Offer at asking price rejected in favour of lower cash buyer, any advice?

[honeyy]

Hi

I’ve been searching for a house since September 2025 and finally last week, I viewed a house and it was just perfect!

It ticked all the boxes! For me and my children. It can imagine it as my forever home!

2 offers were made, myself and a cash buyer!

The cash buyer did not offer full asking, it was below asking - and myself offered full asking £495,0000.

my offer was rejected. The chose the cash buyer.

I am heart broken. I actually feel sick. After months and months, this perfect house came on the market!

Any advice..:

Yes, I did make the agent aware - that we completed and sale funds are in the bank

I would like to increase the offer but I feel that it would be unfair on the cash buyers. At the time when I gave my offer- I was told there is a cash offer but lower than asking.

I am assuming that the offer was lower than mine and they still chose them.

would increasing it, look bad ? Would the agent even forward it?

Don"t increase your offer, when the house falls in value in future and eats your deposit you will have regrets.

Mortgage deals are being pulled./changed daily, they are scared something happens with your mortgage offer?

https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/iran-war-disrupting-uk-mortgage-market-levels-not-seen-since-pandemic-2026-03-24/

I accepted a cash buyer over a chain. Reason was they wanted a quick sale and no survey. My house had a few issues that were clear to see to the eye. I don’t think they noticed and was keen to not have a survey throw up issues in my 200 year house!

Yes, the sellers could be fearful of a mortgage.

I am a dentist ( restorative consultant in hospital and I work as a private dentist too) so getting the mortgage is not an issue on my part, thankfully but again the sellers would not be aware of this so it could cause concerns for them.

Getting the mortgage is only partly dependent on income. It's also dependent on the lender agreeing with you on the price of the house. With the cash buyer, the vendor has one less person (lender) to convince regarding the price.

The house has been on the market for 11 days with 2 offers presented in that time period.

It could be that when the cash buyers were informed of another offer (mine) that they then increased their offer. They may not have, but could have…..

I don’t believe they have found a house. They will be moving into family

Can you get a loan from family to make you a cash buyer too. Up your offer?

Drop a email note /to agent and copy vendor

eg as you know we have no chain and no property to sell and we have offered full asking price. Hope all goes well with the cash buyer you have accepted, but have asked agent to keep our offer on the table for you.please contact us direct at …, if you change your mind.

I had someone drop me the note the cheeky EA had not passed the offer on….

Still, they know you are keen. If the cash buyer doesn't push ahead with the purchase they will hopefully get in touch.

Ye I can get more money together. But the dilemma is if it will leave a bad taste to go back and do such a thing?

will the estate agent laugh at me? Say no? Think I’m desperate.

Cash buyer will turn out to need a last minute mortgage

I wonder if they don't want to run the risk of the mortgage valuation causing an issue, as they know there is something that would come up. Even if the cash buyers do a valuation, they still have enough money to buy it if they like it enough. And now that you have said that you will buy for more money if they pull out, you have given them the incentive to be pressurised into buying it at the offered value. If the house comes back on the market, the agents would have contacted you immediately anyway.

ahhh -sorry, im the sister in law. I couldn’t my details set up so I’m using it for separate advice. X

* I’m the sister in law * of the account

Im the sister in law. Whose mother?

I hear ya, OP- it can be so disheartening. I remember viewing a house once, calling to make an offer and being told that there was no point as it wouldn’t be considered and the vendor was only progressing with the FOUR cash buyers who’d viewed the say day as us!

That said, my current house originally went sale agreed to a cash buyer. While it’s definitely attractive for sellers, cash buyers can be quite fickle. Apart from the last minute declarations of actually needing a mortgage, there’s also the fact that it’s easier to go sale agreed and pay multiple refundable booking deposits on multiple properties as cash buyers. That’s what happened with the house I bought- turns out the cash buyers had bid and won on four properties and were giving themselves more time to decided which they preferred without other bidders breathing down their necks.

I told the EA I’d keep my offer on the table if the buyers feel through- got a call two weeks later to say they’d withdrawn and I had my booking deposit paid within 24hrs.

Beat of luck, OP!

That depends where the OP lives though? We’re about to move to a £455k 2 bedroom flat. That’s how much 2 bedroom flats with outside space are where we live and work.

OP I agree with others. Keep at the EA in case anything changes with the first buyer. We had a purchase fall through at the literal 11th hour last year because our buyer pulled out. The one we wanted went to someone else within two weeks.