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?

Thank you! I don’t know why people think an offer of £755k is so outlandish - houses frequently sell for this amount below asking price. Why would they think I’m “a bit of a knob” and a “nightmare” just for offering this. We knew they might not accept but just hoped they would come back with a counter offer to give an idea of what they’re willing to sell for. It’s helpful to know you had to go back 3 times and they did eventually accept!

Look it comes down to how much you want the house, it’s a frustrating and annoying game selling and buying and unfortunately the price is the price. Either offer more or walk away…

It's completely wrong that you are getting personal insults for this perfectly normal behaviour.

I've never offered asking price on a house! And don't think any of my buyers have ever offered asking price either when I've come to sell. It doesn't make any of us nightmares to deal with.

Unfortunately, some people appear to have chips on their shoulders about the whole process and are taking their issues out on you. Just ignore them.
I see you have decided to view the other house which sounds like a good plan.

The problem is, people do take it personally.

If you'd offered £755k first they may have come back with a counter offer. Unfortunately, you offered £745k first, then immediately increased your offer by £10k.

They've marked your card now and are waiting to see what you do next.

They can afford to wait a bit if it's only been on a week

Why would they counter offer and show their hand?

This is a bit like celebrating Christmas or if you are OK with people dropping by unannounced. You think the 3% reduction is acceptable, they think you are a cheeky purchaser.

Offer what you think it is worth, if they don't accept, you have lost nothing.

I agree. I can imagine the drama once surveys start taking place. They'll be looking for money off for every little thing the survey brings up. Here's hoping the seller gets a full asking price offer in the next couple of weeks.

We can get arsey with low offers because with experience you know that at the last minute before exchange they are very likely to drop the offer back to what they wanted to pay originally.

How many houses have you sold? Surely the average person would have only bought and sold up to 5 houses in their lifetime. Hardly a big enough sample to be representative and therefore mark out everyone who makes a low offer "very likely" to mess about, how many times has this happened to you? In a buyers market, which it currently is in the vast majority of places, I always start low (unless the property is actually realistically priced). I have never renegaded on an offer once made.

@Firsttimebuyer91 - we've had that response from an EA and DP said we could do with a figure because otherwise we could up our offer to what we could afford, but it might still be below what the vendor expected and that would be wasting everybody's time.

It's not odd. They won't want to counter offer incase you would have paid more..

EAs sometimes encourage sellers to counter offer.

We were encouraged to do this when a certain buyer kept offering low. The first offer we refused to counter offer but they were offering 100k under! However, their offers gradually increased and after the first one we did as the EA suggested. Amazingly, (considering the first offer) we did reach agreement.

Presumably they are sticking to their asking price of £775, 000 so either you offer the asking price or move on?

My only advice OP is don't walk away with regrets

We saw a house we loved early on in the buying process. We made several offers below asking price ending at £15k below asking price

We could actually have increased our offer to £5k below asking price but we hadn't seen that many houses and the vendors didn't engage so we walked

Several weeks later we realised this was definitely 'the house' and tried to re engage but they had sold it to a cash buyer with no onward chain and they rejected our increased offer despite it being higher than what they had currently as they wanted a quick sale

I found out that this fell through and the house actually sold for £12k below asking price but by this stage we had exchanged.

Honestly for all the faff I think if we'd have just offered our best and final offer it would have been accepted and we probably would have got it

I still walk past it wistfully now as the house that got away...

So I've had similar a few weeks back, but with the vendor 'playing games'.

I offered on a home. Made clear I was at my maximum, stated why I was offering that and why I felt I was a good option as a buyer.
I also let the EA know I'd look elsewhere if offer not accepted eg - it was my best and final offer. Very very close to the guide price too.

The vendor considered it all day and into the next, got back at the end of the day, rejected and asking for more.

So, I turned my attention elsewhere.

Upon realising I wouldn't increase, as I said I wouldn't, the vendor then wanted to accept my offer, now too late as I'd then found elsewhere. I was very much of the opinion I wasn't up for being messed around.

It doesn't have to be all bids, offers and counter-offers. That is playing games somewhat, and to some, incredibly stressful, time-consuming and insulting.

If you really like the home then let them know your best offer, and if no good walk away. Simples.

Do you refuse to pay the set bill at Asda too? or the petrol station? or your phone contract? etc...

What makes you think you are entitled to buy something less than the set price you are told it costs? especially after it has already been discounted. Your not 'doing them a favor' they have what YOU want.

Just because you can't afford something doesn't mean people owe you tens of thousands of pounds discount, sometime you like stuff but just can't buy it.

I'd say you are quite right OP, just in a situation when being right doesn't have that much practical value.

Your first offer wasn't incredible low, it was just an offer.
Yes, the percentage was a trap of long threads when someone commented wrongly, you clarified it and someone else felt it is too much focus in percentage. Ignore it

Being willing to negotiate doesn't mean anything specific. I suppose they aren't that much in hurry to sell to tell you what are they willing to accept, because that would ultimately mean they won't be able to get more from you even if you were willing to pay more.

The whole process of buying and selling properties is awkward, long, and in the end driven by emotions and trust, even though it is the biggest transaction of many people's lives. There aren't clear rules and many different interpretations of the etiquette. Someone can decide to get offended, someone is mentally still stuck with their original asking price, someone focuses on two words of the estate agent, someone made a bad experience of one kind so is overcautious now in that one specific aspect.

I understand you don't want to pay more than necessary. That's totally normal. They want to get as much as possible, that's normal as well. You can decide to wait on the current offer, or you can decide to make a time-limited offer to force them to respond. There is no clear way to say what will work, property hunting is partially about luck and partially about finding a match.

Fingers crossed.

At last count, 14 houses.

Add in my partners several experiences with house buying and selling, family experiences house buying and selling, reading around forums like this and mse, I'm pretty wise to the ways of buyers and sellers. I've been gazumped and gazundered and all sorts of shenanigans.

I've bought with all furniture included,that wasn't there when I moved in. I've bought with only fixtures, to find piles of junk I didn't want. I've paid for white goods that were non working on move in. I've found leaks, dry rot, wet rot, you name it I've probably experienced it. Which is why house buying is stressful.

So the best thing anyone can do is actually think about the house you want to buy. Think of how much you truly want it and exactly how much you would pay for it. Thats your offer. Dont dick around with different offers every other day.
You will pay x and no more, they will or will not take x. At least you tried.

Same for sellers. Think of how much you need/what it's truly worth. please only put houses on the market if your serious about selling. Kindly if you agree to leave stuff,then leave it, if your leaving an empty house, then leave it empty.

Buying houses costs a fortune. Solicitors, searches, surveys etc. No one needs to throw money away like this.

Don't be ridiculous, that's a completely stupid analogy. Houses are more often than not marketed as having a guide price. The clue is in the wording, it's not a set price and is merely a guide as to the amount the vendor is hoping to achieve. They are of course entitled to reject any or all offers below the guide price, but this doesn't mean that a potential buyer is not allowed to make an offer. A house is only worth what someone is willing to pay for
it.

Wtf?
Housing market is an open market where value is defined by how much is someone ready to pay for your goods.

That way the same property is being marketed and sold at vastly different price over time.

Someone posted a link earlier which stated that the average difference between asking price and selling price has been lately 5,5%.

The sellers expressed that they are considering selling the house. The OP expressed she would consider buying it. The either they agree on a price or not. Yes, they have the house, but they would like to have money instead and houses don't have that big liquidity.

I wouldn't make a counter offer in their shoes. It's been back on the market only a week and you have budged 10k already. I would wonder if you were a time waster and have the funds to pay the asking price. They would be sensible to hold out

I'm confused

House was £800k. Reduced to £775k

You offered low. Then offered again low

But say will pay up to 10k less asking

So why aren't you offering £765?

You are playing games

Yes you want the house Cheaper but you also wrote this

There is a near identical house but slightly bigger house across the road on for the same price which has been on since March. To say we are “low balling them despite knowing what the house is worth” is just not true.*

So offer on that one if bigger but same price

I think that the "rules" of putting in offers must depend very much on location and perhaps timing. Where I live, it's almost always a seller's market; house prices are high, there always seems to be lots of competition for houses, and I've lost out to cash buyers more than once. So if I'd viewed a property listed for £775k that I wanted, there's no way on earth I'd put in a starting offer of £745k - in my local market, that just seems like taking the piss. Of course it might be different in other locations. But it's difficult to advise tbh because if I wanted it, I'd start with a higher offer to show that I'm serious. Definitely not lower than £750k and probably £760k. However, if there was no other interest in the house and there was another similar one on the market, I'd wait until I'd viewed them both before deciding which I preferred and putting in a serious offer. So I'd approach the whole thing differently to you anyway.

Even if the houses are on the same street with the same/very similar floor plan, there are still lots of potential differences that could be significant:

• garden aspect, most people prefer a south facing garden
• house aspect, you might prefer certain rooms to be north/south facing for example
• plot size/shape, one might be bigger
• condition of property; in particular things that could be expensive to fix eg roof, windows, boiler, electrics, etc... one house might have a recently replaced roof, double glazed windows in good condition, relatively new boiler, decent electrics, the other might need all that doing
• one property might have a garage or annexe or an extra outbuilding that would be useful
• neighbours - if they are not detached properties then adjoining neighbours are significant, do they have young children or a dog that barks, are they friendly and tolerant or will they complain about minor things... very hard to tell this when viewing but you could try and glean clues.

Then buy the house across the road? There must be a reason why you think this one is better. January and just fallen through isn't that long

Not sure what all that has to do with your original point of anyone making a low offer being likely to mess you about. How many houses have you sold resulted in that specific experience?

If you love it and don't want to miss out, offer more.
If you aren't that bothered, look for another property to play bidding games with.