Heart vs Head!

hazyjo

Tough one. I nearly always say buy with your heart (and buy the one that you'd be really upset to hear someone else had beaten you to).


BUT on hearing this back story, I would never trust the sellers and wouldn't be able to deal with them again. If I did want to risk it, I would do as those above have suggested and offer less.


I completed in late Nov last year. Like you, there were two houses. The big one vs the small one. Big one was, well, bigger, but needed a tonne of work. The second one, flooring, bathroom and kitchen were great and really it was just a lot of decorating. We really did umm and ahh. The big one wouldn't accept my offer which was around £6k under the asking price. I'd gone up a couple of times to slightly more than I was comfortable paying and it really wasn't the amount as such, it was that I would have needed to spend thousands on it and it would have been a project for the next decade rather than the next year.


In the end we walked and I bought the smaller one. Absolutely no regrets. We live in a lovely area with lots of restaurants, pubs and shops and I wanted to enjoy that rather than feel guilty about every meal out or afternoon in a pub.


If you really are still torn, go view the first one again. Maybe you won't feel the same about it. Easy to remember something with rose tinted glasses. Maybe take a builder if you need some quotes - that might help you decide.

steampowered

I would sit down and write a rational list of pros/cons of each property. Ignoring the sellers. Difficult for us to assess the amount of work that needs doing on MSE.

If I decided that I'd prefer property 1, I would be tempted to proceed with property 1. However, I would try to insist on a very quick timetable to exchange of contracts.

The sellers of property 1 may not be bad people. They have messed you around a bit, but they themselves have been messed around.

In reality, if a materially higher offer comes in from a proceedable buyer before exchange of contracts, most of us would accept it.

ReadingTim

I would suggest that the owners of property 1 aren't being awkward with you personally, merely in denial about the true price/value of the place - they think it's worth more than it is, and a low offer is somehow a value judgement on them and their lifestyle, bot simply the bricks and mortar they live in.

But following 2 rejections/failed purchases, they've finally come to their senses, and are gonna have to get over themselves if they want to move. As long as they don't throw their toys out of the plan and give up on moving completely, you're in a relatively strong position, so ought to be able to complete the transaction this time.

Tempting as it is to lowball them in their hour of desperation, and as long as the sums still add up, proceeding at the previously agreed price might secure you the property this time, and if it really does stave off the regrets, go for it.

hazyjo

steampowered wrote: »

In reality, if a materially higher offer comes in from a proceedable buyer before exchange of contracts, most of us would accept it.

Not sure I'd go with 'most'. I certainly wouldn't. I think it's incredibly bad form. I've also seen it bite the @rses of those who do when the new buyer drops the offer before exchange or after survey!

pinklady21

Thank you all for your thoughtful replies. Yep - my first thought on hearing house 1 was back again was - "right if they are going to sell to me, it will only be for less than we offered last time!"

It has been a real saga from the start - we first viewed House 1 about a year ago, offered asking price straight away which was accepted. It was 10k under home report, and with the caveat that the surveyor estimated the essential repairs mainly for dampness and timber treatment would be around £10k.
We then got a builder and damp expert in, and the quotes came in at over £30k. So we suggested to the vendors that in the light of this, we would suggest a reduction of £10k to cover essential repairs.

The would not go for it, and having already refused our preferred entry date of 8 weeks as they "were going on holiday and had no time to clear the house", they put it back on the market.
Despite us saying we would still honour the original offer price, they then proceeded to accept another offer from someone else, which then fell through etc etc.

My gut tells me they are unrealistic twits who have an inflated idea of what the property is actually worth, despite the surveyor now having also downgraded his valuation in the light of the costs of repairs.
Possibly after a year they have finally had a reality check.... but equally I would be hard pushed to trust them, and don't want to gamble and possibly lose out on house 2.

House 2 also needs some repairs, but is in a better state generally so won't need quite so much spending on it. We have not had a builder in there though, so that might help us make our minds up.

I think I have to tell my heart that the head is in charge this time, and if I don't I suspect my OH might divorce me.....

Wishing you all a lovely weekend!

Smodlet

It is the week end so, depending on your circumstances, might it be time for some more reconnaissance, house-wise? House 3 may be out there.

A thought has just occurred and, whilst I personally dislike social media (MSE excepted) might it be worth checking out House 1's vendors on MyTwitFakelook? You might just find they are desperate to sell and the only thing left in their way of accepting your offer is ego. They may, of course, be too smart to show their hand but who knows? HTH and good luck. Would you let us know how you get on?

franklee

You could visit the EA and have a chat about house 1, see if you can get an idea of the vendors commitment to move and timescales. I would also want to know why the other sales fell through. That may help clarify if it is a realistic option this time.

davidmcn

Although the OP hasn't been explicit about it, note that they're buying in Scotland, where b*ggering around with the price after an offer is accepted in principle is frowned upon more than in England & Wales.

[STRIKE]It will still legally be possible to reduce the price of their current offer but their solicitor may have professional difficulties in continuing to act, as the Law Society's guidance is that:

Solicitors acting for prospective purchasers of residential property whose offer is accepted - either verbally or in writing - should withdraw from acting if the client subsequently wishes to re-negotiate the price downwards without having made the offer subject to a satisfactory valuation or survey or obtaining satisfactory finance.

- it is however highly likely that the offer would have had at least one of those conditions so there may be some wriggle room.[/STRIKE]

elsien

davidmcn wrote: »

Although the OP hasn't been explicit about it, note that they're buying in Scotland, where b*ggering around with the price after an offer is accepted in principle is frowned upon more than in England & Wales.

It will still legally be possible to reduce the price of their current offer but their solicitor may have professional difficulties in continuing to act, as the Law Society's guidance is that:
- it is however highly likely that the offer would have had at least one of those conditions so there may be some wriggle room.

Unless I've misread it, they don't currently have on offer on house one to reduce. There's a previous offer which was rejected then the house withdrawn from sale, so I don't see why a lower initial starting offer couldn't be made now the house is back on the market again?

Pixie5740

How did the vendors manage to accept another offer after originally accepting yours? Did they change solicitor?