Unsure if should accept low offer on house

[HollyJane92]

Hi everyone,

We sadly lost my dad last year, and have been trying to sell his house since summer 2024.

We have recently received three offers, from one person, all of which we rejected due to being too low.

But I’m really questioning if we’re over valuing the house and think it’s worth more than it is.

When we were looking to sell, we asked four EA to value it. 3 came back saying it was worth £200,000-£220,000 but one came back saying £310,000. So naturally we went with the latter one. Since August, we’ve had little interest. We dropped it twice, now on at £255,000.

As mentioned, one person is really keen for the house, but they’re saying it’s only worth £190,000, £200,000 max and they won’t go beyond £205,000. She’s a first time buyer, not in a chain and as far as I’m aware, she has a good job and has the deposit etc.

We really want to sell, as we’re really exhausted by it all, but £205,000 seems so low when we were originally told it would get us around £300,000.

I should say that the house is a little dated, and needs a little TLC. Also, with it being a pre-war house, the bathroom is downstairs. Which suited my dad, but I think this is causing a bit of an issue.

Although we rejected the offer of £205,000, the person has left it on the table.

Has anyone else been in this position? And what did you do?

Thanks, H :)

Estate agents valuations are just an educated guess. Some estate agents will err on the higher side to try and get the business.

A house is only worth what someone is prepared to offer. As no one has offered £300k then it was never worth that.

Id seriously consider the current offer, and look at comparable houses sold prices nearby to see if it’s in the right ball park.

I'd accept. Two agents priced it in that bracket. One massively over priced to get the job. It's an offer in keeping with other similar properties. You don't want the hassle of upkeep of an empty house that could deteriorate. Sell up and move on.

The fact that 3 EA came up with similar valuations suggests that £200k-£220k was a realistic price. The £310k one was way out of whack and should have raised alarm bells.

Unfortunately the house has now sat on the market and so people will be wondering what is wrong with it or decided it's well overpriced. What do other properties in the area marketed at over £300k look like?

At £205k you are within the original 3 EAs estimates so is an achievable figure and in line with what the house is worth. Especially as at that price point there are a lot of potential buyers. Anything half decent at that price point usually gets snapped up quickly if priced realistically.

Either take the offer or take the property off the market and relist again with a more realistic agent for offers within that original £200-220k range.

Thanks everyone :)

This is why I’m questioning myself. One of the four EA advised me that if I was very very lucky, I’d get £220,000-£230,000 and it would depend on demand and market. In a favourable market I could get £230,000. But I’ve no idea if we are in a favourable market. Please keep saying it’s a buyers market, but I’ve no idea.

EAs really do play games don’t they!

It’s mean of them at the best of times but it’s probably been a hard time for you as well

To answer your question Icecreamandcoffee, a house sold recently with the same EA two streets over. It was up for £310,000 and it was gorgeous. If I was looking to move and I had the money I would have snapped it up. It was like my dad’s, but bigger and modern. 5 bed, large kitchen and dining room.

So this is why I’m confused as it’s the same estate agent. They valued that one and my dad’s the same.

The agents played on your greed.

You've probably chased the market down in the respect that if you had sold it months ago you might have got more. But you haven't lost most of the inflated valuation as it was never worth that in the first place.

The fact that three other agents were valuing much lower and all within a relatively small fraction of each other was the giveaway.

The house has been on the market almost a year, so if there was someone willing to pay that higher price in most likelyhood they would have probably turned up to pay it.

The problem is, you've also given encouragement to the agent that they should continue their tactic of overvaluing to gain business.

By grossly overinflating the expected sale price they have won your business, and will potentially earn a fee despite falling way short of the figure they told you.

As far as they're concerned this is a successful strategy as they've got the business and not one of the other three firms

Things are so transparent these days. People can just go on Zoopla to look at valuations and nearby sold prices.
As PPs have said a house is only worth what people will pay.
A first time buyer should make for a smoother sale hopefully. People are getting the highest mortgage they can afford in some cases to get on the property ladder. They can’t add on money for doing the property up.
I know it must be emotional but you can’t move on until sold. Time may enable the house to fall into disrepair.
People often search by newest listed and don’t even look online at those for sale for a long time.

You aren’t going to get more than £220k for it at the moment. What is it costing you per month to keep it and factoring in the estate agent fee, what’s the net loss to sell at £205k vs £220k? I bet it’s not much.

It’s obviously not worth £310k, everything you have posted shows that.

If you want more, tart it up and keep it until the market changes. But that’s a gamble.

Sounds like property was overvalued by the agent you've gone with and other two were more realistic.

I think I'd be tempted to go back and say £206/207k and it's yours, or accept £205k for a quick completion if say 2-3 months.

It’s not uncommon to find one estate agent whose price is significantly more than others, in all honesty if three suggested between 200 and 220 and just the one said 310, then the probability is it’s worth 200to 220 as you are finding based on the offers you’ve received , you could stick out for more but you may be waiting a long time

The agent took advantage of a bereaved person with an emotional link to the house in order to get it on their books. Don’t beat yourself up over your mistake.

Take this motivated FTB’s offer ….and do not recommend the estate agent if asked in future.

Good luck OP.

The person who put the offer in did leave the offer on the table, but I wonder how long they’d leave it. So now I’m a bit worried I’ve missed the boat with them. Communication is a bit slow with the EA.
and no, I definitely won’t be recommending them or using them again.

I find it weird that you say you “naturally” went for the high valuation when it’s so out of line with the other valuations and comparable sold prices.

You don’t have to accept this potential buyers latest offer but frankly after after most of a year if it was worth what you’re expecting you would have had a better offer by now.

I think you need to re-adjust your mindset on this house. Its quite apparent the EA lied to you about the value to get you on their books.

The fact 12 months on and it has not sold only proved the 3 lower offers were valid. You have not lost £100k if you accept the offer you have had, as it was never worth 100K extra in the first place.

Just sell for a price inline for the 3 lower valuations and accept you are getting a price for what its atually worth not what you would pipe dream of having.

It’s not a low offer, it’s exactly what 2/3 agents predicted.

I would accept it and get it sold. You’re losing money you could be making in interest or investing the money, plus assuming it’s empty that’s council tax, insurance, upkeep etc.

Put it this way, every month it’s empty you are losing nearly 1k.

I would take the offer

I don't understand why you seem so reluctant to accept that the EA overvalued and unfortunately instead of asking why their valuation was so out of line with the other three and also seemingly out of line with all the similar properties on the market for sale in your area, you got £ signs in your eyes and decided to go for it. Now you can't let go of the idea that is how much the house is worth when it seems obvious that value was way over inflated in the first place.

The house has been on the market for coming up to a year and hasn't sold, it will start to look even less attractive as the weeks pass. Bear in mind that the stock market has also taken a nose dive and people's investments are suffering, plus stamp duty has risen this year so I would be grabbing that offer of £205k as quick as I could before your buyer changes her mind.

So naturally we went with the latter one.

Clearly that was a mistake. The other three were right and it's sat there for months not selling. Take this offer. It's not low. It's in line with the market, the honest valuations, and sold prices.

We aren't in a favourable market for sellers in most areas at the moment.

And prices haven't really changed since 2023/4 so if all comparable properties have sold for around £190,000-£220,000 (with the 220k ones having things your Dad's one doesn't have) that suggests yours is worth about 200k.

Honestly, I would be accepting their offer before they change their mind or something better comes onto the market at a similar price.

Have you considered selling it to the council for their housing stock? They might be willing to pay a bit more. But 310k was clearly wrong.

I would accept their offer.
We had 3 estate agent valuations of £220k- £225k for MIL house, she has gone into nursing home, house needs selling to pay for it.
Have sold for £215k.
6 weeks from listing to completion. Hassle free.
Her house has only been empty of people for 2 months and you can see it deteriorating, due to lack of care, lack of airing etc. Once a house is empty it will only lose money, or take more from you in maintenance.

We really want to sell, as we’re really exhausted by it all, but £205,000 seems so low when we were originally told it would get us around £300,000.

Well, no, 3 agents told you the actual price, and one was either incompetent or lying to you. You said When we were looking to sell, we asked four EA to value it. 3 came back saying it was worth £200,000-£220,000 but one came back saying £310,000. So naturally we went with the latter one.

Then in further posts, have backed that up with the prices that the other houses that have sold for in the last year.

I'd take the offer you've had and be done.

take the offer and move on with your life. You could take it off the market, tidy it up, all sorts but there are no guarantees. The market is dire at the moment, but there doesn’t seem to be anything on the horizon to suggest it is going to get better.