Considering lower my offer due to mortgage rates increase, is this a reasonable excuse?

Sarah1Mitty2

Troy_af said:

cymruchris said:

It wouldn't be a reasonable 'excuse' to me... If rates went down, would you offer more?

You're offering based on market value/demand/personal choice. 

If I were a seller, and was approached with a negotiation based on this, I'd either re-market or look at my other previous offers. There's a risk on both sides as to what potentially could happen, but you won't know until you decide to try and renegotiate.

Rates will always go up and down (although they've been down for quite some time).

No, of course if the rates went down I wouldn't offer more. I'm not considering offering less because the rates have went up, I'm considering offering less because the house is no longer affordable (as a result of the rates rising so much).

As to rates being down for quite some time I'm not sure what you mean by this? Nov last year I was offered 2.07%, May this year 2.7% and my broker has told me I would be looking at 4% to 4.5%, making the house I could afford in may, no longer affordable in Dec.

That happened quite suddenly, they were down for a long long time before that.

TheJP

Troy_af said:

TheJP said:

Troy_af said:

Hello.

 The only possible solution I can think of is that I request a reduction in the asking price to bring the payments back down.. which would be around £6,000.

I know I am well within my rights to ask for this because without doing so I will have to pull out and the chain will collapse. But on the other hand I know it sounds extremely cheeky and I would not be happy if it was to happen to me the other way around, so I am just looking for some advice.

So your buyer pulled out and you want your seller to pony up £6k because you over stretched yourself. House ownership doesn't suit you.

Adjust expectations along with budget and you will then come to a manageable conclusion. 

Thanks again for the advice.

If you re read my question you will see that I didn't want or demand anything from the seller, I just asked for opinions from people as to if it  would be reasonable given the circumstances. Also, for comparison, if my buyer had approached me with the same question, then no, I would not have taken offence to it.

As I've said bills for some people are now 400/month higher than they were 6 month ago. Can someone please explain to me how, at this level of increase, it would not be reasonable for someones affordability to possibly change in these circumstances.. because 400/month to some people is a second mortage !

Because I seriously must be missing something here, as must my mortage advisor, estate agent and solicitor I guess, who all btw say they agree and understand the situation, not to mention are seeing it happen quite regularly at the moment.

Again I'm not trying to argue with anyone.. I am trying to have a discussion here. Because to be told home ownership just isn't for me, I would honestly just like to know where I am apparantly going wrong, considering I already own a home, have never missed a payment, have also managed to save an extra 40k towards a deposit for a new home, whilst also overpaying on my current mortage for the last 3 years. 

This has maybe been blown out of proportion a little based on what I originally said and I realise it may have come across the wrong way. Ok, of course the 100/month extra on the mortgage is not the only reason, the other increases in the costs of living have also contributed massively. A better way of putting it was possibly - due to the cost of living crisis, my affordability has now changed. The extra on the mortage just felt like it was tipping things over the edge. Or should I say, putting it just outside my budget (yes I know what a budget is and I do have one!).

I understand from the responses that asking for money off is clearly not the right, or fair thing to do in most peoples opinion. I was only trying to come to a solution, because for the seller, me asking for a reduction (when I already offered over the asking price in the first place) may be better for them than losing me as a buyer.

I just have to say I disagree with the whole vibe I'm getting here of it all being my fault and I'm wasting everyone's time. As I said previously, I'm down a few thousands now after 2 house sales failing and my mortage being on its variable rate for the last 18 month, the last thing I want to do is waste people's time, honestly. 

Thanks again though..  I think I have my answer here and maybe this thread should go into the budgeting section.

Affordability & house value aren't comparable. The world changed quickly meaning you now cant afford the house you want to buy, your question whether its reasonable to ask the seller to reduce the price to suit your affordability is unreasonable. 

If I'm honest, it shouldn't take a forum for you to realise that, i don't go out as much as i used to because i cant afford it, i don't ask the restaurant to reduce the price of their meals to help me.

meeemee

So how much money would you need to ask them to reduce by to save how much per month? 

nicmyles

To answer the original question without all the angst:

If you no longer want to buy the house at the agreed price due to changes in your financing, then you're presenting the seller with two options: proceed with me at a lower price, or find a new buyer.

It isn't cheeky, it's just what their options now are, because you have already decided you aren't going to proceed at the current price.

They may be angry, they may feel you're trying to pull a fast one, they may refuse to sell you the house on principle due to breach of trust and feel like they will not be able to rely on any new price agreed on with you.

None of that is in your control. All you can do is tell them what deal is now on offer. 

Being cheeky or not is irrelevant. If you really thought "this is very cheeky", would you then buy the house at a price you don't want to pay? Of course not. So it doesn't really matter whether anyone else (or even whether you) think it is cheeky or not. It's just what's now happening.

If in your mind you would still buy the house at the agreed price, but really would prefer a bit of money off; if your lower offer is a bluff and actually if turned down, you'd proceed at the current price; then that is cheeky and poor behaviour.

Sarah1Mitty2

nicmyles said:

To answer the original question without all the angst:

If you no longer want to buy the house at the agreed price due to changes in your financing, then you're presenting the seller with two options: proceed with me at a lower price, or find a new buyer.

It isn't cheeky, it's just what their options now are, because you have already decided you aren't going to proceed at the current price.

They may be angry, they may feel you're trying to pull a fast one, they may refuse to sell you the house on principle due to breach of trust and feel like they will not be able to rely on any new price agreed on with you.

None of that is in your control. All you can do is tell them what deal is now on offer. 

Being cheeky or not is irrelevant. If you really thought "this is very cheeky", would you then buy the house at a price you don't want to pay? Of course not. So it doesn't really matter whether anyone else (or even whether you) think it is cheeky or not. It's just what's now happening.

If in your mind you would still buy the house at the agreed price, but really would prefer a bit of money off; if your lower offer is a bluff and actually if turned down, you'd proceed at the current price; then that is cheeky and poor behaviour.

Doesn`t this go on in business all the time? You make good points though, there are far too many people on the internet who have not sold a house in 40 years saying "I would send them packing", "I would tell them where to go" etc. That isn`t the reality for most sellers now.

housebuyer143

Sarah1Mitty2 said:

nicmyles said:

To answer the original question without all the angst:

If you no longer want to buy the house at the agreed price due to changes in your financing, then you're presenting the seller with two options: proceed with me at a lower price, or find a new buyer.

It isn't cheeky, it's just what their options now are, because you have already decided you aren't going to proceed at the current price.

They may be angry, they may feel you're trying to pull a fast one, they may refuse to sell you the house on principle due to breach of trust and feel like they will not be able to rely on any new price agreed on with you.

None of that is in your control. All you can do is tell them what deal is now on offer. 

Being cheeky or not is irrelevant. If you really thought "this is very cheeky", would you then buy the house at a price you don't want to pay? Of course not. So it doesn't really matter whether anyone else (or even whether you) think it is cheeky or not. It's just what's now happening.

If in your mind you would still buy the house at the agreed price, but really would prefer a bit of money off; if your lower offer is a bluff and actually if turned down, you'd proceed at the current price; then that is cheeky and poor behaviour.

Doesn`t this go on in business all the time? You make good points though, there are far too many people on the internet who have not sold a house in 40 years saying "I would send them packing", "I would tell them where to go" etc. That isn`t the reality for most sellers now.

Potentially, but in this case only the seller is likely to remarket. They had lots of offers and the OP is no longer able to proceed as they have no buyer. They don't know how long it will take the poster to get a new buyer. 

The OPs best bet is to get a new buyer and then put the reduction to them. 

[Deleted User]

Sarah1Mitty2 said:

nicmyles said:

To answer the original question without all the angst:

If you no longer want to buy the house at the agreed price due to changes in your financing, then you're presenting the seller with two options: proceed with me at a lower price, or find a new buyer.

It isn't cheeky, it's just what their options now are, because you have already decided you aren't going to proceed at the current price.

They may be angry, they may feel you're trying to pull a fast one, they may refuse to sell you the house on principle due to breach of trust and feel like they will not be able to rely on any new price agreed on with you.

None of that is in your control. All you can do is tell them what deal is now on offer. 

Being cheeky or not is irrelevant. If you really thought "this is very cheeky", would you then buy the house at a price you don't want to pay? Of course not. So it doesn't really matter whether anyone else (or even whether you) think it is cheeky or not. It's just what's now happening.

If in your mind you would still buy the house at the agreed price, but really would prefer a bit of money off; if your lower offer is a bluff and actually if turned down, you'd proceed at the current price; then that is cheeky and poor behaviour.

Doesn`t this go on in business all the time? You make good points though, there are far too many people on the internet who have not sold a house in 40 years saying "I would send them packing", "I would tell them where to go" etc. That isn`t the reality for most sellers now.

I would be sending OP packing.
He is making a revised offer based on increased interest rates. Fine.

But his revised offer is also based on the sale value for his own property, the offer he was in receipt of prior to the sale falling through. So he still  has to sell his own property, but has said that he thinks its value may have decreased.

There is nothing cheeky about him making a reduced offer but to my mind there us nothing attractive about his position.

nicmyles

Sarah1Mitty2 said:

nicmyles said:

To answer the original question without all the angst:

If you no longer want to buy the house at the agreed price due to changes in your financing, then you're presenting the seller with two options: proceed with me at a lower price, or find a new buyer.

It isn't cheeky, it's just what their options now are, because you have already decided you aren't going to proceed at the current price.

They may be angry, they may feel you're trying to pull a fast one, they may refuse to sell you the house on principle due to breach of trust and feel like they will not be able to rely on any new price agreed on with you.

None of that is in your control. All you can do is tell them what deal is now on offer. 

Being cheeky or not is irrelevant. If you really thought "this is very cheeky", would you then buy the house at a price you don't want to pay? Of course not. So it doesn't really matter whether anyone else (or even whether you) think it is cheeky or not. It's just what's now happening.

If in your mind you would still buy the house at the agreed price, but really would prefer a bit of money off; if your lower offer is a bluff and actually if turned down, you'd proceed at the current price; then that is cheeky and poor behaviour.

Doesn`t this go on in business all the time? You make good points though, there are far too many people on the internet who have not sold a house in 40 years saying "I would send them packing", "I would tell them where to go" etc. That isn`t the reality for most sellers now.

It does, of course. I would say that trust is important in all business transactions, but especially in house buying. If you feel you can no longer stand by your original offer due to changed circumstances, that's one thing. If you want to re-open negotiations but ultimately you would pay the original price, that's another - there was a time for those negotiations and it was before your offer was accepted. 

Because our house-buying system doesn't lock anyone in until a ludicrously late stage, reduction in offers after acceptance cannot become the norm or the whole system collapses due to lack of trust. While of course some people involved in property transactions may be hard-nosed businesspeople able to roll with the punches, for most of us, these are the biggest transactions we're ever involved in and we do a small number in our lives. It can be scary and emotional. Without trust that people will more often than not do what they've said, you've got problems. Hence why I think that latter scenario (which is not what the OP has outlined) is poor behaviour.

Sarah1Mitty2

So having read all that I think that the biggest shake up to mortgage rates for well over a decade is more than a reasonable excuse to re-negotiate.

Getting_greyer

What offers most utility to you?

1. Current offer-secure property 
2. Renegotiated offer accepted- secure property
3. Negotiation fails-property lost.

I'd imagine 2, but you gotta be willing to risk 3 for it. But tbf the outcome of 3 could happen for other reasons too.