Offering on a £1m+ house

[Househunters1]

House came to market in 2023 at £1.4 but was swiftly reduced to £1.35m.

In 2024 this was reduced again to £1.25. As of 2025 (when we viewed) it is £1.2-1.25m.

The sellers are an older couple who have raised their children in the house and those children along with their GCs have moved to a different area. The house has 6 bedrooms and the man has a degenerative illness that reduces life expectancy. I’d estimate they’re both late 60s.

They had an offer for £1.2m in 2024 which the rejected. In January 2025 they apparently had an offer for £1.24m but this fell through.

We offered £1.155m, this was rejected. From what the EA said, getting to £1.2m could get the offer accepted as they seem adamant on getting their guide but what they want is £1.225m.

I know I can’t control them and their decisions. But I need some confirmation that our offer was reasonable? It’s been on years now with two agents and no other interest.

We are firm we wouldn’t go above £1.175 but haven’t offered that yet. How would you approach it? It’s been a month now since we offered.

Ahhh, ok. We have been shopping for houses around 1.2m-1.5m in Sheffield which are very big and (at that price) need a fair bit of work. They are just inherently not very in demand and often take a long time to sell but people tend to wait it out (if they can) and ultimately someone comes along and pays the money because there are not houses like that coming on the market all the time. In your case, it sounds like it's just overpriced (for most people). You need to decide if you are prepared to pay over the odds for it. I guess if you plan to be there for a long time it matters less but you'll also pay a chunky SDLT bill. Depends on your mindset I guess. We wouldn't buy it from what you've described because we have always been quite commercial when it comes to property purchases... i'm not saying that's necessarily the right attitude though.

If that's the case, it sounds as if it's worth 1.1 or near there rather than the 1.2 that they would like. It also sounds as if there are a lot of potential houses for you to buy. Presumably the other house completed a couple months ago? Since then, things have changed somewhat with the end of the SDLT holiday, the economy more obviously heading into a recession and Trump creating chaos. If anything, this would make buyers more cautious and not willing to pay higher asking prices. Of course, it's all an individual decision and related to the job market in your area, etc.

The house just sold SSTC and is about to exchange, it went on in Jan, sold same day and they’re moving quick. There was a deadline for the seller for their new build purchase.

Since then I agree (as in the last week!) how much has changed. A lot of our money is in stocks so we have lost a substantial amount of money recently but we are used to investing and still willing to take the risk.

We are keeping in mind the resell side but ultimately we want to be in this house for 10+ years.

Will it even get valued at £1.2M by your mortgage provider?
IMO it depends on how much you want the house - we offered close to the asking price (had already been dropped) as we didn't want to play games and really wanted the house.

If it’s worth it to you at £1.175, but not worth it at £1.2, then are you sure it’s what you want?

OP I’ve had clients pull out of sales as of this week, the global macros are destabilising and LTIPS and bonus’ are down. ALL asset prices have fallen - including this house. I’d go back again with your offer, put this to the EA, tell them you are proceedable, despite current events and let them have a think.

I was going to mention this also.
Hard negotiations to £1.2m, then the valuation comes back at £1.1m 😹

That said, I would not be quibbling over 25k

Offer 1.165 and if rejected say you can rise to 1.175, don’t go above this unless you can afford it

Seconded!

I would do this except with slightly increased offers I.e. €1.170 and €1.180 best and final

It doesn't really matter if everyone on here thinks your offer is reasonable.

The only things that matter are the price you are willing to pay and the price the sellers are willing to accept.

Either you can pay the price and secure it, or wait around and risk losing it/get it cheaper or move on.

It sounds to me like this is a house that may need a lot of work doing on it that might be highlighted at the survey stage.

Did you find out why the first offer fell through ?

I see, so the house hasn't actually sold yet but they are obviously hoping it will go through fairly soon. Things could well improve for a while in the stock market but I can't see how the general economic trends are anything other than downwards, which clearly reduces the price of all assets.
However, if you plan to be there long time and this sort of house suits your family well, then go for it at whatever price you think is reasonable. Others have made the point that the survey may uncover additional problems and you may end up wanting to negotiate anyway. Good luck whatever you decide.

You’re assuming they actually want/ need to sell.

Rather than feel they ought to move at some point, but there’s nothing that means that needs to be imminent.

At which point they’ll hold out for what they want. £25k when you’re releasing cash is a much bigger number than when you’re looking at buying.

It boils down to how you feel. At the end of the day a house is only worth what someone will actually pay for it. Also mortgage valuations can cause problems if too high a price is agreed.

However 25k is not a huge amount in the scheme of things if you really like the plot, and if they are happy to sit there until they get their money it’s up to them. They might get a cash buyer who’ll pay whatever. We have a friend who has had his house on the market for 3 years now, it’s vastly overpriced and on a flood plain (garden floods terribly each winter nearly reaching the house) but he’s determined to keep it on for silly money even though next winter the house itself could be impacted making it unsellable. Some people are just tunnel visioned in what they think their house is worth.

It doesn't matter if your offer is 'reasonable' or not. They've rejected it and seem to be prepared to wait indefinitely for the figure they want. So you either pay their minimum or you don't. You aren't going to convince them that what you'd like to pay is what their house is worth.

Exactly this.

I don't understand these discussion for dragging sellers. They have what YOU want, you make an offer, they say no, you then 'argue' its not worth more and won't pay more and try to get others to agree... but it changes nothing there is nothing else to be said and every if every person you ever meet agrees it means nothing because they can't change it.

They can stay on market forever and not sell, unless there some kind of court order or debt they don't have to and lose absolutely nothing by not selling for less. They're not stupid or losing money or chasing anything or any of the other things people try to apply to this. Just because they listed a year ago and didn't sell doesn't automatically mean its worth less because no one bought it or a sale fell through.

I also find it amazing how in these threads the person knows 'matter of factly' the ins and outs of every viewing, offer, issue and bit of feedback the sell has received when in fact there is no possible way to know that as a buyer.

Adding to this I suspect an older couple who haven't decorated in 15 years don't realise that you can't get immaculate for 75k. So, they compare the 1.275 immaculate house to theirs and feel that it is a fair comparison.
As other PPs have said, this is an emotional sale, not a logical one, so unfortunately, you either accept that or put in your final offer and be prepared to walk away.

Doesn't sound like they want to sell which always puts me off.

Yes. If negotiating now feels like getting blood out of a stone what's it going to be like when they are trying to split the 50k cost of a new roof and you are 1k down through survey fees ?

I would just skip it and save myself a grand.

Exactly

Probably true. They’re probably feeling they should sell due to health etc, rather than actually wanting to. Which will probably make conveyancing slow and tedious as well as possibly stalling completely.

But you said this one has a nicer plot - you can't change that

Put in your best and final offer at £1.175. Take a hard approach with the EA so they know you are no longer willing to negotiate above this price. If it’s not accepted, move on. These are huge numbers you are playing with, and you don’t want to overpay, just because the seller is too emotionally attached.

You say you want to stay there for 10 years. The way the economy is, you may not see a large price increase in 10 years after renovations and stamp duty and may just about break even/take a loss. We are in a new economic era, which is quite unlike the past 15 years where we saw huge housing price growth. the government is planning to stagnate house price growth to allow wages to catch up.

Even if the sellers manage to sell for £1.25 next year, in “real terms” that likely would still be a “loss” for them compared to if they sold to you for £1.175. That £50k likely would be more if invested appropriately elsewhere by next year. Most people don’t understand that and just think of the numbers, but economically it’s far more nuanced than that.

This is the thing. If they don't have their hearts set on moving, to the point that they are on the market for 2 years, despite ill health, dealings may well be slow, painful and expensive. They may be unwilling to negotiate if there are survey issues or a mortgage down valuation. There are plenty of other houses available.

Most people don’t understand that and just think of the numbers, but economically it’s far more nuanced than that.

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