Sale fell through, reasonable to ask to lower accepted offer?

mi-key

Sarah1Mitty2 said:

mi-key said:

Sarah1Mitty2 said:

tsears said:

Long story, but I accepted an offer on my property back in August £10k above the asking price where I had multiple offers over the asking. 
I then had an offer accepted on a property at the end of September, just under the asking price but the sellers hadn't found anywhere.

3 months later they still haven't found anywhere, but have now offered to vacate the property to get the sale through, but my buyer has pulled out. 
My property has been back on the market for a few weeks, but due to the change of the market, I'm now only getting offers £20k-£30k under the offer I accepted back in August. 

In this situation would be acceptable to ask the people I'm buying from to reduce the price? 
The house I'm looking to buy is in a desirable area where not many at this price point come up for sale, but I've noticed that other properties in the local area are being reduced on Rightmove. What's the normal thing to do in this situation? 

Thanks in advance! 

Ask them to reduce, they won`t be getting offers like you gave them now. They dithered, the market changed, their problem really.

Or they will just refuse, OP loses the house and any money he has spent out so far. You can't say what offers they will get from other people if they market it again. As the OP says, it's a desirable area with not many houses at that price, so only takes one person who can afford it and is happy to pay what they are asking...

No, but as they were already taking offers under asking in September I doubt they will be feeling too confident of floods of offers coming in, and they would have the hassle of starting again with a new buyer, who could still pull out or lower their offer.

Also if the sellers were to remarket it now, it would be coming into the spring, which is the busiest time for house sales, and the faffing with mortgage rates / mini budget etc... has all settled down a bit, so they may be in a better position to get an offer equal to they one they accepted from the OP

Sarah1Mitty2

mi-key said:

Sarah1Mitty2 said:

mi-key said:

Sarah1Mitty2 said:

tsears said:

Long story, but I accepted an offer on my property back in August £10k above the asking price where I had multiple offers over the asking. 
I then had an offer accepted on a property at the end of September, just under the asking price but the sellers hadn't found anywhere.

3 months later they still haven't found anywhere, but have now offered to vacate the property to get the sale through, but my buyer has pulled out. 
My property has been back on the market for a few weeks, but due to the change of the market, I'm now only getting offers £20k-£30k under the offer I accepted back in August. 

In this situation would be acceptable to ask the people I'm buying from to reduce the price? 
The house I'm looking to buy is in a desirable area where not many at this price point come up for sale, but I've noticed that other properties in the local area are being reduced on Rightmove. What's the normal thing to do in this situation? 

Thanks in advance! 

Ask them to reduce, they won`t be getting offers like you gave them now. They dithered, the market changed, their problem really.

Or they will just refuse, OP loses the house and any money he has spent out so far. You can't say what offers they will get from other people if they market it again. As the OP says, it's a desirable area with not many houses at that price, so only takes one person who can afford it and is happy to pay what they are asking...

No, but as they were already taking offers under asking in September I doubt they will be feeling too confident of floods of offers coming in, and they would have the hassle of starting again with a new buyer, who could still pull out or lower their offer.

The OP did say it was 'just under' asking, which is pretty common. Maybe he was the first person to view it, made the offer, and they thought it was OK rather than hanging around to see if they got offers over ( which obviously is less common now ) 

For a desirable area "over asking" used to be more common, this seller has just mis-timed the market, the OP should just go to them with the new offer in my opinion.

BikingBud

mi-key said:

diystarter7 said:

mi-key said:

p.s. I also think gazumping is just as bad ! If you agree on a price then stick to it rather than faffing around trying to chisel money off people and messing people around

the day/3week before the exchange of contracts or one the day, I agree
Thanks

I think at any point really. Maybe I am old fashioned but I think if you make an agreement with someone, you stick to it. You see a lot of posts on here, often from FTBs who have had an offer accepted, and their next question is 'right, how much can I now knock that down to try and get it cheaper'

Make the offer you can afford at the time, don't offer more then assume at a later date you can hold the seller to ransom by reducing it for no other reason than you want the house cheaper than you agreed. 

The offer you can afford at the time is quite clearly a temporal consideration. The time is now different, the market has changed and the affordability is different.

Why therefore is an agreed price that is over 90 days old still valid, in any other market you would not get that without committing funds to fix the price.

mi-key

BikingBud said:

mi-key said:

diystarter7 said:

mi-key said:

p.s. I also think gazumping is just as bad ! If you agree on a price then stick to it rather than faffing around trying to chisel money off people and messing people around

the day/3week before the exchange of contracts or one the day, I agree
Thanks

I think at any point really. Maybe I am old fashioned but I think if you make an agreement with someone, you stick to it. You see a lot of posts on here, often from FTBs who have had an offer accepted, and their next question is 'right, how much can I now knock that down to try and get it cheaper'

Make the offer you can afford at the time, don't offer more then assume at a later date you can hold the seller to ransom by reducing it for no other reason than you want the house cheaper than you agreed. 

The offer you can afford at the time is quite clearly a temporal consideration. The time is now different, the market has changed and the affordability is different.

Why therefore is an agreed price that is over 90 days old still valid, in any other market you would not get that without committing funds to fix the price.

The flipside of that is that if you have offered £250K and it is accepted, and the market grows, is it then ok for the seller to come back and say they now want £300K because the house is worth more, meaning you then lose the money you have already spent out? 

mi-key

Sarah1Mitty2 said:

mi-key said:

Sarah1Mitty2 said:

mi-key said:

Sarah1Mitty2 said:

tsears said:

Long story, but I accepted an offer on my property back in August £10k above the asking price where I had multiple offers over the asking. 
I then had an offer accepted on a property at the end of September, just under the asking price but the sellers hadn't found anywhere.

3 months later they still haven't found anywhere, but have now offered to vacate the property to get the sale through, but my buyer has pulled out. 
My property has been back on the market for a few weeks, but due to the change of the market, I'm now only getting offers £20k-£30k under the offer I accepted back in August. 

In this situation would be acceptable to ask the people I'm buying from to reduce the price? 
The house I'm looking to buy is in a desirable area where not many at this price point come up for sale, but I've noticed that other properties in the local area are being reduced on Rightmove. What's the normal thing to do in this situation? 

Thanks in advance! 

Ask them to reduce, they won`t be getting offers like you gave them now. They dithered, the market changed, their problem really.

Or they will just refuse, OP loses the house and any money he has spent out so far. You can't say what offers they will get from other people if they market it again. As the OP says, it's a desirable area with not many houses at that price, so only takes one person who can afford it and is happy to pay what they are asking...

No, but as they were already taking offers under asking in September I doubt they will be feeling too confident of floods of offers coming in, and they would have the hassle of starting again with a new buyer, who could still pull out or lower their offer.

The OP did say it was 'just under' asking, which is pretty common. Maybe he was the first person to view it, made the offer, and they thought it was OK rather than hanging around to see if they got offers over ( which obviously is less common now ) 

For a desirable area "over asking" used to be more common, this seller has just mis-timed the market, the OP should just go to them with the new offer in my opinion.

It depends really, maybe the sellers are old fashioned and believe in selling to the first person who comes along and made an acceptable offer?  Just because the market has changed in some areas, doesn't mean the seller wouldn't still get an offer equal to the OPs one or for more.

In any case we are just guessing. Yes, the OP can go with his new offer, but not expect it to be accepted as we don't know the sellers exact position.

lookstraightahead

mi-key said:

BikingBud said:

mi-key said:

diystarter7 said:

mi-key said:

p.s. I also think gazumping is just as bad ! If you agree on a price then stick to it rather than faffing around trying to chisel money off people and messing people around

the day/3week before the exchange of contracts or one the day, I agree
Thanks

I think at any point really. Maybe I am old fashioned but I think if you make an agreement with someone, you stick to it. You see a lot of posts on here, often from FTBs who have had an offer accepted, and their next question is 'right, how much can I now knock that down to try and get it cheaper'

Make the offer you can afford at the time, don't offer more then assume at a later date you can hold the seller to ransom by reducing it for no other reason than you want the house cheaper than you agreed. 

The offer you can afford at the time is quite clearly a temporal consideration. The time is now different, the market has changed and the affordability is different.

Why therefore is an agreed price that is over 90 days old still valid, in any other market you would not get that without committing funds to fix the price.

The flipside of that is that if you have offered £250K and it is accepted, and the market grows, is it then ok for the seller to come back and say they now want £300K because the house is worth more, meaning you then lose the money you have already spent out? 

I would think this happened a lot until just recently. Houses were being put back on the market round here at £100k over the initial asking price (ridiculous prices). Or sellers were deciding not to sell after all (which happens a lot too).

BikingBud

mi-key said:

BikingBud said:

mi-key said:

diystarter7 said:

mi-key said:

p.s. I also think gazumping is just as bad ! If you agree on a price then stick to it rather than faffing around trying to chisel money off people and messing people around

the day/3week before the exchange of contracts or one the day, I agree
Thanks

I think at any point really. Maybe I am old fashioned but I think if you make an agreement with someone, you stick to it. You see a lot of posts on here, often from FTBs who have had an offer accepted, and their next question is 'right, how much can I now knock that down to try and get it cheaper'

Make the offer you can afford at the time, don't offer more then assume at a later date you can hold the seller to ransom by reducing it for no other reason than you want the house cheaper than you agreed. 

The offer you can afford at the time is quite clearly a temporal consideration. The time is now different, the market has changed and the affordability is different.

Why therefore is an agreed price that is over 90 days old still valid, in any other market you would not get that without committing funds to fix the price.

The flipside of that is that if you have offered £250K and it is accepted, and the market grows, is it then ok for the seller to come back and say they now want £300K because the house is worth more, meaning you then lose the money you have already spent out? 

I would expect a price agreement to allow possibly 90-120 days for conveyancing to occur, anything beyond this might lead to changes that could put buyers or sellers at a disadvantage. 

However, people and their desire to have cake and eat it will lead to some trying to exploit others. If you want to fix beyond that both put 10% in to show your commitment. If deal not achieved or if one party pulls out then lose your deposit. Perhaps a little more jeopardy in the housing market might correct a few the poor practices and behaviours.

mi-key

BikingBud said:

mi-key said:

BikingBud said:

mi-key said:

diystarter7 said:

mi-key said:

p.s. I also think gazumping is just as bad ! If you agree on a price then stick to it rather than faffing around trying to chisel money off people and messing people around

the day/3week before the exchange of contracts or one the day, I agree
Thanks

I think at any point really. Maybe I am old fashioned but I think if you make an agreement with someone, you stick to it. You see a lot of posts on here, often from FTBs who have had an offer accepted, and their next question is 'right, how much can I now knock that down to try and get it cheaper'

Make the offer you can afford at the time, don't offer more then assume at a later date you can hold the seller to ransom by reducing it for no other reason than you want the house cheaper than you agreed. 

The offer you can afford at the time is quite clearly a temporal consideration. The time is now different, the market has changed and the affordability is different.

Why therefore is an agreed price that is over 90 days old still valid, in any other market you would not get that without committing funds to fix the price.

The flipside of that is that if you have offered £250K and it is accepted, and the market grows, is it then ok for the seller to come back and say they now want £300K because the house is worth more, meaning you then lose the money you have already spent out? 

I would expect a price agreement to allow possibly 90-120 days for conveyancing to occur, anything beyond this might lead to changes that could put buyers or sellers at a disadvantage. 

However, people and their desire to have cake and eat it will lead to some trying to exploit others. If you want to fix beyond that both put 10% in to show your commitment. If deal not achieved or if one party pulls out then lose your deposit. Perhaps a little more jeopardy in the housing market might correct a few the poor practices and behaviours.

It would be nice if there was something like that in place. Gazumping and gazundering are both disgusting things to do. Once you have agreed a price ( allowing for no genuine reasons in the survey etc.. ) it should be stuck to. Some people are just never happy unless they think they are getting one over on someone else  

lookstraightahead

mi-key said:

BikingBud said:

mi-key said:

BikingBud said:

mi-key said:

diystarter7 said:

mi-key said:

p.s. I also think gazumping is just as bad ! If you agree on a price then stick to it rather than faffing around trying to chisel money off people and messing people around

the day/3week before the exchange of contracts or one the day, I agree
Thanks

I think at any point really. Maybe I am old fashioned but I think if you make an agreement with someone, you stick to it. You see a lot of posts on here, often from FTBs who have had an offer accepted, and their next question is 'right, how much can I now knock that down to try and get it cheaper'

Make the offer you can afford at the time, don't offer more then assume at a later date you can hold the seller to ransom by reducing it for no other reason than you want the house cheaper than you agreed. 

The offer you can afford at the time is quite clearly a temporal consideration. The time is now different, the market has changed and the affordability is different.

Why therefore is an agreed price that is over 90 days old still valid, in any other market you would not get that without committing funds to fix the price.

The flipside of that is that if you have offered £250K and it is accepted, and the market grows, is it then ok for the seller to come back and say they now want £300K because the house is worth more, meaning you then lose the money you have already spent out? 

I would expect a price agreement to allow possibly 90-120 days for conveyancing to occur, anything beyond this might lead to changes that could put buyers or sellers at a disadvantage. 

However, people and their desire to have cake and eat it will lead to some trying to exploit others. If you want to fix beyond that both put 10% in to show your commitment. If deal not achieved or if one party pulls out then lose your deposit. Perhaps a little more jeopardy in the housing market might correct a few the poor practices and behaviours.

It would be nice if there was something like that in place. Gazumping and gazundering are both disgusting things to do. Once you have agreed a price ( allowing for no genuine reasons in the survey etc.. ) it should be stuck to. Some people are just never happy unless they think they are getting one over on someone else  

But there are many reasons why people can, and then cannot, afford a property. 

- seller makes a buyer wait for ages and mortgage runs out
- seller makes a buyer wait for ages and the buyer loses their buyer 
- valuation changes
- buyers financial position changes 

if sellers acted relatively quickly, there would be less opportunity for circumstances to change.

mi-key

Yes, there will alway be those circumstances, but in most cases circumstances don't change that much in 3 months, and if people aren't stretching themselves to the limit of borrowing, then a lot can be worked around.

In any case,a buyers circumstances changing aren't really the sellers problem and they shouldn't be expected to knock a load of money off because of them.