Are we been played?

jase888

Found a house we liked at 230k but the estate agent told us the sellers would take 220k we eventually went to 219 and the sellers had a long think but declined and said they spoke to family and now want the full price of 230. We couldn't go that high so decided to leave it, we got a call monday saying they havent had much other interest (bid wise) but had a few viewings later in the week and their trying to pitch the offer to sellers as they think our offer is good.

Now the estate agent came back on wednesday and told us it sold just a courtesy call to let us know and mentioned the other buyers have gone closer to what they want not sure if she meant 220 or 230.

HOWEVER its still on the market and hasnt got the "SOLD STC" label on their websit eor rightmove so just wondered is this normal it takes a week or so to say its Sold or is this some estate agent trickery?

We were gutted as love it but didnt want to go into a bidding war as were at our udget end pretty much with 220.

Thanks

[Deleted User]

It would be an odd form of trickery to tell you that you can no longer buy it if they would like you to buy it.

jase888

yeah thats what we thought - just wondered why they leave it on the market as surely people will still be ringing up about it and stuff

always_sunny

did you tell them 'congratulations' it finally sold? Don't take the bait.
Do you really fancy a game at gazumping?

AdrianC

Some EAs are just slow on changing their website flags to reflect what's actually happening with a sale. Those flags are meaningless.

The house was up for £230k.
You offered £219k. That offer was refused. You wouldn't/couldn't go higher.
They've now had offers nearer £230k.

Move on. This house is not for you.

Linton

It can take some time for the estate agents to update Rightmove. In the case of a house we bought, although the offer had been verbally accepted it took a while for the estate agents to be given explicit approval to take it off the market. The agents themselves would tell anyone who asked that it was STC.

It seems perverse to not buy the house you loved just for £1K out of £220K. As a vendor I would be tempted to reject someone wanting to haggle over £1K - it would suggest to me that they werent really serious.

PixelPound

Hmmm, sounds like no other offer is in but the estate agent knows they will accept below 230 but not as low as 219. If there is a genuine offer, then it looks like they want to start a bidding war, even if to just to push up the price for the other buyer.

Personally, I'd say stick firm and say that the 219K offer still stands but you are looking at other properties and so it could be withdrawn if you find somewhere else. If you want, say 220K but make it clear there will not be any other offer and ask for it to be marked as sold STC if accepted.

We once looked at a repossession, and offered 15% below the price as it needed work on it. We were told within a week that another offer had come in and we needed to increase our offer - pressure from the missus who had fallen in love with it I reluctantly agreed but then we were told the other party had gone to the asking price and we needed to match to keep in. We pulled out and strangely the other buyer wasn't there. It eventually got bought by a developer for 40% below the asking price (who sold it again after refitting for double the price he paid)

PixelPound

Linton wrote: »

It seems perverse to not buy the house you loved just for £1K out of £220K. As a vendor I would be tempted to reject someone wanting to haggle over £1K - it would suggest to me that they werent really serious.

But would you say, no its 220K, or no, I want 230K now?

Why not serious, if the buyer believes 219K is the value they put on it, why pay more? By your reasoning if they love it they should pay the full 230K as not wanting to pay the 4.8% difference for a house they love .....

The house was on for 230k, and they offered 219k, there was no 220k involved (that was just what the estate agent suggested), if the seller would really accept 220, then they could have come back to the offer of 219 and say 220 was the lowest they would go.

AdrianC

Linton wrote: »

It can take some time for the estate agents to update Rightmove. In the case of a house we bought, although the offer had been verbally accepted it took a while for the estate agents to be given explicit approval to take it off the market. The agents themselves would tell anyone who asked that it was STC.

When we bought this place, it never gained an STC flag on RM, right up until it was removed a few weeks after completion.

Linton

nic_c wrote: »

But would you say, no its 220K, or no, I want 230K now?

Why not serious, if the buyer believes 219K is the value they put on it, why pay more? By your reasoning if they love it they should pay the full 230K as not wanting to pay the 4.8% difference for a house they love .....

The house was on for 230k, and they offered 219k, there was no 220k involved (that was just what the estate agent suggested), if the seller would really accept 220, then they could have come back to the offer of 219 and say 220 was the lowest they would go.

We know the estate agent said that £220K would be accepted, presumably on guidance from the vendor. If £220K really was too much for the OP they should have offered a round figure like £200K or £210K at which point the vendor would say yes, no or split the difference. If £220K was affordable and they really wanted the house they should have offered that. Offering £219K when £220K had been suggested was just nit-picking and time wasting in my view.

If the £1K was the difference between what the OP believed was affordable and unaffordable then I suggest they were taking far too much risk in offering £219K. No-one's financial calculations can be that precise.

Mojisola

jase888 wrote: »

the estate agent told us the sellers would take 220k we eventually went to 219 and the sellers had a long think but declined

We were gutted as love it

So you've lost a house you love for the sake of £1k?