"Offers over" and offering under?

[ElGraham]

We have found a house we really love. Been looking for around 6 months. Our budget is £700k but as first time buyers would really love something at £625k or below due to Stamp Duty relief.

The house we have fallen in love with is 'Offers over £700k'. We have also noticed that it went on the market 8 months ago at £625k and didn't sell for whatever reason. We want to offer £625k plus a bit for fixtures but unsure if that is too cheeky. Other houses have gone for around the same but with more bedrooms, so we do think its over-priced. What do people think?

I doubt any vendors would in reality, unless in a crisis situation. Maybe if the house had been on the market a long time with no interest at all but otherwise, no. It would make a lot more sense for them to reduce the asking price first than go straight from offers over 700k to accepting an offer of 625k within a few weeks.

That's true- lots of people were doing this in 2021-22, even after that.

@ElGraham Did the agent give you a reason why this offer over 700k from someone desperate for the house fell through and why they didn't just contact the other bidders in the (alleged) bidding war?

That's true @Tupster. If the story is true, they may not be inclined to accept 625, although the agent has been positive so far.

Let us know the outcome!

Its a really good point... no idea why they didn't contact the other bidders. It sounds like the person was desperate for the house due to personal reasons and therefore the house WAS worth £700k to him.

I agree, we would be surprised if they accepted £625k even knowing the house probably is only worth that. That being said, we are first time buyers with no chain. Perhaps an attractive prospect for vendors stung by a chain falling through once before!

Either way, we made the offer this morning and have had no response yet so unlikely an outright no... Perhaps they will counter.

The vendor is likely more desperate to sell than you think...

Sounds positive so far @ElGraham
Either way, don't be pressurised into paying more than you are comfortable with, especially as FTBs.

I hope for your sake the sellers are receptive to a low offer and the EA knows that. But tbh I feel it's more likely that the EA is only keen for you to put in an offer because in their minds it "starts a conversation" that they hope will eventually lead to a deal after some negotiation on both sides.

Update: our offer was rejected and we were told only offers starting with a 7 would be considered. Although we love the place, we feel it really isn't worth over £650k so have neglected to counter offer. Shame, but sure something else will come up!

If you feel the house is worth 650k but your offer was 625k then I would increase your offer to 650k & then leave it on the table while continuing your house search.

If it remains unsold in a few weeks or months time it is possible the EA will come back to you but the gap at the moment just seems too large to reach agreement. In the meantime continue viewing other houses and hopefully the right one will appear.

What does houseprices.io say it's worth (assuming increased with RPI since last sale and no significant improvements)? That can be a baseline but don't forget that prices haven't been rising at the same level as RPI for over 2 years.

Don't get suckered in to some EA's game. Do your own research and offer what it is worth to you personally - not what the EA have marketed it at or a potentially deluded vendor has in mind.

Check out all the possible price factors:

www.mumsnet.com/talk/property/4935470-tools-for-house-buyers?reply=136840256

Well played @ElGraham. They know you are interested and can come back to you if they don't get that elusive offer starting with a 7!
I'm sure something else will come up soon.

Just a final update on this. We offered £625k - got a straight no, only will accept offers of £700k+. We said no and walked.

Got a phone call 4 weeks later saying they were willing to renegotiate and would take the £625k.

We already found somewhere bigger for £600k so said no. That house is still on the market at £650k.

Interesting!

Great update. Sounds like a typical case of the seller trying to catch a falling knife. And they still haven't learnt the lesson. It should probably be on for offers over £600K.

However, if they have no need to move, and are financially sound, then it's up to them how they work the market on their home.

Is it with a new agent? Agents have different strategies. Some put a lower price on and then do an open day to try to get a bidding war going. Others put a cheekily high price. That said, the face it was on for 625 and didn't sell gives you an excellent reason to offer that.

Thanks for the update. There’s a house we looked at 6 months ago that was on at £1.4 (NW London) and apparently the seller had already rejected £1.35 from a previous buyer. We thought it was far too much for a property that needed serious work and had a tiny garden and didn’t bother to put an offer in.

It’s still sitting there at £1.4 and come the CGT hike the seller is going to rue the day. We believe they’re being badly advised by greedy adult children.

Some sellers are absolutely obsessed with a number or get greedy and there’s nothing they can do. They’ll inevitably come to regret their decision later.

@ElGraham

hows it progressing with the bigger house?

I wouldn't deal with the vendors of the original house now if they came back with 'something starting with 5' arrogant tossers.

Congratulations on finding a better house.
I expect the sellers are now regretting rejecting your perfectly fair offer. The longer their house is on the market, the less likely they are to get the figure they want. They were too greedy, it seems.

Very interesting ... Thanks for the update & glad you found something you preferred in the meantime.

They should have counter offered not been so stubborn about wanting an offer beginning with a 7!

I guess such is the nature of a bidding war - 2 buyers both offering more than they should, and regretting it later - the one whose offer was accepted pulls out, the next-in-line realises they were getting carried away and.doesnt repeat the offer thereafter, but understandably the vendors think "well, we had more than one offer of £xyz, so it must be worth about that".

I'm not sure it's really greedy to want as much as possible for your house, or as much house as possible for your money.

It’s greedy in the sense that they are not weighing up is time v money and risk. It’s often better to take a slightly lower offer now than risk a property sitting on the market for months and potentially having to take an even lower offer later.

I would say it's greedy in the sense that they were previously happy with <625k, as listed at this figure initially but then saw £££ when two buyers got carried away in a bidding war. They refused to negotiate with @ElGraham as a result. They could be not far off exchange now but instead they have had to reduce as they are presumably not having much interest.

Only no stamp duty upto 425k!

OP I’m in a similar situation. Property on for two years at 575 with no interest. It’s worth £500 at absolute most. The agent encouraged me to offer but it’s been rejected with “he wants asking price”.

Some sellers haven’t caught up with the market.

It's an offer not a demand . They can say yay or nay . It's that simple .