but similar houses in the area were selling for mid-700s. They’ve relisted at 775k because they’ve obviously realised it isn’t worth 800k and was overpriced - we never would have made an offer if it had been listed at that price. The EA told us they haven’t had any offers since it’s been back on the market.

Stop with the % - offer an amount you are prepared to pay, make it clear to the EA it is your final offer.

If the offer is accepted, will you still go an see the other house? If you like that will you withdraw from the offer on this house?

It is the vendors house to sell, they can do as they wish, and have made it very clear they do not deem your offers worthy of a counter offer.

I haven’t made an offer in % - PP said I’d made a “low ball” offer and I was pointing that the offer is 3% below asking and therefore not a low ball offer.

Maybe, but it's only just June, so I personally would consider the 800 to have been my starting price if it was me selling it.

Possibly the 775 is because that's the sold price, the one that fell through.

EAs lie, often. You'll go a long way if you realise that now.

Either way, make your best offer that you are willing to pay. You can't do any more than that.

Who says it isn't worth the £800k. You don't know why the initial sale fell through. Out of interest, how long was it on the market before the first offer? And why are you more attracted to this house than the one across the road?
As has been said time and time again, put your best and final in on Monday.

Regardless of percentages, you've said the market is strong. They've likely lowered the price because they want a quick sale - not because they're willing to accept that much less.

They are waiting for you to offer absolutely what you can afford and they are hoping for as close as possible to the asking price. They want to see how serious you are. They have probably been burned by the previous sale falling through so.probably need to be sure you are actually keen and invested.

Just be honest and say your best and final.offer is 765k. It will either be something they can accept or not

I'll add that when I bought the house I'm in right now, it was a state, needed new everything, almost gutted it. Yet mysteriously a landlord suddenly appeared with a better offer. Even more amazingly the ll disappeared when I said ok, let him buy it. Estate agents wont always tell you the truth.

I still dont believe that anyone suddenly wanted this house a year after we put our offer in (had to wait for probate) no for sale signs out, not listed at the EA, how the hell did anyone even know it was for sale? Hmmmm dodgy.

There are no set rules in this game, so they don’t have to do what you would expect or would do in the same circumstances. I don’t think they’ve been that unclear, either - as I understand it the EA has said they will negotiate but are not willing to work up from your current offer because they see it as too low. I wouldn’t pay attention to any other details such as what the EA has said about their circumstances and try to speculate on that basis; in my experience what EAs say is usually 90% bullshit.

I would bat straight now. Go back with the highest offer that you are actually willing to pay, and tell them it is your final offer. They can only say no which leaves you in the same place you are now; alternatively, they say yes and you have the house you want for a good price. None of the other noise around it matters.

I wouldn't expect them to make a counter offer. Last time we sold we said yes or no to an offer and left it to them to come back if they wanted to offer more.