Offers well below the asking price

[secretrugbyfan]

We have a friend that's selling their property and all three offers they've received have been on the basis of offering well below the asking price because the potential purchasers want to modify the property. The last offer was 80k below the asking price (the house is on for 520k and isn't overpriced according to them and what their agent says)). It was only built in the 80s, and has everything you would need...there is nothing missing etc etc. Is this a thing when offering on a house that as the seller you're expected to drop the price to fund the new buyer's potential changes? Seems a bit CF to me.....

If it was one offer you could say that it was cheeky but if it’s several offers and they all point to a similar price point then maybe the asking price is the issue. It shows people do not think it’s worth the asking price so in that sense the sellers could be viewed as CF for wanting to get so much over what a house is worth (I.e. what people are willing to pay for it).

3 would indicate it’s overpriced

House prices in real terms are decreasing. The agent will want the business so balances between a reality price and pleasing the sellers.

there are a few properties in my area that have been priced for sale as if it was 2023 and not sold, those priced at 2025 prices have been snapped up

The old saying 'it is only worth what somebody is prepared to pay' seems apt here. If it was 'worth' 520k they would have had offers at that but they haven't so that must be telling them something.

That could just be where the market is at for that type of property.

No, I would not discount my price to accommodate someone else’s cost to make a cosmetic renovation eg removing a wall to make the downstairs kitchen open to the dining room.

Nor would I do it for someone claiming a house needed a big space-increase like a garage/attic conversion, or a big upgrade like solar panels.

Unless my property had a really stupid flaw, like a conservatory open to the house with no door, or a very unbalanced layout. Or I had made a stupid change that needed to be undone to make the house “normal” eg an eccentric wall surface or some wacky bathroom fittings.

Or unless it was obviously needed and I hadn’t already priced it in to the selling price eg bathroom or kitchen is falling apart, carpets needed throughout, patio or driveway are ancient or pathetic, boiler is inadequate. I see a lot of sellers who don’t price those necessary maintenance items into their sale price compared to other houses - I would definitely reduce my offer if I felt that was the case.

If all the sellers are saying the same thing, maybe they have a point.

Link? People on here will be able to help.

I agree with @Thirdcoff - 3 indicates a pattern.

Has your friend looked at the competition? If those selling for similar are all open plan with garages and theirs isn't and is without, then your friend has a problem.

It’s a forty year old house, have they upgraded or replaced things like the kitchen and bathroom, or if not have they priced it accordingly?

An 80s house is old enough that most people will want to make changes, especially if your friends have lived there a long time without updating it. Obviously people will consider the cost of those changes when making offers. Renovation and construction work has shot up in price so that naturally means the value of houses requiring major work has to go down.

Three people have offered well under ask and they all say the house needs modifications, I think the sellers needs to listen to that if they want to sell. 1980s houses aren't very sought after at the best of times, and in a slow market they will be left on the shelf far longer than period properties or new-builds will. It is highly unlikely that someone will offer anywhere near their asking price so it just wasn't worth what the estate agent thought.

Agents don't set the market price (they just make guesses) its the buyers that decide price... if all buyers are offering £80k under then its £80k over priced.

TBF in answer to your question of 'is it normal to get lower offers', yes.

In a buyers market up to 10% of asking is within normal standard range, at £520k then then offering up to £52k under is not deemed 'offensive' so an offer of £468 is somewhat normal (depends on how well priced it was to begin, if over priced or been on the market a long time then closer to 10% if priced well for quick sale you might get full price of just a couple of % off).

If a house requires a lot of building work then that might even go up to 12%.

Its also good to remember after 5 weeks of no suitable offers its common to drop the price to the next rightmove price bracket (£20k in your friends case) then the 10% can still apply on that new price (so offers of £450k).

Obviously they don't have to accept any offer but its not unusual to get them and the higher the house price the bigger the reduction normally as its usually %.

A property is only worth what someone will pay for it. It seems that nobody thinks it’s worth the asking price at this stage. An 80s property is 40 years old and how we use a house has changed in that time in terms of room configurations and aesthetics etc as well as windows etc now needing replacement, so it is quite likely that buyers would want/need to spend a fair amount to bring it into today’s standards.

I agree with previous posters - a property is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it, and the three offers already submitted are what determine the value - not what the agent or the seller hopes for.

Estate agents do routinely overprice in order to get the business. And of course people want to believe that their house is worth whatever they’re told.

When Dbro was selling DM’s house after she had to move to a care home, he told the agent we didn’t want it hanging around empty for long. The agent said ‘I’ll give you 3 prices - one, it’ll take six months, two, probably three, three, I’ll sell it in a week.’
Dbro went for 3, and he did. There wasn’t actually a huge difference between them.

People offer what it is worth to them.

Who is the CF ? The person offering 80K less than what it is "worth", or the person marketing it for 80K more than the market is willing to pay ?

Is it being a CF to expect your buyers to fund your next car/cruise/bigger house*

• delete as appropriate.

Yep, totally normal, if the house is overpriced. The estate agent will have overpriced it, firstly to get them to sign up with them, and secondly so it if DID happen to go for a silly price, they'd get a higher %.

The house was built in the 80s and I suspect it hasn't been upgraded since then either if your friend has had three low ball offers.

Some would suggest it is your friend who is the CF asking £520k for a house that is worth £440k,,,,,,,,,

As they say something is only worth what someone is prepared to pay for it. The estate agent valuation is just an educated guess - often over inflated to tempt the vendor to list with them. If your friend has had three offers around the same level, then that is what the house is really worth.

Three offers well below asking suggests it is in fact over priced, despite what your friend thinks.

As others have said, your friend's house is over priced and she and the agents are the CFs for marketing it so much above market price!

Are the kitchen and bathroom from the 80’s? If so, surely you’d understand these need replacing and are expensive to do?

She said the kitchen was new in 2012 when it was extended, and has since had worktops replaced.....two of the ensuites were replaced at the same time as extension in 2012 so still modern (at least not 40 years old) and all valuation sources (three estate agents, Rightmove, Zoopla etc) value the property around 520k, and similar properties in the area are selling for around the same price.

Then theirs will sell for 520k except it's not so thats that. They can hold out for more if they believe it is worth it but they may be waiting a long time. A 13 year old kitchen maybe not to everyones taste either.

If your friend thinks she can get £520k for it , then she just needs to wait until someone offers that.

People are offering what it is worth to them. No point getting upset about it, just a polite no thanks, and wait for a higher offer (which may or may not come).