Had an offer... but...

Scythi

Our house is on for 190k, we have received an offer of 180k, I rejected it as wanted closer to asking price, so asked for £187k expecting they would counter with £185k which I would have accepted... however, they didnt and said £183500.
They said they need to go into renting, because their completion date is at the start of August, but would offer us £187k if we could complete by then, we simply cant do that as the house we are buying have not found somewhere yet and we cant afford to go into renting.
This says to me they can afford £187k, but are not offering it, so they have more money to rent.
I dont know what to make of it, I dont want to squabble over £1.5k, as we can afford the mortgage on the new place with that added, but id rather not! We dont want to lose this sale as we know its unlikely to fall through (because their completion date is already set) and they love the house and offered within an hour of viewing, but we do have another viewer this weekend which may offer as well.

What would you do?

hazyjo

It's a really good offer, if you can definitely afford to, I'd take it

quotememiserable

I'd just take it. You answer the question yourself really.

Davesnave

A bird in the hand...... and in the current economic climate?  Hmmmm, now let me see....

NameUnavailable

As a seller you're not in a great position, how long might it be until the people you want to buy from find a place they like (and then what might be the chain above that?).

If your buyers are willing to rent until your chain is complete that could be worth a lot.

hazyjo

Scythi said:

This says to me they can afford £187k, but are not offering it, so they have more money to rent.

PS it really doesn't matter what they can afford, it's what they're willing to pay for your property under the terms agreed.

It's why some buyers are often reluctant to let an EA know their affordability as they think they may be pushed up, whereas more experienced buyers may be able to say it doesn't matter what they can afford, their offer reflects the property and situation.

RelievedSheff

I don't think I would squabble over £1500. It is a sound offer from people who will be in a position to move quickly once their sale has gone through in August.

blue_max_3

You could counter for £185k. Though you may lose them.

Jeepers_Creepers

I think the buyer's explanation is reasonable, and the sum in question not very significant; as above, under normal circumstances, I'd be inclined to accept it*.

They are going to be 'homeless' at the start of August, and they have no idea when your house will be available since you haven't even found your new home yet. They seemingly anticipate having to rent for a while, so it seems quite reasonable for them to be reluctant to pay more for your house as this contingency will soon disappear. That's not your problem, but I'm just saying it seems a valid enough reason.

Have you any idea how long it could be before you find your next home? How 'fussy' are you?! Are you looking for something rare, or a house type that should be easily available given a shortish time of looking?


*Having said that, they haven't met your revised asking price, and you have yet to accept their offer. On that basis, if I'm honest, I think I'd be inclined to see what position the weekend viewer is in before making a final decision. It could be that they are not on such a tight schedule, which could ease the pressure for you somewhat.

pjread

Renting has costs associated (another move, the rent itself, hassle moving utilities etc and paying over the odds for 1 month rolling contracts...) so if they're close to the wire, they may genuinely be able to afford £187k if you can tie in with their date, but not if they have to go renting.  Either way, if I was the buyer I'd be factoring that cost in. 

£3.5k is probably on the low side of what that'll cost in my head, and I guess you know that as you say you can't afford to go renting to get the additional £3.5k, so probably it's a realistic reduction given the circumstances...?

Scythi

Jeepers_Creepers said:

I think the buyer's explanation is reasonable, and the sum in question not very significant; as above, under normal circumstances, I'd be inclined to accept it*.

They are going to be 'homeless' at the start of August, and they have no idea when your house will be available since you haven't even found your new home yet. They seemingly anticipate having to rent for a while, so it seems quite reasonable for them to be reluctant to pay more for your house as this contingency will soon disappear. That's not your problem, but I'm just saying it seems a valid enough reason.

Have you any idea how long it could be before you find your next home? How 'fussy' are you?! Are you looking for something rare, or a house type that should be easily available given a shortish time of looking?


*Having said that, they haven't met your revised asking price, and you have yet to accept their offer. On that basis, if I'm honest, I think I'd be inclined to see what position the weekend viewer is in before making a final decision. It could be that they are not on such a tight schedule, which could ease the pressure for you somewhat.

We have found our next home and the offer has been accepted on it, however our vendors have not found anywhere yet, we have asked if it would be at all possible for us to move in at the start of August, but highly doubt we will be able to, we are still pushing our buyers for 185, we will only take it off the market and not do the weekend viewing for 187.

We are still not sure what to do, as we want 185, but dont want to lose the security of this sale.