What influenced you to accept an offer?

[Womling]

We're the prospective cash buyers (money in the bank) in this scenario.

Found house we love but asking price seems too high and its been on the market dince May.

Our first two offers on a £635k asking price were £580k and £590k and were rejected. EA saying we need to start with a 6. Unclear if £600k would be accepted though - "you can only try" says agent". Or is this is just a ploy to get us to go higher. Don't want to play games.

Wondering if any of you have been the vendor in this scenario and what influenced you to accept or agree.

It depends on lots of things. It’s not been on the market that long….if they aren’t in a rush they can wait for as long as it takes. I personally think it’s extremely cheeky to offer 580 on a 635 house. I’d have started at 600 and and met somewhere at the lower end of the middle.

You might get lucky if time passes and they don’t receive a better offer, but you also need to be prepared to lose the house.

Vendors. Cash buyers, no chain, able to proceed quickly we’d certainly consider the 600K offer.

To answer the question in your thread title rather than your specific situation, what influenced me was an offer that wasn’t much below asking from a couple who were complimentary and enthusiastic about my house. I turned down offers from people who went low and justified it by making critical comments. That just pissed me off.

When we offered on current house last year it was on at 450k and we offered 395k to start with . They came back wit h it was lower than they would accept at that point (on market for 5 weeks) and could we go higher. DH and friend said do 400k but I felt 405k so that they would clear 400k after estate agent fees would work better and they accepted that. We weren’t cash buyers but no chain and small mortgage.

I think you need to get whatever you offer next to be something they will accept or you run the risk they may stop negotiating or feel you will use a survey to push them down so I would look at being so they clear 600k after fees.

You have a problem with that seller because they are not motivated sellers.

Motivated sellers would have already reduced the price by about 5% but the fact they haven't reduced the price since May is a big red flag.

Nevertheless, all you can do is try. I would offer 600k if you like the house enough and can afford that. Psychologically 600k does sound better than 590k which might entice the vendor to sell. Though they have already displayed stupidity so I wouldn't put money on it.

I think understanding the vendors position (are they in a hurry? Have they found somewhere? Where are they going next?) as best as you can will help you pitch an offer. Cash buyers ready to move is great if you're in a hurry and under pressure, not that much of a plus point if you're not and have flexible options.

I think the EA saying it needs to start with a 6 is their way of saying 600 will probably be accepted. But if you offer that perhaps make it clear that you're motivated and you're not going any higher because after 3 offers I expect the vendor thinks they can just keep saying no (I would) to get closer to asking price.

But knowing what to say alongside your offer will be a product of understanding their situation and motivation.

Not much would motivate me to accept an offer £55k below asking. It all comes down to price in the end. I agree that if you find out why they are selling you can start a conversation, but if they haven’t reduced since May they might have decided only to move if they can get within a sniff of asking price so they can do xyz.

My sister was in that position- she has an unusual house which is difficult to value, and is happy there. She would move to downsize, but only if she got enough to buy in a specific location, so asked enough to do that. She doesn’t care if she doesn’t sell, as getting less wouldn’t let her move to where she wants to be and she likes her own house.

She told the agent strictly no offers, but they kept sending people who tried it on, and she got sick of tidying up and keeping the place viewer-friendly so she’s taken it off the market. She might try again in the Spring with a different agent who listens to the fact that she is not budging on the price.

We received four offers in a day when we were selling. We didn't sell to the person we would preferred to have sold to, or even to the person who offered the most. We were relocating and really needed the sale to be a sure thing, so we sold to the person with the most secure financial position.

If the house is overpriced & you don’t want to pay that, then walk away. Many sellers are deluded.

We got our current house because we were the most proceed-able, the sellers were in a rush to settle for school applications & arrival of new baby. We didn’t offer the highest but we were not in the chain & with everything in place. Equally we offered on another house & offered more than the cash buyer but they went with the cash buyer.

when we next move I would prefer to sell to someone not in a chain tbh, it’s too stressful.

The only thing that would tempt me to accept an offer is if other comparible houses were selling for less. The market is slow for everyone and I've seen some houses locally finally get their asking price when holding out. Although have also seen many drop (on their terms).

To be frank, I'd find your first offer insulting and id be inclined not to sell to you.

If you felt it was worth £580k, why are you now willing to pay £600k?

I would suggest this seller may be one of the many who actually can't afford to sell at a lower rate. It's been on the market too long without a reduction as Twiglets1 suggested.
The issue with this is they have decided they must achieve X price or they will just stay put. Lots of sellers in that position - and your proceedability as a cash buyer won't matter much to them.
You need to decide if you want to be the buyer who meets their financial goal, rather than the buyer who pays the market price. Its worth cooling your ideas on that one whilst leaving your offer on the table and looking for something else.

Can I ask is the property in Wales?

Both times we accepted an offer on a property was because it was less than 2% under asking and there was no lower chain.

I’d be put off by your initial offer being so low and think you couldn’t really afford it or were chancers and would play games and drop it later even you you offered 600K+ now.

Because they were the proceedable people offering the highest price.

I’m not getting your comment about ‘playing games’. It’s perfectly straightforward. The vendor wants to sell for as high a price as possible, the buyer wants to buy for as low a price as possible. That’s the only ‘game’.

BleachedJumper
No not in Wales.

Exactly my thoughts. Particularly as you came back with a higher offer and might do so again.

I realise there is a bit of a game to buying and selling houses - it would be so much easier if everyone stuck to a fixed price - but even so, I would feel played by such a low first offer. There are two lots of hopes and expectations at play (to stick with the game analogy). What are yours? Do you want this house enough to pay what the owners want for it? Can you afford it, or are you chancing your arm in the hope of getting a bargain? If they don’t see their home in the category of bargain you will be seen as cheating.

Is there anything else for sale in your price range? What does this house have that they don’t? If the answer is nothing (or nothing much) maybe consider something else. If the answer is clear, you need to decide whether you can, or are willing to pay for what you want.

You either offer what you think it's worth and accept you may lose out or you pay as close to the asking price as you can afford if you really want the house.

There's nothing wrong with wanting a house because it fits all your criteria ie location, schools, spcae, garden etc.

Tbh as a vendor I'd be put off by your initial low offer and subsequent higher ones. It tells.me you want the house but you don't want to pay for it and I'd be expecting you to chip away at the final offer price by using surveys etc as an excuse.

To answer the thread title- I once accepted a lower offer than another potential purchaser was offering because I liked them more. Simple as that. But it was because of the reason for sale and the position I was in at the time.

If I feel that the valuation is fair for my property and someone offered as low as you did, I would think it too cheeky and be a bit cross about it, tbh.

Also- you say you 'don't want to play games'- but you started the game-playing. You made a low offer to someone who's looking for £635k.

Just being a cash buyer isn't always enough.

Fwiw I don't think your initial offer of 580 was too low. It was 92% of asking which is a strong cash offer. It may be about what the seller needs rather than what it's actually worth... Lots of sellers in that position atm. They are easy to spot if the property has been on the market more than a couple of months without reducing.

I disagree with that. If they needed the money they would have accepted. The fact that they didn’t shows (to me) that they are asking what they believe the house is worth and will hold out for that.

It’s easy to spot people who chance their arm with a high valuation and accept a lot less, but that’s not what these people are doing.

I think the OP needs to question her motives and stop messing about. The house is for sale at £635k. Fair enough - offer £630. £625 at a push. But if you can’t go above that, look elsewhere until/unless it is reduced. If you can afford it, offer much nearer the asking price if you want to be taken seriously. Otherwise you are playing games, whether you say you want to or not.

This almost feels like deja-vu. Have you read this thread? EA's will act for their clients to extract as much money from you as they can. It's up to you what price is reasonable.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/property/5120190-offers-over-and-offering-under?page=1

Honestly I would not faff on with some who offered £55k under, I would blacklist them and move on as frankly you already sound like a cheap nightmare buyer.

I think you have shown your hand and I would fully be expecting you to try and demand another discounted lower price again after the survey (likely over general maintenance too) and I'm just not willing to deal with that sort of time wasting crap.

As a seller I would set a reasonable price for a house I'm selling. What would make me sell to you is simply paying that price with no games. Even better if you where a no chain, fast, cash buyer.

Even if you crept up to asking now I wouldn't accept your offer as you have shown too many red flags.

Yeah, I'd be suspicious of someone coming in with such a low ball over and then repeatedly inching up slowly. Tbh, I think after your second offer being only 10k higher I would have mentally discounted you as a serious buyer.

Low ball is fine if you want to, but then you need to be able to read the room for the negotiation and I think, in this case, you haven't managed to do that.