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

Of course it's their choice. That goes without saying surely. I think that there is a significant group who want to sell but have no need to do so urgently who genuinely think that they will get their price in the end or that they just need to reduce it a small amount to sell. That's very unlikely to be the case. As @XVGN said, at some point, some of these people will capitulate as the penny drops, to use your phrase.

Did they not counter offer?

I'd sit on it a few days, then add another £10k if you really really want the house.

I think some are missing the point... they have a house, they do not necessarily 'need' anything. The person who 'needs' a house is usually the buyer not the seller. If they do not sell at any point for any amount they have lost nothing, they still have an investment asset they can live in.

There are even situations where they might not want to sell. A house I viewed had been marketed by the children of a elderly couple. The man had had a fall which spooked their kids and they wanted them to move from a 3 story town house to a bungalow. The actual parents who lived there did not want to move and had no intentions too, they where only playing along to stop their kid moaning at them.

You can have problems with anything coming to selling against their will. In such a case the price does not matter (overpriced maybe so for a reason) at all as they don't actually want to sell. No one is 'doing them a favor' by buying it.

Others often just think 'oh look at these lovely new build houses in that fancy estate for £300k, if I had that much I would by one'. They bought their house in 1990 for £23k and have seen margaret down the street sell hers for £225k 6 years ago so say 'oh well IF I get £300k I will sell and buy one of those, if not I will just stay here'. Doesn't really matter if 6 months has passed they are not going to accept £250k because thats not what they want/need for their dream move and they dont need to move for anything less.

But they won't sell for less because they don't need to sell... thats the whole point.

Unless they are about to be repossessed or need to relocate most people do not NEED to sell... most people would rather stay put than make an unnecessary sideways move (with all the fees and stress) into the unknown when they do not have to when it isn't for the goal they want.

Its better for most to NOT sell than do that. Worst case scenario they stay living in their own HOME.

@DenholmElliot11 She doesn’t have another £10,000. Her maximum was £100,000 short of the asking price. Of course we can argue all day about if the house is overpriced but it’s definitely the case some people don’t need to se and maybe they feel £100,000 is too big a drop.

You don't know whether people need to sell or not. Plenty of people do. The 3 Ds to start off with and then relocation and repossessions as you mention. Others who are not in a hurry to sell may well capitulate after 2 or 3 years or they may not. I can certainly see many, many reductions on Rightmove, even on new builds. They weren't there during the buoyant market of 2020-22. Times have changed.

Sometimes sellers are unrealistic about the value of their house. Too many emotions involved. Go for it. Even if they reject it, it will help them realign their expectations.

Thanks for all this advice it’s appreciated and I’m taking on board any tips/criticisms. They still want full asking and have only just reduced the price so maybe it’s a sensitive issue rn. I’m holding out on this place praying it may one day reduce again :-) I love it. It feels like I need to move in.

however, realistically I have maybe viewed other places on rightmove now and am trying to distract myself from potentially seeing this house sold!

You didn’t mention in your OP that the house had only just been reduced to 900k so if that was the case, obviously they were not going to accept 800k. If it had been on at 900k for 6 months, there would have been a chance they were about to reduce it anyway so the timing could have been perfect.

What I would do is watch to see if the house gets reduced again to 850k and if it does, that is the moment to contact the EA to remind them you are still prepared to pay 800k. But definitely look at other houses in the meantime and try not to view ones listed at over 850k.

The trouble with looking at houses outside your price range is that they are nicer & then it just becomes frustrating because you get caught up in what extras you could get if you just had 50k or 100k more to spend.

We did something cheeky like this and it worked. I sent a card first though to say I’d fallen in love with it. The owners met us and said they wanted our family to have it. It worked. We still laugh about how we were so lucky to get it. We set our minds on it and got some good luck! Try!

I’m holding out on this place praying it may one day reduce again :-) I love it. It feels like I need to move in.

My brother works in property and he always says this a delusion. It’s just a house. Sure it’s a nice house but it’s only one house. There will be other houses, ones that you can afford and turn into your home.

If they have just reduced the price (how much?) you obviously had much less chance of knocking 100k off. All you can do is leave your offer on the table. They may get interest now or they may not.