a house I want has been on the market for a while. Would £100k under asking be too cheeky?!

[Celerystickers]

Is a £800k offer on a £900k property that’s been on the market over 6 months too much off? Obviously I will be trying but is it an unacceptable offer. Bank won’t let me go higher so that will be it

That's a shame @Celerystickers but perhaps for the best if it would have involved you stretching to the limit of your ability to borrow. You can always tell them that your offer remains on the table for now and then move on and continue to look around.

Also the agent now knows who you are so could well contact you if similar properties pop up. you never know 🙂

Do you think it's overpriced for the area? It might be that the reason it hasn't sold in six months is because the vendors are digging in their heels over the price, and the agent's arguments to reduce have fallen on deaf ears. In which case, your cheeky offer might be exactly what the agent needs to persuade them to drop - if they can, of course.

I'd keep an eye on it...

It sounds as if both those conditions apply here (that the property is over priced, as it is still on the market after 6 months and that the OP cannot afford more than offered). If the sellers have not reduced the price after 6 months of marketing, it seems that they need to reduce their expectations as buyers find them unrealistic in the current market.

I think going straight in with your maximum offer is perfectly reasonable as it is very straightforward. Sellers sometimes find it annoying when potential buyers start 12% below, increase to 10, then 8%, etc.
I expect @Celerystickers will have advised the agent about her own situation as they always ask. I agree that she/he should play to their strengths if they are chain free, for example.

^ This is the thing @rainingsnoring , no one knows the exact day that the stubborn seller's resolve will crumble. If you're not asking the question then you'll never know.

True! If you don't ask, you don't get. Of course, some sellers don't need to sell so will never crumble but some definitely do need to sell so will need to reduce the price at some point.

It was worth a try. You could check back in with the agent if it’s still on the market in 3 months time.

A few years ago I put in an offer on a house 25% under what the vendors were asking. It was a classic probate doer upper and they were asking more than a neighbour had sold their perfect condition house for 6 months previous. We had a builder look at it to give us approximate costs to upgrade, needed new electrics, new heating, everything and had factored that in. They didn't accept my offer but 6 months later it sold for even less than I had offered. Reality eventually set in. We meantime got a house we could move straight into in a better location for less than the doer upper was asking for.

Don’t give up hope. Other threads have said they have had vendors get back to them several weeks later and accepted their offer.

I assume the vendors need the sum they need. It’s a two way issue isn’t it.

I agree, it is.

But if no-one is prepared to pay the price they are asking... that's God's way of telling them that the price is too high.

Worth a go, at least now you know

I see a few houses from last year still on @ the £600k mark. Chancing their arm. Quite a few have reduced by £50k but they have miss read the market.

True but they are unlikely to get it so probably won't be moving at all.

I would tell the agent the offer is still on the table should they change their mind, and start looking at other properties

@rainingsnoring Some people aren’t that bothered about selling and will wait. They might do a few improvements to sell. They might well wait for £20,000 more.

They can wait as long as they like but they may not get the extra 20k they desire if the market falls, as it appears to be continuing to do. These sort of people may well regret waiting for the unrealistic figure they have in their heads.

@rainingsnoring There are two types of people why market their homes. People who are keen to sell are realistic about price and getting on with it. Then there are others who are dipping their toes in the market and frankly, aren’t that bothered. So the threat of not selling is an empty one. We don’t know if the house has issues that are showing up on surveys. The owner might be digging their heels in over money for many reasons. People do. It’s not logical but people don’t always act logically. House prices are not falling everywhere. It’s likely their agent has talked to them but you cannot make people accept a much lower valuation if they are adamant it’s worth more. We don’t really know if it is or not because the op could not pay more. If she could have offered £20,000 more, they might have sold. We just don’t know.

Many people dont NEED to sell they are just open to it.

I had this with something I was selling on FB market place. They where hobby items worth £150 each and I was selling 3 lightly used (in new condition pretty much) for £50 each. I sold 1 and the other 2 where still listed months later which effects me in no way (I actually turned down a few sale for full price due to things like being on holiday that week). I don't NEED to sell them, they are pretty items and on display in my house causing zero issues to my life, I just don't use them any more and thought someone else might get more use.

The amount of people that started messaging that they would 'take both for £40 if you deliver them' etc... in a matter of fact way like they are doing ME a favor. Then got mad and barraged me with 'you'll never sell it then', 'you must be deluded, if people wanted them you would have sold them by now' and 'ha... good luck with that you'll be stuck with them forever'.

OK and so what, I don't need too sell them, frankly selling them is more hassle than leaving them minding their own business in my house.

I would rather give it to charity for free than an entitled CF who thinks they're doing me some favor by trying to cheap out.

If they don't sell they don't sell... they still have a house and lost nothing except the stress of selling/moving.

Well we don't know whether it is an empty 'threat' (hardly a threat) or not. I fully agree that some people just market their houses as a sort of kite flying exercise. A lot of people doing this have been fortunate in the past as the market has risen to meet their expectations. The point I'm making is that things have changed now and they may not be so fortunate. If they genuinely have no need and little interest in selling, it won't bother them at all but everyone's situation is different and things can change. They may live to regret not selling at a decent price, who knows.

@housethatbuiltme please see earlier response to @TizerorFizz

@rainingsnoring But they still might not care! They want the ££ they want. Not what the op offered. We have no idea if they might have accepted £20,000 more, which is still a big drop from the marketed price. As none of us know the situation we don’t know if the asking price is kite flying or close to reasonable. All we know is it has not found a buyer and the op didn’t have enough money. What they sell for might well represent a price drop so we cannot say they aren’t realistic, just not prepared to sell for what the op offered.

The other thing to say is if this sale is for care home fees, their advisers absolutely need to maximize sale price.

Referring to this specific example, my previous comments being general observations, I think it's fair to consider that the price is not 'close to reasonable' or it would have sold. It's still on the market 6 months later so either buyers are not offering because they all consider it over priced or the sellers are declining offers and have an unrealistic figure in their head relative to the current market. Of course, we don't know these sellers specific situation.
In general, there are masses of properties on the market that are clearly over priced as they are not selling. They are being gradually reduced but never enough to catch the market where it is. Some may not care if they don't sell. Again, I think some of these potential sellers will regret over pricing their properties in the future.

@rainingsnoring Of course people who need to sell price to sell. I agree others are slow for the penny to drop. However it is their choice. If they wanted to sell, they could have done. They didn’t and that’s their choice. It could well be the prune is too high but that’s also their choice. I believe in being realistic but many others clearly don’t.