Negotiation strategy

Scotbot

Did 2 second viewings yesterday. Like both houses. Offered on house A today.  Listed in Dec at 400 reduced to 380 in March. Offered 360 expecting to have to go to 370. Offer rejected, cash buyer viewing tomorrow. 

House B listed at 450 in Aug. Relisted at 425 weeks ago. Reckon it's worth 400. Told there is another second viewing 

Chose to offer on house A as no chain. Needs work about 25k but ideal layout as has kitchen diner and utility 

House B has better kerb appeal and does not have kitchen diner. Needs about 10 k of work.

On paper house A the ideal house but I do like house B more than I logically should

Can easily afford both

Do I go back to house A with offer of 370 today or wait until cash buyer views? Have told EA I can go higher but not by how much

Do I offer on house B today or wait until heard about house A?

DE_612183

are they with the same agent?

which one do you want more?

DE_612183

TBH - I'd up my offer on house A telling the agent that there is another house you are looking at and if your 370 offer is rejected you may not come back.

Offer 400 on house B - see what they say.

Scotbot

DE_612183 said:

are they with the same agent?

which one do you want more

Different agents. Can't decide which I prefer, keep changing my mind. So no strong preference 

swingaloo

Well I wouldnt be telling the agent that you could go higher. They work for the seller not you.

Slinky

Try tossing a coin, heads A, tails B. 

You might find that you want it to land on a particular side, and that might give you your answer.

RHemmings

I'm not negotiating expert, but you are £20k under asking for House A, and the EA knows you can go higher. I would guess the seller is hoping for £380k from the cash buyer. If you offer at £370k now, you might seem too eager. 

Assuming that House B has a chain, for me that's a big plus for House A. You could offer low on House B in the meantime, on the off-chance, but then the sellers of House B might stop taking you seriously.

As I said, I'm no negotiating expert. In your situation, I might (perhaps foolishly) not offer on House B, but mention my situation to the House B agent. Say that I'm interested in the house but that I'm waiting to hear the result of an offer on another house. But, ask them to keep you posted about the situation of the house - if there are any serious offers, etc. You could say that you're offering on a house that's a bit cheaper. 

But, that strategy is affected by my fear of chains, which you may well not share. 

pjs493

This is a difficult one and ultimately only you can decide.

Are both properties on with the same agent? If so, you may have some leverage by telling the agent you're also interested in house B. It might then put pressure on the vendor of house A to worry that they might risk losing you. However, if the second viewing is by a cash buyer then they may accept a lower offer from the cash buyer because they might see it as more of a hassle.

You could wait it out or put in an offer on house B and see if that is accepted.

Try making a list of pros and cons of each house. Show the brochures for both to friends or family members to get their input. Think about how each house would work for you ten years down the line. Does one have more likelihood of being a longer term home than the other? Are there any things about either house that you think could bug you down the road. Would losing one give you a feeling of regret more so than the other?

I put an offer in on a house a few weeks ago. It wasn't actually my favourite, but was the best logical choice because it's bigger and provides space as my children grow. It also needs some updating so enables me to change things to my own tastes rather than living with newly refurbished bathrooms or a kitchen that isn't entirely to my own taste. 

I was willing to switch to an offer on the other house if the vendor wanted to go above my upper limit. As it turned out they countered my first offer and we had a little negotiation and set on a price that was lower than my upper limit but higher than my first offer. I felt like I got a bargain and the vendor likely feels happy that they got a little more by countering rather than accepting my first offer. 

However, in my case, I don't think there had been much interest. The property had been on the market for about a year with a reduction about six months ago. The agent implied during the viewing that interest was picking up as spring progressed, but I think that was just sales talk. When I made my offer 10% under the 'offers over' price, the agent seemed to think it was a reasonable and serious offer rather than pointing out it was below the 'offers over' price.

Scotbot

Slinky said:

Try tossing a coin, heads A, tails B. 

You might find that you want it to land on a particular side, and that might give you your answer.

I have actually tried that!

RHemmings

Scotbot said:

Slinky said:

Try tossing a coin, heads A, tails B. 

You might find that you want it to land on a particular side, and that might give you your answer.

I have actually tried that!

What was the result? Both the coin-toss result, and your gut feeling result. 

Scotbot

RHemmings said:

I'm not negotiating expert, but you are £20k under asking for House A, and the EA knows you can go higher. I would guess the seller is hoping for £380k from the cash buyer. If you offer at £370k now, you might seem too eager. 

Assuming that House B has a chain, for me that's a big plus for House A. You could offer low on House B in the meantime, on the off-chance, but then the sellers of House B might stop taking you seriously.

Yes gut feel is not to go back to house A with 370. It won't stop viewing by cash buyer tomorrow ( as a vendor myself I would do the viewing ) so all I will do is declare my position and guide the cash buyer on what figure to offer if they like it

As for fear of chains I share that opinion which is why I offered on house A since house B is in a chain. As am I. My buyers mortgage expires July and I  suspect we could not complete on house A in time