Can they raise price after offer accepted?

northerner79

Depends if they accepted your offer 'Subject to Contract', has the acceptance of the offer been documented?

Cissi

Unfortunately they can, up to exchange, just as you can reduce or withdraw your offer at any point. However they - and you - should remember that the value of their house doesn't depend on what they need for their purchase, but on what someone else is prepared to pay for it! Sure, they can pull out if you refuse to increase your offer - but unless they had another buyer waiting in the wings this would put them in a terrible position when viewing potential purchases. You may stand to lose the cost of a survey if they do this at a later date, but they stand to lose a lot more in today's market, so I think it's unlikely that they'll go through with it. And if they do, then it wasn't meant to be (especially since you genuinely can't afford to pay more).

Believe me, I share your anxiety - we've had an offer accepted on our dream home and found out today that someone else has made a higher offer - they've declined as we're in a fantastic position, but who knows what will happen if the other party offers even more... Like you though, we can't afford any more, so che sera, sera. Still nerveracking though.

Good luck!

Cissi

northerner79 wrote: »

Depends if they accepted your offer 'Subject to Contract', has the acceptance of the offer been documented?

Assuming the OP is in England & Wales this is irrelevant. Nothing is binding until exchange.

ad44downey

pagetta wrote: »

So, this was three weeks ago. Today estate agent calls to say Vendors can't find anything they like that they can afford and they need more money from the house to buy, so they're raising the price.

Tell them to f**k off. There's plenty more fish in the sea.

northerner79

I think you may well find out that if they have accepted an offer in writing and they haven't written subject to contract this forms the basis of the agreement at the aforementioned price. Please confirm this with your solicitor.

Cissi

northerner79 wrote: »

I think you may well find out that if they have accepted an offer in writing and they haven't written subject to contract this forms the basis of the agreement at the aforementioned price. Please confirm this with your solicitor.

Yes, but until exchange they can pull out for whatever reason they like - this happened to us in one of our purchases years ago, our vendor pulled out, collapsing a whole chain, the day before we were all supposed to exchange "because the whole thing was too stressful". There is nothing stopping them saying that if they can't afford to buy something they like the deal is off.

Geenie

ad44downey wrote: »

Tell them to f**k off. There's plenty more fish in the sea.

I would put it in a more lady like manner, but the sentiment is the same!

Tell them to bog off and look else where OP. Never over stretch yourself when buying. Go in with a new offer much less because of their distress to you in doing this, and the fact they are are not serious in selling......then walk away if they don't bite.



I can't tell you how many houses OH and I saw when FTB's. Each one was the place for us, we had to have it, and were bitterly disappointed when they fell through for one reason or another, as in what you are saying. Thank gawd. We eventually ended up with a dream place that needed work, but was to set us up for the rest of our lives. I am sure the same will happen to you if you keep your heads on.

Good luck OP and keep us posted.

Running_Horse

Assuming you are buying with a mortgage, if the value is not worth the extra they are demanding you will not be able to proceed anyway. They must be nuts to do this in the current market. String them along as long as it's not costing you anything while looking for an alternative, then teach them a hard lesson in the real facts of life. Or better still, walk away now, telling their EAs why.

Nenen

Cissi wrote: »

However they - and you - should remember that the value of their house doesn't depend on what they need for their purchase, but on what someone else is prepared to pay for it!
Good luck!

I agree totally Cissi and yet I am amazed by the way in which some sellers seem to think that if they 'need' a certain amount for a property then that is what it will sell for. We viewed a place yesterday which had been purchased and then gutted by a couple who subsequently separated, leaving the house a total wreck. It has huge potential but will require an enormous amount of work (50K at least). Therefore whoever buys it will need a large amount of capital if they have to put down a 25% deposit on top. Vendors originally put it on the market last year for well over 300K and it has now been dropped (in stages) to 275K. The EA told us they couldn't afford to accpet less than this as they need to pay their mortgage off and have enough for them both to live spearate lives elsewhere. She said they are struggling to continue paying the mortgage... as if we should feel so sorry for them we would offer more than it is worth so that they get what they need. Unfortunately for them the housing market doesn't operate on what sellers want to get but on what buyers are willing to pay (with the proviso that sellers can refuse to budge if the offer isn't acceptable)!

Hopefully your vendors will see the light and realise this although I must say I'm doubtful and, if it were me, I would probably pull out and look elsewhere. This may focus their minds! It sounds as if on looking round for something else for themselves they've now decided they've accepted an offer which is lower than what it is worth. Shame they didn't do their homework first before accepting your offer! I wish you the very best of luck with buying your first house - it is an extremely time/energy/emotion consuming occupation isn't it! Good luck with your purchase too Cissi!

pagetta

Thanks for all the feedback.
We actually saw this house first in february and fell in love with it - to be honest it is perfect for us, we put in an offer but then someone offered higher than us and we couldn't go higher - the estate agent was being sneaky and playing us off against another couple - grrrrrrrr.
Then the chain fell through 3 wks ago and estate agent called us about it. Basically the vendors' new place fell through and then the other buyers found somewhere else as it had all taken so long. So it came back on market and we got an offer accepted.
We are still looking around at other places as we don't want to miss out on a potential dream house waiting around for this one as it sounds like the vendors are not being very proactive, but after estate agent called us yesterday about them potentially increasing asking price, OH rang him back up and blasted him for wasting 3 weeks of our time. As he pointed out, they have been selling the house since february now they should know what they need in order to buy at this point.

Anyway, estate agent panics at risk of losing our commission and possibly the vendors' purchase too, and rings them and persuades them not to raise the price....I know there's a risk they may raise it again at the last minute, but we would just pull out, and if they're in a chain do they really want to risk that??

We have decided we will not spend a penny on the place until we know that they are getting surveys etc done somewhere and a chain is firmly in place. In the mean time if we see something else with potential we'll take a look - but there's so little coming on the market so only one place to view in 3 weeks!

Fingers crossed, on this one or on whatever else we may find in the interim!!