First time buyer, did I screw up this negotiation? 😅

[Punkindrublic]

Hello everybody I could do with your reassurance! Im a first time buyer and found a house I really loved. The issue was it was overpriced. This was a 2 bed, and the for the price they were asking, we are in 3 bed territory where I am. Its very cute, but I was worried that when it comes time for the valuation, it would come up as overvalued.
I started low and negotiated up, I then offer 10K less and stood firm on that when the agent came back to me and said could I just go a tiny bit further up. I get thw impression the agent was a bit surprised when I said no.
Now the agent has come back to me and said the sellers thank me for my offer, they can't accept but will keep it on the table.
Did I screw this up? Because now im thinking maybe if I had offered just 1k more it would have passed. Im totally new to all this. What does keeping it on the table mean? Do I just need to forget about it now?

A neighbour's house has been for sale for several months, with no offers. They have just changed EA, the advertised price is still the same (considerably more than they paid for it 6 yrs ago). It doesn't make sense to me at all!
OP, if you want the house and have the budget, make a higher offer. If the mortgage company says its over valued, go back to the vendor and lower your offer in light of the valuation.

It’s a buyers market.
We are getting a new PM and chancellor -God only knows what this will do to the market.
Hang Fire.
And -most importantly-keep looking. It’s very easy to get excited about a particular house when you are buying your first one.
You do not want to overpay, the market to dip &end up in negative equity.

Hold the line -you are in the driving seat.
The sellers are keeping yours on the table -which means they are keeping it on the back burner .
If they don’t get any offers higher they will come back to you -and that’s when you drop your offer!

Would your Uncle negotiate on your behalf ?

Why are you so desperate for THIS house?

If you believe it's overpriced, What's going on suddenly to make you panic about losing it?

What you need to remember op is that your uncle is no doubt right - that the house is overpriced. BUT there are many houses on the market like this that can't afford to sell unless they get a certain amount to move. Its often not about getting the market price but getting the higher amount they need to move.
You have to decide - am I prepared to overpay for that house in a falling market? That doesn't mean someone else will buy it, it may not sell at all and eventually be withdrawn. Thats very common at the moment.
I wouldn't risk overpaying while prices are coming down personally. But its up to you to decide if you want it badly enough. If you do there is no harm in going back and offering another 1k. You have not screwed your negotiation position at all. Yours is the only offer.

OP, you might be the best negotiator in the world, but if it’s not a doable deal for the other side, then they won’t do it.

They are leaving your offer on the table rather than it being a flat no. If someone offers more, they will take that. If not, then they may well come back.

Is it worth more to you? If the difference is a few k then it’s unlikely that the (theoretical) overpay is material in the scheme of what you might sell it for in the future.

No you didn't screw it up, just wait.

It depends if you really want the house or not. If you’re going to live there for a while then a few extra £k is immaterial- if you love it. But if you’ve got other houses you like then hold off, you say it’s over priced but what are other, similar houses marketed at? How many other houses have you seen to compare?

You handled this great! But the only thing left to do, is expire your offer. Let the agent know that you’re viewing other properties and your offer remains valid for (1 week?) and is subject to the cessation of any further viewings or marketing upon acceptance. After that, you’re withdrawing your offer. It puts it firmly back in their court.

That’s not necessarily true though. FTB often depend on a mortgage, and if there’s a down valuation they’ll have to find the shortfall or renegotiate the price. Granted, at that point your position to renegotiate is stronger, but houses are only worth what the bank is prepared to lend against, and the buyer is prepared to pay.

It depends how much you really want the house. If you love it, it's not worth losing for a couple of K. Over the lifetime of a mortgage you really won't notice the slight increase. We paid over the odds for our last house - but loved it and lived there for 30 years. Conversely, we got our current property for 25k under the asking price in the very hot market of Summer 2023. It had been on the market nearly a year and needed a ton of work. I also did not love it so would not have been too sad not to get it.

Its very awkwardly priced in my opinion, as at this price, you get 3 beds, and for quite a bit less, you get 2 beds. What it has going for it is that its nicely finished and "ready to go", and I do really love it. But with my rational head on, I realise that a lot of what makes it nice is fairly superficial stuff that could be recreated - its not substantial.
According to the agent they have found somewhere and need to move quickly, but im not so sure i believe that anymore.

I have twice had offers accepted and then people come back to nudge up the price by a few k. Once you do it, it’s a can of worms so I would always say no.

Do you believe it is overpriced, as you first said?

"According to the agent they have found somewhere and need to move quickly, but im not so sure i believe that anymore"

Pinch of salt required. What they need is someone to overpay to facilitate thieir next purchase - by the sounds of your assessment of value.
You had some great advice on this thread, put a weeks timescale on your offer. Then if they come back to you - you agree and renegotiate the price (if needed) after your valuation/survey.

If you are offering 10k less, how much less did you first offer?

Maybe your area is hugely different, but our local market wouldn’t have things over priced by £10k-£15k. Maybe £5k at the most with a realistic expected sales price. What makes you think it’s just £1k extra they expected you to offer?

I’d not entertain your offer if you offered so low, and even if you upped it to a realistic price I wouldn’t sell to you, as I’d be expecting a last minute drop and a load of hassle.

They say they will keep your offer on the table so they can use your offer to negotiate another person up. When this has happened to me I’ve withdrawn my offer, so they can’t use my offer as a negotiating ploy with someone else. They can only then say they had an offer of xx that was rejected.

You’re doing fine, op. Just tell the agent how interested you are and explain why you’re a good buyer (no chain, mortgage approved) and that you’re continuing to view other properties. Your offer will expire in 10 days or sooner if you find another property.

If they don’t get any other offers, they will likely accept yours before it expires. If they do get other offers, you’ll have the chance to go to “best and final” offers, at which point you can increase yours if you wish. This may mean that you end up having to offer more or lose out, but that’s the chance you take.

I’d also add that I wouldn’t worry too much about losing credibility. You’re not a gangland boss negotiating territory. If you decide you’d actually just like to increase your offer to secure the house now, you can do that. If they dick you around, walk away.

You’re not a gangland boss negotiating territory

😂

Thank you for the precious advice!
I like your 10 days suggestion, that sounds very reasonable.

Don't get caught in this trap of going back to them again and again and increasing by a few £££. As you suspect, it puts you in a weak position and them in a strong one.
Do you want to over pay for a house in a falling market? If you do want to do this, at least go in with your eyes wide open. Although, as you say, it could still get downvalued by the mortgage valuers.
I think you need to get back to basics. Research your local market carefully if you haven't, view lots of houses, have a good chat to your Uncle, spend some time watching Moving Home with Charlie on YT or X-he gives good advice for FTP particularly. Think carefully about your finances. Are you buying alone? How secure is your job? What can you comfortably afford? What if rates double on your mortgage?
Don't just rush in because you 'love' one house.

Are the vendors living there? If so you can write them an old-fashioned letter saying that you are able to offer £X and want them to be aware in case the agent isn’t putting that forward. They will probably (certainly) inform the agent, but so what? At least all cards are on the table. You can spell out your position (no chain, ready to proceed etc) in the letter.

It’s hard being a ftb, so don’t feel bad about any of it.

@Punkindrublic there are some general principles in negotiations which are worth bearing in mind.

1. The will that weakens first strengthens the other.
2. Successful negotiation is about an end state where both parties are happy, it isn't about one party screwing the other.
3. Know your minimum.

In the case of property, there are several variables.

1. What the seller thinks it is worth.
2. What the buyer thinks it is worth.
3. What the estate agent thinks it is worth.
4. What the mortgage company think it is worth.

Of those options, the only ones that matter are 2 and 4. A house is really only worth what a buyer is prepared to pay. Even then, the mortgage company can state that their valuation is lower leaving the buyer to find the difference between the offer and the amount of the loan.

Lastly, there is the result of the survey which may give you a little wiggle room to adjust the price.

When buying property, you have to be clear about what you can afford, and how much you think a property is worth. Always be prepared to walk away. There will be another one somewhere. If you really think you want it badly enough that you can't walk away, you have to adjust your decision on how much you think it is worth to you.

Well I have already disengaged slightly in the past 24h which is good. I also saw ads for two other houses that look very interesting, these ones are actually with the same estate agent as the house I offered on. I emailed the estate agent about seeing these two new houses, not heard back yet (unusual as previously they've responded to me within an hour or so and its been over 24h now, they do work Saturdays. Trying not to read too much into it but im wondering if they think im a dick now!)

The estate agent's job is to connect buyers with seller, and sell houses. It is unlikely they think you are a dick, and even if they do, they know you want to buy something. They won't care which one, as long as you do buy, and via them. They will likely assume you are looking at houses from other agents too, so won't want to lose a sale.

The estate agent will absolutely not think you are a dick. You don’t have an accepted offer so of course you continue to look at houses.

Likely they are short staffed today and everyone is out on viewings, or something. Send another email, or give them a call if they are still open at this time.