HELP! In the middle of negotiations...

Alibear

Lifes_Grand_Plan wrote: »

Personally I would have stood firm at that point as you had the upper hand if they were chasing you... thats easy for me to say though as I am emotionally detached from the purchase.

My view though is there are plenty more houses out there so unless this one is one of a kind then go make some silly offers on others you like. Eventually you'll find someone who wants a quick sale and you'll bag a bargain.

BTW whats this about "without the garage"... is it a freestanding removable one?!? Confused.

can defo see you point, but I absolutely love the place and the area and still haven't offered what I think the place is actually worth! I've viewed loads of others but nothing's made me want to make an offer, and some have been absolute holes.

Ha, the garage is 'en-bloc', not attached to the house. It's not needed, or wanted, really. I thought about renting it but would still have maintanence costs etc.

Alibear

Grrrr, not heard back about my offer yet and the price has come down on its online advert, at an OIEO price. What to do?!!

treetrunks

Alibear wrote: »

I don't know what's wrong with them, it's hardly a seller's market at the moment! They'll have to drop the price by 5% soon anyway, I reckon, thus getting less than your offer! Stupid people...

Some people dont need to sell.

Alibear

treetrunks wrote: »

Some people dont need to sell.

Then why put your house on the market in this climate? Sorry, not trying to cause tension or 'answer back', I'd genuinely like to know! It could help when putting in future offers

justme111

To see whether they have luck in selling at the price they want to

roseland69

Interesting thread, given we are in a similar position.

We are currently renting after having sold a year ago. We moved into a new area and wanted to get a feel for the place before we bought but now a year has gone by we have been looking about. Its a fairly rural area so there aren't a huge choice of properties at any one time, so when something half decent comes up we go to see it.

Saw such a place last weekend. It had been up for sale last summer and someone bought it but the sale fell through before completion (there's a lot of that going on). Apparently it fell through because the vendor didn't want to move out before Xmas and the buyers couldn't wait that long. Great way to lose a buyer!

We have a large deposit (60% of what we'll need) no chain or anything. Offered a little 8% off asking price as a starter. Rejected. We were told in no uncertain terms by the agent that the chap selling doesn't have to sell and won't sell unless he gets what he wants - which is £10K off the asking price and coincidentally what he "sold" it for last year.

All this in spite of the fact that prices locally have been dropping since he last sold. You only need a quick scoot on property bee to see that. Places sell then come back on. Its not great to be a seller right now, even in "nice" areas like this.

We were going to offer more (as you do in a negotiation) but given we've been given a figure he won't go under I don't see the point in bothering as we won't be going to that figure. The house needs a few things doing to it and even though we could get the mortgage, with the things that needs sorting and all the other costs like stamp duty etc it would be too much - its not worth it.

Also, its being sold with planning permission to build a garage. We contact the local council to confirm such permission is in place and they say it isn't. The estate agent spoke to the seller who is adamant there is planning permission. Who to believe! Agent is ringing the council himself tomorrow. If it turns out there isn't PP when they are using it as a selling point, we think that gives us some leverage.

But maybe not. If he doesn't have to sell then he won't and he'll never sell it. Wasting everyone's time really. I'm not happy to walk away but I will do it nonetheless. There will be other houses. And more realistic sellers... I hope!

I haven't written it off completely but am almost there. Can't be done with sellers like that.

pupsicola

The estate agent is acting on behalf of the sellers and so will want to push hard for the very best price. Makes a difference to their commission. It may well be that the sellers have stipulated that they wont accept offers below X amount.

If the house is only just on the market they may be willing to play the waiting game and hold out for the price they want.

Lay your cards on the table with the agent and see what they say. Its all you can do for now.

roseland69

pupsicola wrote: »

The estate agent is acting on behalf of the sellers and so will want to push hard for the very best price. Makes a difference to their commission. It may well be that the sellers have stipulated that they wont accept offers below X amount.

If the house is only just on the market they may be willing to play the waiting game and hold out for the price they want.

Lay your cards on the table with the agent and see what they say. Its all you can do for now.

Yes, I agree with you. Its out of our hands.

I think the biggest skill to have when buying is the ability to be prepared to walk away. It won't be the first time we've done it. Its actually quite liberating in a perverse way. Makes you stronger somehow!

myhouse_2

You should use the cash buyer situation to your benefit. Some (many) vendors will not be interested in the benefits a cash buyer brings, but many vendors will appreciate it - especially if they've had 1 or 2 failed sales. If this vendor will not budge then find a vendor who will - it might take time but will likely be well worth it.
No counter-offer is not bad negotiation - just another type of negotiation.

Lifes_Grand_Plan

myhouse wrote: »

No counter-offer is not bad negotiation - just another type of negotiation.

I would disagree and say it is both...

If someone makes an offer and you just say "no" how do they know where they stand. It wastes everyones time then because does the buyer go back and offer another grand or two, or go back and offer the full price? What if they can't afford the full price and walk away when really the seller only wanted a couple of grand more?

It just doesn't make sense.