Negotiations for second offer on house (FTBs)

moodysocks

Hi all,

Me and my partner are first-time buyers, we also have an unusually large deposit for our position (inheritance) and we put an offer in on a £240k house in (a cheaper part of) the southwest. It's a pretty good asking price for a house like this (semi-detached, 4 bed - two double, and two 'box' rooms we call them, with a garage), however it's been on the market for a year (over-priced? unlucky?).

We were told various things by the estate agent, first that the vendor is 'very motivated to sell' and has had 3 chains collapse over the past year, we believe the last time it was 'sold' was around Christmas time. They then backtracked two days later and said she didn't have anywhere to move to and as such was less fussed to move. Their words were 'if you offered asking price, she'd be out immediately', so who knows what to make of that.

We put our first offer in at £215k (12% below asking). The house is generally in good condition, but hasn't been maintained particularly well - mostly minor cosmetic things (e.g. broken cupboard doors, stained carpets and walls, loose paving out the back). However it's been on the market so long, and as the first EA said she was keen to move and sell to a chain-free buyer, we thought to start low and work our way up to a final offer of £225k (6% below asking), if it helps, the vendor bought it new in 2012 for £220k (identical houses in the estate sold new for between £210-£220). Honestly we can't ignore the fact that the economy has tanked and house prices are predicted to decrease. We're not even sure if it's wise to buy right now.

Unsurprisingly the offer was declined and the EA said: "The vendor is looking for something with a '2' and a '3' in it, and preferably at the higher end of that". So she wants over £230k. My family thinks this is a good thing, and said she's already nearly down to our max offer of £225.

Our second offer was originally going to be £220k. Now we have decided to split the difference between £215k and £230k and offer £222,500. She'll obviously decline that as well. We'll go in with £225 after a few days as a final offer.

I was just wondering what people's opinions are about this negotiation? Along with any advice on how to proceed. We really like this house, but we will walk away if the vendor doesn't meet us below £230k.

Thanks!

RelievedSheff

Personally I hate drawn out protracted price negotiations. I prefer to get the deal done first time round.

If I was the seller and you kept coming back with little incremental increases I would be quite annoyed about it and would expect trouble further down the line.

Rodders53

moodysocks said:  I was just wondering what people's opinions are about this negotiation? Along with any advice on how to proceed. We really like this house, but we will walk away if the vendor doesn't meet us below £230k.

Make your best and final offer next - and mean that!  If I was the seller being messed around with slowly incrementing higher offers I'd tell you 'on yer bike'.  (I did exactly that with some low-balling time-waster on our last house sale.)  I'd also expect such a 'player' to want to revisit and reduce offer after the survey...

BUT it seems the vendor isn't actually at all willing or motivated to sell.  You don't get chains falling apart that frequently and it sounds like the Agent is feeding you half-truths.  Have you met and spoken to the vendor at all?

eidand

Work out your maximum offer and go in with that. Makes everything simpler and quicker.

moodysocks

Rodders53 said:
Make your best and final offer next - and mean that!  If I was the seller being messed around with slowly incrementing higher offers I'd tell you 'on yer bike'.  (I did exactly that with some low-balling time-waster on our last house sale.)  I'd also expect such a 'player' to want to revisit and reduce offer after the survey...

BUT it seems the vendor isn't actually at all willing or motivated to sell.  You don't get chains falling apart that frequently and it sounds like the Agent is feeding you half-truths.  Have you met and spoken to the vendor at all?

So we have been weighing up whether to go in with the final offer now, that would be my preference - the end result is the same and it avoids messing around. However, my parents think we need to leave ourselves some 'wiggle room' by offering the intermediary price.

Helpful to hear from people that aren't my parents, so we'll reevaluate.

We haven't me the vendor, and the EA said she is downsizing to a 2-bed house within the area. But she has two teenage daughters so I'm not sure if that's the truth or not. It was almost like they thought they over sold her on the first viewing (the first thing the EA said to me was she's very keen to make a sale!), and now they're trying to make her seem less desperate so we put a higher offer in?!

Maybe I'm just over-thinking it...

MobileSaver

moodysocks said:

Helpful to hear from people that aren't my parents, so we'll reevaluate.

I agree with all the above posters. Playing games is pointless and potentially counter-productive, after making your first "testing the water" offer you should just offer your best price and make it clear it's the absolute maximum you are prepared to pay.

I've done this with all bar my very first property purchase and it's worked every time. I've also had a buyer trying to play games with me and they missed out on the house (coincidentally the person I did sell that house to ten years ago recently wrote to me regarding another matter and mentioned again how much they were loving living there.)

AdrianC

It's very simple. If you don't want to pay more than £230k, and the vendor doesn't want to accept that, then you ain't buyin' this house...

Leave the offer on the table, in case they change their mind, and go back to the search.

SameOldRoundabout

You know she’s likely to reject your final offer, and you don’t want to go higher. You won’t tempt her into accepting by creeping up to it. Offer and be done with it. 

Incidentally EAs are all liars. A friend of mine viewed a property that had been on 18 months (which was definitely overpriced) and was told 4 times on the first viewing that vendor was desperate to sell, the price was negotiable and they just wanted it done. They rejected the offer put in and said asking price or nothing. 

Linton

Agree with the others.  No messing about - best & final offer, and mean it.  If you keep going up in small amounts the vendor wil keep saying no since they know you will make a new offer.  

At the end of the day which is more important £5K spread over the next 20 years or the house?

A good deal is one where both sides are happy. It is a fundamental error to put in an offer you believe wont be accepted, especially when the EA has hinted what is required.  It just wastes time, puts you on the back foot, and leaves a bad impression with the vendor making it more likely that they will accept an offer from someone else, even someone else making the same offer as you.

Hannimal

Why not just send your best and final offer and call it that, if that is what you are expecting to pay. who benefits from this game? It's wasting everyone's time. 

(But what do I know, I haven't ever bought or sold property)

Chilli6

I would just put my highest offer in this situation, as it is below what she's likely to accept anyway. 
I had a buyer who started low and crept up by £2,000 every week or so. This went on for about 4 weeks, when a new buyer appeared and offered full asking price. The first buyer ended up paying over asking when I would have accepted less if he had gone in at a lower sensible offer first.  He nearly lost out due to his want for a bargain