Writing letter to vendor

[LovingTheSunshine]

There is a house we love but it is above our budget by 20%. We are mad with the EA as they know we can not go above our maximum but they encouraged us to view the property & said the vendor is keen to sell. We went back for a 2nd viewing after stipulating AGAIN that we can not go above our maximum. Anyhow, we decided to put an offer in & offered our maximum budget only for the EA to turn round & say the vendor would not accept that. WTF?!!We are so sad that they dangled the carrot in front of us knowing full well we would not achieve the house. Now I am thinking of writing to the vendor asking him to consider us if his expectations change, but I do not know his name - so how should I address ther letter? Dear Sir sounds rather formal, I wish we knew his name. I will see if I can find out his name from directory enquiries but am wondering if I will need his name rather than just his address? I am going to put in the letter that we were encouraged to look at his property even though it is over our budget - but do not want to slate the EA in case he says something to them as they do tend to have the nicest houses on their books. Ugh!!

Why see a house if you know you can't afford it?

I wouldn't write a letter. The vendor then knows you really want the house and will hold out for more money.

Can't see a letter getting you anywhere. Why not wait a while, then ask the estate agent to put the same offer forward again - after a bit more time with no interest they may be more keen to sell at your price.

Agree with Leeka. Think you're wasting your breath tbh. He won't take you seriously if you try to offer again later on as he'll expect you to reduce price at last minute. he may even tell the EA and make them cynical.

The EA is obliged to pass on your offer, however derisory it may seem to him but if he knows a similar offer has been rejected or that vendor has certain expectations then he can advise you accordingly. It really isn't the vendor's problem that you chose to look at a house you can't really afford, nor the EA's I'm afraid, they tend to send out batches by price range.

tbh i think the letter might piss them off a bit...

It might not piss them off - my parents are currently selling and would actually be happy to receive a letter like that.

Vendors can be keen to sell, but still not keen to accept what you offer. if they CAN wait they may chose to do so, however "keen to sell" the EA says they are.
EA will now know you mean your max as your max. They will also now know that that vendor is not so keen to sell that they will accept less than X.

Making an offer is never daft, but don;t get your hopes up before teh offer is accepted ( or rejected). Its only an offer.

in teh last few months we have offered well under asking price on two property's, as like you we can;t afford asking price. both have rejected it, one has even put the asking price UP following our offer so I guess they had had other people offering similar ( about what the house was worth , they are asking over the odds). the zoopla web site is quite handy for getting an idea of what a house may be "worth" .
We did send the offer by e-mail on one property, with an explanation of why we were offering what we did ( only wanted to buy half the land, other half had planning permission for a new house).

FabBakerGril we did not ask to view the property it was the EA who suggested we look & said the vendor may accept a low offer as he is keen to sell, so that is why we viewed after stressing over & over again we can not go above X amount. I guess they only got us to view so that they could tell the vendor he had a viewing & subsequently a 2nd viewing. We do not think they have put our offer to the vendor as it is 20% below the asking price. Apparently he is looking for offers £25k below asking price & above, so why the heck EA did not pass on this info before we wasted our time veiwing remains a mystery!

but grendels mum surely they would prefer a firm offer rather than a letter which basically says "we think you have overpriced your house but when you lower your expectations we will pay the lower price". i know i would be less than happy to get a letter like this..

I would check that the estate agent has put the offer to the seller - send an email so that you have written confirmation of this. At least then the seller knows that someone is interested in it, albeit at a price he may not want to consider at the moment. It sounds as if the estate agent is trying to pressure you to up your price before even consulting the vendor - lots of agents do this because they know that houses tend to be priced in bands and that people will probably fall in love with the next band up and many will find the money somewhere (even if they can't afford it - that's why we are in the mess we are in...).

Just reiterate to the estate agent that you won't/can't go higher but that the offer is open-ended if the vendor reconsiders in the future.

By lalalonglegs on Mon 03-Aug-09 19:49:38
I would check that the estate agent has put the offer to the seller - send an email so that you have written confirmation of this.

I believe they legally MUST put any offers to the seller - this is part of some estate agent code.

I don't think that a nice note put through the door saying "we love your house and would love to offer you the price you want, but simply can't do it - if you can come down a bit please consider our offer as on the table."

Don't suggest that it's overpriced, it may piss them off.

I do find it a bit odd that you are cross at the EA for showing you the house! Who on earth do you think they are working for? I'll give you a clue - it's not you! They are paid by the vendor to get the best possible price, not to stop you from yearning after what you can't afford

sorry, that should have been "I don't think that a nice note can hurt"

theyoungvisiter the EA led us to believe we may get the property for our maximum budget & that is why we decided to view. I do not think our offer has been put forward b/c I said we loved the house but were doubtful the vendor would accept X amount (our maximum) & that is when the top boss of the EA said he would not come down that low. So, I guess we did not makje a formal offer. Still considering whether to send him a nice note or not. Thanks

Oh well in that case your first step is undoubtedly to make a formal offer. Ask the estate agent to present it with the rider that you love the house but this is absolutely your maximum bid, explain that you are not playing games but cannot go a penny higher and have stretched yourself to the utmost due to your keeness to get the property.

You never know, they may accept.

Without a formal offer they have nothing to accept or turn down.

If they turn it down then perhaps it's time for the personal letter. Without a formal offer on the table I am not sure what the letter would achieve.

and sorry, I still don't think you can blame the EA for showing you the property - bottom line - they don't owe YOU anything. They are not your client. Their loyalty is to the vendor, who is the person paying their bill.

Plus people are not usually totally upfront about their max - it would be a pretty naive estate agent who only ever showed properties strictly within the buyer's stated budget.

DH sent the formal offer via email just after I replied to you. Fingers crossed, although I know we won't get it! I agree, I know EA don't believe people when they say what their maximum budget is but at least now they know ours is. Have a good weekend