Should we accept the offer??

[LavenderLxx]

I’d like to pick your brains and see what you all think…

My brother and I are selling my late fathers house. It’s been on the market for 4 weeks at £800,000.

We’ve had 6 viewings and had the first offer a few days ago. The first offer was for £750,000 which we rejected. They have just come back with a second offer of £760,000.

They have sold their house and their buyer is in a rented place. My brother and I are in no mad rush to sell but the estate agent has said how slow the market currently is and how they’ve had some houses that have sat there for ages and then the price has had to be lowered to less than the original offers.

Just wondered if anyone had any words of wisdom? Should we push for a bit more? Hold out at £800,000? Accept their offer?!

Take it, then it won't take any more headspace. Your peace of mind is well worth the extra 5K (or even half of it, as you're splitting with your brother). No haggling, no mind games, no manipulation. You want closure.

Take the offer. You don’t want the hassle of maintaining the property and dealing with estate agents for any longer than you have to.

I would take it and be done with it. You did well to get an extra 10k off them but they will want to feel they got a good deal.

760k on an 800k house is a good offer in this current buyers market and especially so coming from buyers who aren’t in a long complicated chain.

I'd accept the offer, holding out for more just risks you racking up expenses with maintenance, insurance, council tax etc etc. Having recently sold an inherited property to a cash buyer with no chain your husband's 8 week timescale is unrealistic. It takes as long as it takes.

I’d also accept.
You don’t always have to try to squeeze out a bit more, especially when you are grieving.
It’s a very good offer, the house will be off your hands quickly and they’ve already upped their initial offer.

If you try to get £10k more, just imagine how it will feel if they don’t want to and no other offer comes up for months…you’ll regret not accepting the £760k

Thank you all - your thoughts have been hugely useful.
I’m inclined to take the offer but my brother wants to hold out for a better price. Ahhhh, why is none of this easy??!

Greed is never good. Perhaps the buyers can't afford more. Once we were in that situation and we only went to view a house out of our range, being pushed by the EA. They said that having no chain made us much more competitive and indeed, the buyers accepted our offer (on condition of proving no chain and finances)

If it would satisfy your brother to ask for more money you could try counter offering by telling the EA you will take it off the market immediately for 775k or 770k.

It’s just possible they will pay a little more… but if they insist that 760k is the highest they will go I would accept it as it could take months to get another offer as good.

North east

Selling a property with siblings is not always easy!

We have a probate property up for sale. The market is completely dead. I would be accepting that offer and rejoicing in your shoes.

Is the house empty or do one of you live in it?

If someone still lives 'at home' you can basically wait forever just like selling your own house but if (like many probate properties) its empty then selling is best. You will be racking up council tax bills, utility bills, legally you need insurance and uninhabitated houses degrade fast usually and are huge leak/flood risks (from roof damage, burst pipes, penatration damp, condensation damp etc...). The risk of damage is lesser in summer but we are heading into Autumn/Winter now and it will probably take 3-6 months to complete the sale and it will be on yous to maintain/fund it.

If you living in it you obviously have all those costs anyway but if you live elsewhere its basically double as you'll be paying for your own house too. Yes the cost EVENTUALLY come out of the estate but the estate is your money anyway. So if you wait a year for an offer £10k more it might have cost you more than 10k in maintenance and bills.

Is the house a 2nd property though?

Was the house specifically left to OP and she choose to sell thus the estate 'settled' or does the house need to sell to settle the splits of the estate?

If its unsettled then neither of them own the house its simply part of the estate managed by the executor on behalf of the deceased and beneficiaries.

The estate could be liable for 'empty property' double council tax though (which is what usually happens after 6 months). Any money the estate needs to settle will come out of the final sale price lowering everyone share.

It’s a year before empty properties get charged double council tax, in our council area.

The house is empty.

Honestly I would take it, I have a house in the £600,000 plus bracket rented out in the South East. I had to rent it out as after a year on the market and a huge price I had around 8 viewings and no offers and we had moved four hours away. The bottom fell out of the market for larger expensive houses after the Liz Truss debacle 😡

Another way to look at it is that if you lose this buyer you will have the ongoing cost of heating the house over the winter to prevent burst pipes (plus standing charges on all utilities) and council tax. Then you have to hope the market picks up.

My house is now worth even less than the lowest price I reduced it to, according to the estate agent so I will be renting it out for at least another year before looking to sell.

Take the offer and you and your brother can move on without the worry of it all.

^ There is also increased buildings insurance that gets levied on empty properties.

@XVGN yes it increases quite a bit, and under the terms mine imposed someone had to physically go in and check the house weekly and there was a minimum temperature it had to be heated to.

Yes there’s utilities to pay for, expensive insurance for an empty property, council tax and having to visit weekly. You also need to do the garden, in line with the terms of the insurance.

As we head into autumn and winter, any empty property will deteriorate.

Definitely accept, prices are on a downward trajectory and it sounds likley you might get a completion on the given info

Definitely accept, prices are on a downward trajectory and it sounds likley you might get a completion on the given info

We proposed meeting at £775k but they have said that their mortgage can’t stretch that much, and their offer of £760k still stands. I’d accept it but my brother still isn’t convinced!!

Tut show him this thread. He's being an idiot. What you think is as important as what he thinks and how will he feel if you reject this offer and the house ends up selling for less in a few months time?

My council would be NOT to show him the thread as it may provoke a negative reaction, but just use the talking points gained here!

Accept it.

( @XVGN , sorry to be that person but it's counsel not council
Council refers to an advisory group or meeting, often a governing body that makes decisions.
Counsel refers to advice or the act of giving advice, and can also refer to a person who provides legal guidance. )