Will I look like an idiot if I go back with a 3rd offer?

[Goingbacktoday]

Around a month ago I viewed a house that was on the market for £180,000.

I put an offer in for £165,000 which was declined. I increased my offer to £170,000 which was also declined. I based my offers on similar sold properties in the area which were bigger, plus the house had been on the market for 14 months (ex rental, currently empty). I'm a first time buyer so thought that might have worked in my favour.

The agent said she couldn't get much out of the seller apart from the that he thought it was priced correctly, and so I decided to walk away. I haven't stopped thinking about the property though. It's in area that I love, but I'd be really stretching myself by paying the asking price.

I was thinking of phoning them tomorrow and offering £175,000 as my best and final. I doubt it will be accepted but at least I could finally walk away knowing I'd offered everything I have. But will I look like an idiot going back a 3rd time, especially if the seller is hellbent on getting the asking price? I'm hoping the agent might be able to pursued him. As far as I'm aware he's not had any other offers, not recently anyway.

If they haven’t even come back with a counter offer and haven’t dropped the price in 15 months they sound like they don’t know what it’s really worth. Maybe they aren’t even that bothered about selling. I wouldn’t pay over the odds for it. There is a good reason why it’s not sold.

'There is a good reason why it’s not sold.'

Exactly. It's been 15 months on the market!

We offered 3X on a house a year ago. It's still on the market, no reduction.

Some people are just deluded about whatbthe value of their house is in the current market and will not budge.

If they haven't instructed the EA to give you a counter offer after the second offer I'd say walk away.

Even if they did accept your offer it sounds like they'd be a nightmare to deal with anyway.

Best of luck whatever you decide!

There may be genuine reasons not to buy this house but I wouldn't let worrying about looking 'like an idiot' be one of them. You're unlikely to ever meet the vendor, so why care what they think in that regards? If you can afford to offer more, then you haven't got anything to lose by doing so - you either miss out entirely by not offering or it's 50/50 whether or not they say yes / no to your final offer.

Someone said the agent is working for the vendor and wants the highest amount for their commission - that's not really how it works. The commission on an extra £5k is negligible and it's in the agent's interest to get it sold otherwise there's no commission at all. 15 months is a long time for them to be dealing with it.

As far as the vendors are concerned the house is burning up money, insurance, council tax, mortgage(?) insurance etc

If its been on the market for 15 months then they may well have spent over £5k on these alone

I would certainly go with talk to the agent and say that your offer is still on the table and that you are open to a counter offer.

At this rate the vendors might find The Council's empty properties team on their case to do something about it

This. Then you'll know what to do. No point going back and forth again, get them to say the price they want. My son did this, had 2 offers refused, so he asked the agent what was the price they'd accept, and that's what he paid, everyone was happy.

We did this, said our third offer was best and final and we could not go any higher. They rejected it and the estate agent made some dodgy, clearly made up comments about there being another 'asking price' offer on the table so I congratulated him and asked him to keep me updated.

Three months later, house was still on the market. Estate agent rang back with absolutely no shame to ask if our offer still stood 😆.

In the end, we came back with a lower offer as we were cash buyers and the market had gone down. They accepted!!!

The moral of the story is: stick to your guns, don't trust estate agents, don't worry about how you look 😂

I wouldn’t worry about looking stupid! Offer what you think it is worth. We sold and bought last year and our buyer asked us what’s the best and final we’d accept. We were honest and said for our onward purchase we needed as close to £190k as possible and they offered £189 so we accepted. You could always do the same! Just ask. I guess not everyone might be so honest, especially if they’ve been hanging on for over a year, but it’s worth a try and never worry about what other people think of you! It doesn’t matter!

What did the five other houses sell for?

No I would offer your best and final and then it's up to them, the estate agents aren't doing them any favours if it's over priced, we went and looked at a house and it was way overpriced ($1.7) we told the estate agent we would pay $1.3 at the most for it, which is what it was worth based on the sales at the time etc, others in the street, size etc.

Anyway, 6 months on (which is a long time to be on sale here) it's still for sale, reduced the price to $1.4 and they still haven't sold, some sellers are unrealistic and some are believing the estate agents who give them inflated prices to sign with them to sell and then can't deliver.

Do not worry too much about what the agent or the seller thinks, you will never meet them or have to deal with them again.

Offer what you can afford as a "final offer" and leave it on the table, negotiate no further, and tell them this. As long as you are the "buyer they are expecting with no issues" - stick to it. The estate agent will be keen to sell at close to the asking price.
Your offers have been reasonable and not insulting.
As others say, sounds like they are not in a rush to sell. There could be a million reasons why, sentimentality, over-value, no financial pressures, not got themselves sorted, part of an inherited estate with many players who have agreed a number, the list goes on.
You have nothing to lose by going back a third time if you really want that house at that price, so just do it.

Surely their carrying charges are building up. I would ask for a f2f and spell out your offers. I wouldn't move much past the 170 mark (171,500 for an example).

If they have not sold in that time they are obviously in no rush. But no harm in putting it forward. The agent will probably strongly advocate for you - you're a great buyer and they will want their commission after all this time! But I think the sellers may just stick.

This.