Offering on house without having sold ours.

Greyhorse

Having taken advice from the last thread we have looked into dropping the price of our house as we have had no viewings.

We have not previously viewed any houses as we were waiting for ours to sell.

Yesterday our dream house came up for sale. As in the house we have coveted over for 10 years! It's a one of a kind, right location and is st the top of our budget but doable. Vendor is happy for us to view next week and is aware we are 'non procedable'
I am not sure of the vendors position.

The estate agent said the phone has rang off the hook for this house and there are viewings lined up. Not sure if this is true or a sales tactic.

So based on that if we were to love the house as much as we think we will, would it be possible to offer say subject to having sold ours by x date? Has this been done successfully before and how would I word it? Is there anything I can do to sway the vendor towards accepting our offer even though it's riskier than some.

I would be dropping the price of my house as low as I can to sell as quickly as I can but I would need the offer accepted on the new house before I could risk doing this. I will be reducing regardless but for this house I would reduce by a large amount, as low as I can get away with. If it wasn't for this house I would be happy to sit tight until we hopefully sell in spring but I feel like I need this house and would seriously regret not going for it.

Any thoughts?

sparky130a

Up to you really but for me it would be a high risk option.

I'd say you need to take a very considered step back before potentially financially shooting yourself in the foot just for this one property.

Of course it be moot anyway. If the agent is right by selling yours cheaper you won't have funds to compete with other buyers. You've already stated you're at the top of your budget.

glasgowdan

I would try hard to show some restraint and not let on to the selling agent how mad desperate you are for this house. This doesn't push anyone into a quick sale...all it does is make the vultures sit back and wait for more prey, or to push the hard sales which pushes the price up.

kilby_007

In my opinion you need to detach your brain from your emotions for a moment and take a more reasoned approach to this. It might be a "dream house" but you're not in a position to buy it and the vendor is unlikely to take any offers from you seriously until you're proceedable, especially if other serious candidates are on the table. There will be more viable options out there once you've sold that won't involve screwing yourself over financially.

phoebe1989seb

A cautionary tale - We offered on our current house before we'd sold our last one. Actually we weren't even on the market as we still had a few odd things to finish Unsurprisingly our offer was declined. Our situation was a bit different to yours though - the house we wanted had been on the market in excess of 18 months and had two previous sales fall through. It was, however, a unique property that ticked virtually all our boxes.

Our strategy was to get the work completed on ours asap - took about a month as we had a room to plaster and decorate (all DIY) - then market it at a price to sell quickly. In hindsight - although we got an asking price offer on ours in five weeks (early October 2014), then had our offer accepted on the house we wanted - it was a bad move. Had we not seen what we thought was the dream house, we'd have been less inclined to price ours as low and we know from sold prices, had we hung on till Spring 2015 we'd have achieved a significantly higher price.

Two years on, the dream house has turned into a bit of a nightmare and we'll be looking to sell it soon

Our consolation is that we got it for a very good price and still don't have a mortgage.......

hazyjo

Never a good idea.

1. They will be telling other people what they told you. If you offer, it makes it more appealing to others (human nature).

2. I once had a lowish offer and managed to get money off the house I was buying. The loss can be passed up the chain if they're keen or in a rush. If you offer X amount, you'll have to get a certain amount of money for yours.

3. If the one you want doesn't sell, they'll prob drop the price, or take your lower offer when you have got a buyer. They won't do that with an offer on it.

Don't view houses if you're going to get emotionally attached. There's one I want which was, luckily for me(!), taken off the market and going back on in March. I'm hoping to get a complete chain below me by then!

4. Another point, if you get a buyer, you don't know if they'll have a complete chain below them. You don't want to have to limit yourselves to cash buyers or FTBs.

Jx

Hoploz

It all depends on the seller's position. Have they found their onward purchase and they're ready to go? Or are they just putting the house up for sale speculatively, to see what happens, and if they find what they're looking for they'll sell and if not they'll stay put for a while?

The likelihood is that if there is other interest they would accept an offer from a proceedable buyer over one that's not.

If there are no other offers then you tell them you're interested and will make an offer when you're in a position to do so, ie when you've got an offer on yours. They will then bear you in mind and keep you informed if there is other interest.

The_Logans

We have fallen into the trap of getting our hearts set on a house, putting ours on the market only for the 'dream house' to sell before we sold ours. It's a horrible time, but you'd be much better to get an offer on yours before you start seriously viewing properties that you might fall in love with. The way I look at it, in the time you spend waiting for a buyer a 'more perfect' house might come on the market. Be patient (from one who is impatient and knows it!)

D00gie72

I've been in the same situation as you. Few years ago our coveted "dream house" came on the market before we were even thinking of selling. We viewed the dream house and put an offer in before selling ours. Unsurprisingly the vendor of the dream house took an offer (for the same amount) from a proceed-able buyer. A few months later we were in the situation of having a buyer and no suitable house on the market to buy. Fast forward 2 years we have now moved to a fantastic house we didn't even know existed when we initially put ours on the market.
There's no "correct" way of doing these things no matter what people say on here. Just be honest If you view it - love it as much as you think - you can indeed put an offer in - but be honest and say you haven't sold and you will have to leave it up to the vendor to decide what to do. It may turn out that they are not in a rush to move and are happy to wait for you to find a buyer - who knows, you may get lucky. I would definitely be hesitant to drop the price of yours too much for the sake of this one "dream house" you may regret that later. Talk to your agent and make sure you get a realistic idea of what your house may actually sell for.