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

Sarah1Mitty2

mi-key said:

tsears said:

mi-key said:

tsears said:

mi-key said:

BikingBud said:

mi-key said:

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. 

Until they are caused by a "lethargic" seller which appears to bring us back round to the OP

ETA - Of course people are stretching themselves to the limit, you're not committed and playing the property game unless you over-reaching!

I assume the OP knew when he made the offer that the sellers hadn't found a house or made an offer on anywhere, so that is partly his fault. I agree they have dragged their feet though, and could have found somewhere within 3 months. Maybe they are just overly fussy !

I did know they were yet to find somewhere but hadn't expected it to be 3 months. The buyer of my property didn't give a reason, so I have no idea if it was the time delay or if his mortgage offers had changed. 

I think it's unfair to say I'm gazundering, If the sale hadn't had fell through I would have never asked the question to lower the offer. I have no idea if it was their delay that caused my buyer to pull out, but It may not have happened if it was all sorted sooner. 

I haven't paid any money as of yet, I think the sellers may have paid for a search but we haven't got very far at all, so its not like its a few weeks before the exchange that I'm asking.

Its just a query, I waned to find out of this was a common thing, as although I'm not a first time buyer, I have never been in this position 

Well it's up to you really, you can always make a lower offer and see what they say. They do sound a bit uncertain of what they are doing, but then they did offer to move into a rental so the sale could go ahead, which not many sellers would do.

I guess worst case, they say no they are not willing to drop, but I would assume their EA may explain the current state of the market.

From the little info I have, I think the couple are moving in together and selling both or one of the properties to do so. but I'll try and gather more info when I contact the EA  

Ah I guess if they have two houses that is why they aren't in a desperate hurry to move, so may not want to reduce by much if anything. Personally I think if you love the house and want it, and can afford it, then buy it anyway, particularly if they are going to move into a rental so you can get on with it.

The market isn't what it was, but prices havent plummeted ( despite what some buyers wish ! ). Over the lifetime of a mortgage house prices always go up, so even if it has dropped a bit now, in 5 years time it is almost certain to be worth more than you paid. You can waste years trying to chase the market assuming prices will drop more, and that will be a better time to buy, but at some point you need to make a decision.

I don`t think they will want to heat and pay council tax on two houses if they are living together in one, I would say they will be very motivated to sell at the moment. Not sure about the "five year rule", that doesn`t sound very sensible at the moment, the OP should lower their offer or walk away in my opinion.

tsears

I emailed their estate agent yesterday explaining that I could only get £20k lower than back in November and asked if they'd go down by £7k but they rang me today informing me the vendors would not be willing to lower their offer and asked if I could still proceed at the original amount, I said I'd have to discuss the numbers with my mortgage adviser. 

The mortgage adviser said it's still possible but would need to dip into my savings. Although I love the house and its in the area I've been looking at for ages, I'm not sure I can justify the cost now I'd be getting £20k less for my sale. So I'm not sure to either call their bluff and see if they would go back on the market or just agree. I'm still not 100% on their position, but one of the reasons they would not lower the offer is that they are vacating the property to get the sale through so not willing to lower. 

I guess I need to think that if back when I had originally been on the market I had the same offers I had now would I still be ok with the price. I'm probably going to sleep on it but would be great if any of you have any opinions. 

Zerforax

tsears said:

I emailed their estate agent yesterday explaining that I could only get £20k lower than back in November and asked if they'd go down by £7k but they rang me today informing me the vendors would not be willing to lower their offer and asked if I could still proceed at the original amount, I said I'd have to discuss the numbers with my mortgage adviser. 

The mortgage adviser said it's still possible but would need to dip into my savings. Although I love the house and its in the area I've been looking at for ages, I'm not sure I can justify the cost now I'd be getting £20k less for my sale. So I'm not sure to either call their bluff and see if they would go back on the market or just agree. I'm still not 100% on their position, but one of the reasons they would not lower the offer is that they are vacating the property to get the sale through so not willing to lower. 

I guess I need to think that if back when I had originally been on the market I had the same offers I had now would I still be ok with the price. I'm probably going to sleep on it but would be great if any of you have any opinions. 

Apologies if you've given the figures elsewhere but I couldn't see in the OP.

How much is the 20k as a % of the prices you're talking about? Losing 20k on a 120k vs. losing 20k on a 1mil house is obviously very different.

Have a chat with your own estate agent? Just ask what they've seen in the market and how it's playing out.

Personally I would probably try and call their bluff and say you really wanted to make it work but a 20k hit is too much for you to bridge in the current markets so you'll have to pull out. Stranger things have happened but I'd be surprised if they can get another buyer for the same price as the markets continue to deteriorate.

How much confidence do you have in your buyer to not pull another stunt like this further down to line and ask for more money off?

mi-key

tsears said:

I emailed their estate agent yesterday explaining that I could only get £20k lower than back in November and asked if they'd go down by £7k but they rang me today informing me the vendors would not be willing to lower their offer and asked if I could still proceed at the original amount, I said I'd have to discuss the numbers with my mortgage adviser. 

The mortgage adviser said it's still possible but would need to dip into my savings. Although I love the house and its in the area I've been looking at for ages, I'm not sure I can justify the cost now I'd be getting £20k less for my sale. So I'm not sure to either call their bluff and see if they would go back on the market or just agree. I'm still not 100% on their position, but one of the reasons they would not lower the offer is that they are vacating the property to get the sale through so not willing to lower. 

I guess I need to think that if back when I had originally been on the market I had the same offers I had now would I still be ok with the price. I'm probably going to sleep on it but would be great if any of you have any opinions. 

Well at least you know where you stand now. You need to either go with your head or your heart. It sounds to me like you really want this house, and if you are planning on staying there a long time, is it worth losing for the sake of £7K? As you said its a desirable area, and houses don't come up at this price, so if you miss this one then you could wait years for another to come up.

Also spring is coming which is one of the busiest times for buying, so you may find you get more interest in your house and can get a buyer who offers a better price on it

Sarah1Mitty2

tsears said:

I emailed their estate agent yesterday explaining that I could only get £20k lower than back in November and asked if they'd go down by £7k but they rang me today informing me the vendors would not be willing to lower their offer and asked if I could still proceed at the original amount, I said I'd have to discuss the numbers with my mortgage adviser. 

The mortgage adviser said it's still possible but would need to dip into my savings. Although I love the house and its in the area I've been looking at for ages, I'm not sure I can justify the cost now I'd be getting £20k less for my sale. So I'm not sure to either call their bluff and see if they would go back on the market or just agree. I'm still not 100% on their position, but one of the reasons they would not lower the offer is that they are vacating the property to get the sale through so not willing to lower. 

I guess I need to think that if back when I had originally been on the market I had the same offers I had now would I still be ok with the price. I'm probably going to sleep on it but would be great if any of you have any opinions. 

It is worth what it is worth whether they are in it or not, they are just chancing their arm in my opinion, depending on what happens tomorrow with rates they could be looking at an even bigger discount down the line, I would tell them that you are looking elsewhere and leave the reduced offer on the table.

mi-key

OP, did you tell us how much your offer was on the house?  £7K is not a lot of money if the house is £300K, but is quite a lot if its £100K 

tsears

Apologies, I didn't put the costs on the OP. So my flat is currently getting £165k as opposed to £185 back in November. 
The place I'm looking to buy was on for £200k back in November, I had an offer accepted for £197,500 when it had only been on the market for a few days. Hope this helps explain the scope of the £20k difference 

mi-key

Thanks for the info. On a £200K house there isn't a great deal of wiggle room for them to reduce it too much. Unfortunately flats are always the first to get hit with any drops in prices as they appeal to first time buyers and BTL landlords, whereas houses tend to hold their value a bit better.

£7K is only 3.5% of £200K so not much of a discount ( and on somewhere where the sellers are more keen to sell would probably be accepted ). For that sort of money I think I would still go for the house. Ask yourself if you would be £7K happier pulling out, the hassle of looking again, and if you do find somewhere for £190K in a year or twos time, would it have been worth the wait? 

Sarah1Mitty2

mi-key said:

Thanks for the info. On a £200K house there isn't a great deal of wiggle room for them to reduce it too much. Unfortunately flats are always the first to get hit with any drops in prices as they appeal to first time buyers and BTL landlords, whereas houses tend to hold their value a bit better.

£7K is only 3.5% of £200K so not much of a discount ( and on somewhere where the sellers are more keen to sell would probably be accepted ). For that sort of money I think I would still go for the house. Ask yourself if you would be £7K happier pulling out, the hassle of looking again, and if you do find somewhere for £190K in a year or twos time, would it have been worth the wait? 

The problem with that is you are looking at the house through the lens of the old borrowing rates, in a world of more normal pricing of borrowing it might eventually be worth half that? Why rush to buy it at all, why not wait until interest rates do their job of bringing down prices and then view/make offers?

lookstraightahead

mi-key said:

Thanks for the info. On a £200K house there isn't a great deal of wiggle room for them to reduce it too much. Unfortunately flats are always the first to get hit with any drops in prices as they appeal to first time buyers and BTL landlords, whereas houses tend to hold their value a bit better.

£7K is only 3.5% of £200K so not much of a discount ( and on somewhere where the sellers are more keen to sell would probably be accepted ). For that sort of money I think I would still go for the house. Ask yourself if you would be £7K happier pulling out, the hassle of looking again, and if you do find somewhere for £190K in a year or twos time, would it have been worth the wait? 

Serious question, are flats always the first to get hit with drops?