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?

I think the downside of making numerous incremental offers, is that the sellers may be under the impression you'll just keep coming up and so less inclined to negotiate. I think after two offers, if you really like it, go up to your highest offer and stick to it. If they decline, just ask the estate agent to let you know if they change their minds.

As for your initial offer, when you say it's just 3% it sounds reasonable, but then when you translate that to money £23,250, it's quite a lot. Especially since they're already £25,000 down from their previous offer of £800,000 that they had, but fell through. They have come back on the market at a lower price to move quickly, but in their heads, for any offers below £775,000, they'll be factoring in the £25,000 drop from the previous price. That puts you at a disadvantage for getting much of a price reduction I'm afraid.

You offered. They said no. You offered. They said no. Ball is back in your court.

You asked how many houses I'd sold.

All had someone offer very low, and I mean stupid low.
I was messed about the first 2 or 3, after that I refused to deal with anyone making a stupid low offer.

It was a reasonable offer, even if we're still at 800k. I would make a 'best and final' then walk away.
Estate agents often play more games than vendors though!
Make sure you remember to make that offer subject to the house being removed from the market- a recent estate agent tried to literally trick us recently that nearly lost us our house on day of exchange

Being absolutely pragmatic, @Firsttimebuyer91, you have a choice. You can withdraw your offer altogether, or leave the current offer on the table, or you can offer your maximum for the house, and tell the sellers that that is a full and final offer - then it is up to them.

Yes, it would be far easier if they were willing to come back with a figure that they would accept - some sellers do negotiate like this - but others don’t, and they are under no obligation to do so. Frustrating as it is, you can only control your side of things.

I guess it depends how much you love the house, and what it is worth to you.

I hope you get a resolution soon.

For the 2 people saying I'm ridiculous, no I'm not.

A house is not 'whatever your willing to pay' it HAS a price set by the seller, some maybe open to offers (usually listed) but that doesn't mean all have to be.

OP made an offer which is her right to do and it was declined, now shes moaning that they would give her a discount... the sellers do not owe her anything off the listed priced. SHE is the one that wants to buy what they have they do not need to 'counter' with anything, they set their price.

Maybe when they said they were open to negotiations, they meant they would negotiate from the point of a sensible offer, and they don’t class your offer as sensible so won’t negotiate. And some people don’t take someone seriously if they feel the offer is ridiculously low, as they will suspect the buyer if pushed to a significatly higher offer, might try to negotiate downwards again after reports, or play games further along in the process.

The fact that similar properties in the area are listed for £725-775k and the fact they’ve listed it at £775k suggests it isn’t worth £800k.
Great. So you can go and offer on one of those. If there are others that are as nice age are cheaper then why are you bothering with this one?

I don't understand your position at all. So what if they came back with £773k. How would that have helped you in anyway?

They have been on ONE WEEK. The fact that they were on before isn't necessarily relevant as you say they had a buyer at £800k why dropped out. It's not like the house has been consistently on fire 6 months.

If I put my house on the market and received a low offer within a week, I wouldn't rush to negotiate

But in this particular the case the vendor has said they are willing to negotiate, therefore the price they have asked for isn't set. And it isn't set in most house sales either, it's a guide price. Vendors can be set on achieving their guide price of course, doesn't mean they'll get it. You basically said in your first post that the price was set and that OP shouldn't have made an offer, which is plainly not how house purchases work. That's why your analogy is ridiculous.

Caveat - I haven’t read the full thread.

I am a property lawyer. I would try to check the offer had been put to the vendor. I have come across many an estate agent that do not put forward all offers made the vendors (which is not allowed!). Agents (usually) work on commission by way of a percentage and it is in their best interests to secure the highest offer for THEMSELVES, irrelevant of what the vendors want.

Go and view the house across the street. I'd have done that anyway, before making any offer and I'd tell the EA you like both, but this is your preference. Always worth having a back up plan if you can't get the one you prefer, but the other is one you'd be happy to live in. Also means the vendor doesn't have all the power. A bird in the hand...

Ridiculous analogy. Very few sales are fixed price.
If any seller doesn't want to accept an offer, that's entirely their prerogative. However, if they have priced above market value and refuse to accept offers, they just won't sell. Alternatively, they may realise that they have made a mistake and reduce the asking price and perhaps, in time, they may negotiate with a buyer and reach a deal.

I don't think you've done anything wrong here, OP. It's quite common after having an offer rejected to get some kind of feedback from the agent about a figure the vendor might accept, if not a counter offer.

There's another thread running where someone is selling a house practically half the price of the one you're looking at. They've received a couple of offers of 40k under asking and posters are telling her she's over priced and obviously 40k less is the real market value. You've offered 20k under on a much more expensive house and are being told the complete opposite, to offer asking as that's the market value 🤷

1/ Never, ever believe what an Estate Agent tells you, irrespective of whether he is selling for you / or you are buying through them.....They are working only for themselves, for the COMMISSION.
They are however, by law, obliged to put forward any offers to the vendor...thats all.

2/ Do your research, both selling and buying.
Some vendors will accept the valuation that their Estate agent says to sell at....BUT the EA only wants a speedy sale so will often slightly undervalue a property to get it moved on more quickly. They don't want to keep properties on the books for too long.

3/ Consider the EA may have advised the sellers to list for a lower asking price to stimulate interest, and thus the sellers are resistant but tied in... (Not everyone is experienced at handling EA's)

4/ What is the house worth to you?

View the similar house opposite to gain some perspective on the "house you love"
Tell their EA you are doing so and will make a decision on moving forward.

5/ Ask their agent what will sweeten the deal?
Consider the vendors....Do they want you to proceed quickly or do they need a grace period to vacate. Sometimes convenience can sweeten a deal.

6/ If you're not happy with the answers from the EA.... write your thoughts in a polite, considerate letter and post it through the vendors letterbox. Leave your number.

Explain you're willing to accommodate any timescales (depending of course how much you love the place)

7/ Remember in any deal, there has to be something in it for both parties, win, win or the deal's not worth doing.
Good luck and if your heart's in it then persevere.

Buying a house is never straightforward and everyone behaves in different ways. We had a few offers on ours that we felt were far too low so we didn’t enter into negotiations and simply turned the offers down. The house we are buying was over priced but the owners didn’t think it was so we had to decide on our best and final offer and put that forward. Focus on the house and what you’re willing to pay for it, rather than the politics of the process. It’s such a stressful process but the best advice I’ve been given is to take all emotions out of it and just focus on the end goal of finding your ideal home for the right price. Good luck with it.

Even then there is no gurantee the seller will go through with it as may get better offer and/or change in circumstances that is a fact

Until the exchange of contracts, it not legally binding - I heard on the radio once, once contracts are exchanged, 99.9999999999999999% of the sales complete

You’ve basically said the house is undervalued. They’ve priced to sell, likely concerned another property will fall through but also cannot go too low or they cannot afford.

Regardless is an offer they won’t entertain so that’s the end of it.

Their negotiation skills are better than yours 🤣 they aren’t going to open negotiations with you by dropping their price.

I wonder if they are not realising their house is over priced. It wouldn’t surprise me if in 6 months home their house is still for sale and they have to relist at say £725k or something. Many sellers over paid during covid etc and can not accept prices are dropping. It’s likely not worth what it was when they first listed. I’d walk away and view the other house. They fact they’ve only had one offer which fell through speaks volumes

Yeah I don’t get it either - negotiating is part of the fun. Sounds like the seller has a stick up their arse. Move on

But it IS personal ... to them. This is their home and like it or not they have a strong emotional connection to it. Your offer may have insulted them and dampened their spirit to negotiate with you. Buying a house - a home - is not the business transaction you think it should be. And for some it is very personal.

You have two choices - keep offering until you reach their tipping point. Repeated offers may work against you. Show your hand? Well what is the house worth to you?

Your other option is to walk away. Only you can decide what works for you as they will decide what works for them. Their choice to not counter offer IS their negotiation. Make your decision with this in mind.

30/775 = 3.87%, rounded = 4%

But the vendor has the upper hand as they know it is their house you want not the one across the road. There must be something about their house that is better as that is the one you have offered on.

We offered on this one because we viewed it first! We’re viewing the other one next week but would cancel if we agreed a price on this one.

I’m referring to our offer of 755 which is 20k below asking price (2.6% which I rounded to 3%). This is pointless nitpicking - regardless of 3 or 4% neither are ridiculous low ball offers.