Have offered over the asking price and then ....

blondie21

My partner and I are first time buyers. We recently put an offer on our dream home of £162,500. The asking price was £164,950. Someone then put an offer of £165,000 a few days later. We then put our final offer of £168,000 on the property. It sat on the house for 6 days and the agent then rang me to ask was our amount of £168,000 our final offer as the vendor had wanted a bit more for the house . Well, why had the agent valued and marketed the house for £164,950 ???
I looked on the agents web site the next day and the asking price was now raised to £174,950. I can't believe this. I am thinking the agent or vendor obviously saw a good response and started getting greedy. Is this legal ? What do you advise I do ?

Running_Horse

Why would it not be legal, considering you offered over the asking price.

If it's any consolation, we sold during the peak of 2007, and resisted the temptation to get greedy, but another vendor near us instructed the EA to put his house back on the market for £10,000 more, just as the heat went out of the market, and it stayed unsold.

As bad a press as EAs get, it is often greedy vendors cause problems.

TheCyclingProgrammer

Of course it's legal. You have two options. Up your offer or walk away. It's annoying and I suspect your hunch is right but in a lot of areas it's a sellers market.

I know how you feel, I'm in your position too. FTB and not much out there round here. Waiting to hear back on our offer tomorrow but we are up against 5 other offers, one of which I know is higher but I don't know how much. We can't up our offer as it's £250k (also the asking price) and right on the stamp duty threshold. I'm hoping our excellent position and ability to proceed helps our cause but I'm not feeling optimistic.

marlot

blondie21 wrote: »

...Well, why had the agent valued and marketed the house for £164,950 ???

Houses aren't like tins of beans at a supermarket. It is hard for EAs and vendors to get the price right. The EAs who valued our house had a wide spread - more than 10% difference.

Add in the human dimension (sellers have different levels of urgency to sell, different attitudes to getting the maximum possible etc)...

Sounds like the seller thought the asking price was just a little too low.

Of course, they may now have pitched it too high, and not get any close offers. Only time will tell!

nzseries1

Wow, imagine if the vendor accidentally made a typo and left off a zero and had an asking price of $16,495... and then had to sell it for that price as they weren't legally allowed to raise the asking price!

moneyistooshorttomention

The vendor has raised the price because of the level of interest shown. That is rather a "luck of the draw" type thing and a buyer can only hope there will be little interest shown in the house they want.

I had that one played on me for the house I now have. I agreed a price with the vendor and he came back to me some weeks later (via his EA) and said "vendor was really looking for £2,000 more":mad:. The price HAD been agreed, but because it wasn't in writing they were trying to make out it hadn't been and I was in a difficult situation because I hadn't yet found the buyer for my last house (hence it wasn't down in writing and they had their excuse).

In hindsight, the vendor tried it on in this respect because that would probably have been the point at which another would-be buyer was sniffing around.

There was nothing I could do in law to enforce the price agreed, even if it had been in writing and he had signed to accept it I gather. Yes...I know he was in the wrong, but there's huge holes in the law when it comes to housebuying still.

OTOH - The house I sold had a bidding war on it in the end. That was fair enough and perfectly legal and moral, because I hadn't accepted anyone's offer and just let the two of them run with it for a day or two and then decided who the "winner" was/accepted their offer and sold them the place.

davidmcn

blondie21 wrote: »

What do you advise I do ?

You say it's your dream home, in which case I'm sure you'd be willing to increase your offer by a mere 4%...

Annie1960

blondie21 wrote: »

My partner and I are first time buyers. We recently put an offer on our dream home of £162,500. The asking price was £164,950. Someone then put an offer of £165,000 a few days later. We then put our final offer of £168,000 on the property. It sat on the house for 6 days and the agent then rang me to ask was our amount of £168,000 our final offer as the vendor had wanted a bit more for the house . Well, why had the agent valued and marketed the house for £164,950 ???
I looked on the agents web site the next day and the asking price was now raised to £174,950. I can't believe this. I am thinking the agent or vendor obviously saw a good response and started getting greedy. Is this legal ? What do you advise I do ?

When I had 3 valuations from EAs recently, there was a difference of £100,000 between the highest and lowest.

EAs give their opinion, but the market is a funny thing. There is no 'correct' price for a house, it is worth what someone is prepared to pay for it.

So, you need to think about how much you want that house, and how much you are prepared to pay for it. Also, think about how long you plan to live there. If it is a long-term house, then over the years you will completely forget what you paid for it. You will just enjoy living there.

anotheruser

But then if you up your offer now, the vendor may just put the house up further.
Chicken and egg and all that.

Although it may be your dream house, you may always feel cheated if you paid over what it is REALLY worth.
But then what is it worth to you?

onerickylambert

The asking price isn't worth much, a house, like anything, is only worth what someone is prepared to pay.

Putting a house on the market is not an offer to sell, it is an invitation to treat, and if the asking price is offered the selling party does not have to accept and, as this seller has done can increase the asking price perfectly legally.

If you get to the point where the seller accepts your offer then depending on where the property is he may have to sell. If you are in Scotland the acceptance of an offer is legally binding and you have recourse if the seller pulls out. In England and Wales the seller can pull out at any time up to completion of contracts (leaving you with costs for things like searches and a fair amount of time wasted).

If a seller is behaving like this now, then be aware there is a possibility for you to be gazumped later on. But good luck.

ladyabouttown

There is always somebody who has offered more... I offered on 8 places, each time there was someone with £3-5k more... Always stuck to my offer and 5 still continued to be marketed...

If they don't get anyone buying and they come back to you I suggest you lower the offer...