Offer made - now playing the waiting game ...

goggle

Anyone want to chew nails with me?
Placed an offer earlier today on a property - £170K on asking price of £179,950 & am now waiting to hear if they've accepted it!
I had hoped to hear back today but I guess it will be tomorrow or even monday ... the EA wasn't convinced the vendor would accept but they always say that don't they! I think the offer I've made is very reasonable given the state of the market, the work that needs doing & everything so I hope they are reasonable vendors & will be happy to have a good offer so quickly (it's only been on the market a week which makes me worry they'll try & hold out for a higher offer ...)
It's a bit encouraging that the estate agent financial adviser rang me to validate my financial/proceedable situation - I prob didn't give the perfect answer (you know the one that suggests I *may* take a mortgage via them!) but I do have everything in place & I'm not in a chain which must be worth a lot!

Just annoyed that timing now means it's not going to be feasible to complete before year end which means stamp duty will be payable :rolleyes: oh well, I'll have the Christmas break from work to pack!!

downshifted

Was this your first offer? They are almost always rejected - it's a bit of a game really. I hope you have left yourself room for a bit of an increase :-)

It is hard to be patient and wait - I know - I've been through the same thing recently and the to-ing and fro-ing took a week! They still rejected in the end though and we are now looking elsewhere

Good luck - I'll be thinking of you

saddo

Good luck, hope you have better luck than we are having at the moment..:o

goggle

I've told the EA that I'm not playing these to & fro games - it's a take it or leave it offer, but all things considered, very fair & reasonable.
If I was into playing games, I'd have started at something like 165 which I know would have been rejected ...

kinglewis

I agree with you... make one offer.. then make make your best and final offer. There is no point creeping up £2k at a time th vendor will jus twait for you to increase more.

Best and final offer packs a punch.

goggle

Well, they haven't rejected it, but they haven't accepted it ... EA suggests that they "need a little more than that" & after initially saying "could you maybe meet them half way at £175K" (um, I don't think so!) are now hinting that maybe 1-2K would do it.
They had another viewing today & are waiting for feedback so we'll see ...

I really don't want to be playing this stupid game of offering £500 here & there forever - it leaves bad feelings all round. I don't want to cheat the vendors - I think my first offer was spot on, but at the same time I do like the property & would hate to lose it over £1K if £1K will truly make the difference ...

Fire_Fox

Tell the estate agent that you said no games, it is your best and final offer and remains on the table for a week. Then wait for them to come back to you.

PsiDOC

Estate Agents do play the "perhaps another 1 or 2 k will do it" game. They did when we were buying our place. Stick to your guns. Inform them you only have means for 170 and that's it. If you are in a position to proceed quickly (no sale of your own house to go through) that is also a huge lever as well.
Our house was listed at £135,000 last summer. We put in an offer at £120,000 and it was refused. The estate agent did the "perhaps another 5,000" game so we said 120 was all we had, take it or leave it and walked. Soon after they were on the phone saying the vendor had changed his mind and did our offer still stand.
A £170,000 offer on a £180,000 is very generous in today's housing climate. Stick with it. I am sure it'll go your way.

Psi

goggle

Thanks guys - grateful for your support!
The main hurdle seems to be that the property is so new to the market - there's far more bargaining room on a property that's been on for months rather than days!

I'm holding out at my original offer at this time we'll see what happens in the next couple of days ...

Tuscan

stick to your guns for now and wait and see, its a buyers market. that said if the house has just come on the market and i was selling i think id wait a bit longer and see if theres any other interest in the new year.

each to there own when selling, if they have found a house they want to buy and can afford to except your offer then you may be lucky. the fact they havent rejected the offer suggest they may well go for it..

best of luck

lellow_lorry

You stated final offer and if I was you stick to it. the agent and vendor know where you stand. The price would have been set 179k to achieve 175k based on the stamp duty, so an offer of 170k is a fair one. It may be they need more to progress, but you have set what you think its worth and best to leave it at that. After all there's bound to be more come to market in the new year...just got to be patient.