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?

You've done nothing wrong in making a lower offer. They turned it down so it's up to you if you want to up your offer. The only thing you've done wrong IMO is to expect them to counter offer. It's up to you if you want to offer more.

Nope. It's a business transaction. For starters, you're assuming there's a personal link. Living in the house or having a personal link is an assumption.

To keep offering is a bad idea. It's a dodgy game of ping pong at this stage. Just offer best and final.

I think the estate agent is to blame here. We are about to sell and someone putting in incremental offers would be an immediate no from me. I would assume they would then try and negotiate lower once an offer has been accepted.

We saw a few agents, our objectives were to sell with no haggling, we don’t necessarily want the maximum price and wouldn’t put it in for that. We want stability and a fair price.

The estate agent we liked said they do a few viewings, don’t accept offers straight away, encourage buyers to look around the local area and the house on their own so people know what they are getting into. Then people place their best and final offer and that’s that. That’s what we want, not the most money we can get, just an easy transaction and no back and forth and faffing.

If you want it, make your best and final offer.

@Firsttimebuyer91 based on all the info you've provided I'd guess they had an offer for 800k and previous buyers mortgage company undervalued it hence it falling through. I'd just leave it with your current offer and hope they come back during the week

You have also said there are other houses as well on for prices similar to your offer. To the vendor they would know this too and that you want their house so they have the upper hand. It’s only a week since relisted.

So patronising!!!

You forgot to quote.

I don't understand this, why are incremental bidders an automatic no? What's the basis for that decision?

In a buyers market I always offer lower than the amount I'm actually willing to pay. Nothing ventured nothing gained I suppose. When I reach my max I communicate that as a best and final offer. Doesn't make me flaky, untrustworthy or likely to back out. I have never backed out of an offer. Im just trying to get the best possible deal for me. Conversely, in a sellers market i don't do this, if I want a house it's straight in at asking price. Perhaps this is the nuance that some posters are missing with this entire thread - it's generally speaking a buyers market at the moment.

I agree and it feels like some of the people commenting on this thread are not experienced house buyers/sellers because some of the comments are so odd.

We had similar with a house, turns out they wanted exactly what the last person had offered that had fallen through. They weren’t going to budge on price. Would have been handy to know that but actually it all worked out in the end and we found a different place. Fingers crossed that the other house is better and easier to negotiate! And btw, we bought the house we are in by offering 50 K under the asking price so anything is possible!

You could offer 765, they could counter offer 770, you could settle on 768. That would be them being willing to negotiate.

Just because you 'don't understand' them being fine with taking 10s of thousands less than they need for their sale, doesn't make them wrong or unwilling. They just want different things to what you want.

*not being fine

I've never made a counter offer.

It's a yay or nay to what the buyer is offering.

I only counter offer if it’s close and I’m considering it. So say a couple of grand out, past that I don’t bother and if the prospective buyer wants to come closer then we may talk.

not quite sure why the op is hung up on percentages.

Because where I live it’s a seller’s market and houses always go over the asking price. Why would I want to enter into a back and forth with someone? Places here sell very quickly.

But that’s not what you said in your initial post. You said someone putting incremental offers in would be a no because you would assume they were going to mess you about, no mention of it being a sellers market and therefore not entertaining a lower offer. You also said you want stability and a fair price, not the maximum price. But now you’re saying houses always go over asking in your area and that’s the reason you’d not take an offer. All this talk of nightmare buyers messing people about on this thread is funny, I think a few nightmare vendors have been identified!

I just assumed that people would know that I knew about my own local market and would act accordingly. Obviously not!

I didn’t say I wouldn’t entertain a lower offer, I said I don’t like multiple repeated small offers as in my experience these are the people who much you about.

My objective when selling is stability, that doesn’t change whether it’s a buyers or sellers market. I’m just fortunate I don’t have to enter into a long battle as where o live places go quickly and for over asking price. I’m not interested in making the most money possible if it extends the selling process further down the chain.

Think I’ve identified my nightmare buyers 😂

Actually, in every single transaction, the buyer has what the seller needs, which is money. If the price isn’t right, they won’t get it. A retailer or manufacturer will go bust, a house will remain unsold.

The right price depends in part on how desirable the goods are, and how much money the buyers have. In a retail environment we either buy or don’t in the UK in general. We rarely haggle as it’s not the cultural norm and not how most of our retailers operate. When buying houses, we make offers, which can be declined, but is a totally appropriate thing to do as it’s how our system works and what estate agents will encourage prospective buyers to do. A seller that ignores this might not sell their house. How much of a problem this is for them will vary but most buyers will find somewhere else to buy.

I haven’t moaned that they won’t give me a discount, I asked for advice on what to do next as they rejected two offers and haven’t come back with anything to indicate that what they might accept. The house is listed as “offers in the region of” so they haven’t set their price, they’ve indicated a price and suggested they’re open to offers. £755k is in the region of £775k in my view so it’s not an unreasonable offer but it’s less than they’re willing to accept which is fine. I was asking for advice on what to do next because we don’t want to go too high nor do we want to keep making incremental offers.

They want to sell what they have as much as we want to buy what they have. It’s a two way transaction and both parties want to get the best deal they can. We’ve made an offer because we love the house but we’re not in a rush to move and might find something else we love just as much, including viewings for similar properties we have lined up. They might find another buyer willing to pay more than we are or they might end up with it sat on the market for a long time and having to reduce the price again. The hope is that we agree a fair price that both parties are happy with.

£755k is in the region of £775k in my view so it’s not an unreasonable offer but it’s less than they’re willing to accept which is fine. I was asking for advice on what to do next because we don’t want to go too high nor do we want to keep making incremental offers.

Given only a few months ago they sold it for 800K, I suspect "offers in the region of" would be more around the £770 mark. You've asked for a big reduction – £25k less than asking, and £45k less than the offer they had a few months ago. That will be forefront of their minds. I suspect they don't want to counter a sum in case someone comes along willing to pay £775k – they'll kick themselves for accepting your current offer of £765k (if that's what it currently is).

You say you don't want to go up incrementally, but that's already what you're doing, and as a vendor I'd find the haggling a big red flag. I'd be suspicious that you'll start demanding a reduction after the survey to get the price down to your initial £755k offer. I'd also worry that you couldn't actually afford £775k because you've offered 25K less, and that the deal could fall apart before exchange. If I was desperate to move like you think they are, I'd want a buyer who was showing me they HAD to have the house and offered accordingly. You're showing them that you kind of like it, but only if it's much cheaper.

True. There are some odd posts on here that make little sense.

I wonder where this region is where 'houses always go over asking price'. There aren't many regions like that at present. Perhaps the agents just market them more sensibly in this apparently sought after region!

Cambridge. HTH.

Posting opinions based on a very specific market, like Cambridge, is pretty pointless unless OP is buying in that specific market.

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?

OP, I would advise you not to go back with an offer of £765. It is clear that the vendor remarketed the property for £775 hoping to get offers very close to that figure. It had previously sold for £800.

You said in your opening post that the market is much stronger now so I think the vendor is not willing to enter into any kind of negotiation with you unless your offer is close to £775. Regardless of what percentage reduction you have offered, the vendor is not interested in your offers so far and is probably not in a rush to sell.

The feedback you have received from the EA is "far too low" and "too low". That tells me that the vendor will not start negotiating until they feel your offer is closer to a figure they have in mind. Whether that's unreasonable or unrealistic is up to them. Currently the vendor is not willing to engage with you and probably won't do unless your offer is nearer to what they want. If you don't want to do that, walk away. There will be other vendors more open to your idea of a 'counter' offer.

You state that there are other properties in the area going for less, so buy one of those, assuming these vendors are more willing to negotiate.

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.

Hang on... you don't think the agent might be lying do you 🤔😱