Buying: Offered Asking price and now vendor needs to 'think'

csgohan4

The vendor will decide when their ready, not when the buyer says so. They don't have to sell to you and your offer is not the only one. Their house, their rules.

1 week in the grand scheme of things is not long.

Surrey_EA

As with so many things in life, it varies. People are very different, and as such will handle situations in a diverse way.

It is not unreasonable for a seller to take a few days to consider their options, especially when they have several options to ponder. personally, I'd far rather they did that than rushed in to a quick decision that they later reneged on.

It is also not unreasonable for a seller to try and achieve as high a price for their property as possible. If you do not wish to offer any more than you have done so already then that is entirely up to you, and is also entirely reasonable.

From the information you've provided the seller does not appear to be behaving particularly awkwardly, this is a fairly common scenario. Essentially a house is only worth what someone is prepared to pay for it. As someone else has already mentioned the price is there only as a guide, and the eventual sale price may be lower or it could be higher.

FTBManchester01

Thanks for everyone's feedback. It's interesting hearing different viewpoints


It's worth mentioning that the house has been up for sale for 3 months without any accepted offers (that I'm aware of) and the price has not changed.


I think the chance of being gazumped is a real threat if the asking price was not actually what the vendors were looking for; in which case I'd rather know sooner than later.


We have some viewings set up for the weekend so the search continues...

Surrey_EA

FTBManchester01 wrote: »

I think the chance of being gazumped is a real threat if the asking price was not actually what the vendors were looking for; in which case I'd rather know sooner than later.

The majority of sellers are simply out to get as much as possible, irrespective of the asking price.

The is no reason to think the risk of being gazumped by this vendor is greater than with another vendor.

Cakeguts

Why has it taken you 3 months to view this property if it is such a great buy?

FBaby

It's all about power and risk. You both want power, you both want to avoid risk. In the end, one will win the other lose.

Voyager2002

The telling point is that this property is right at the top of your price range. So if (or rather when) an unexpected and expensive problem arises, you will need the vendor to pay the price or otherwise be forced to withdraw. That means that this purchase can only work out if the vendor is keen and feels that your offer is a good one. The fact that the vendor needs time to make a decision on your offer makes it very clear that they are not very happy with it. Under these circumstances, you are right to walk away.

Incidentally, something similar happened when I bought my first house. After the discussions about the price had failed to reach an agreement I looked elsewhere.... and a little later the agent contacted me to say that a lower offer would now be acceptable.

Grenage

I told people making offers that I would consider them all at the end of the week, and make a final decision.

Rushing the process or getting less than you could would be a remarkably foolish thing to do, as a seller.

trailingspouse

The house is worth what someone is prepared to pay for it, not what the asking price is.

If you're not prepared to wait more than three days, then don't - just walk away and spend another two years looking for the perfect house.

We were in exactly this position a few years ago - our house was on the market at £95,000, 20+ viewings in two weeks, with three firm offers. The estate agents earned their money going backwards and forwards between the three potential buyers negotiating further offers - it eventually sold for £100,500.

missmoose

I don't know if it's been said or not so I'm going to say it anyway.
Your offer might not be the highest, but you're the most attractive in terms of if you are ready to proceed.
They may have had an offer for 5k more than yours off of someone that is not quite in such a good position as you and they want to weigh up if the 5k is worth a delay.
Alternatively the may have gotten an offer for 5k less but a cash sale and they want to weight up if 5k less is worth the faster sale.
A week does sound too much though in my opinion.