Offers in Excess of - reduced price advertised but they want the original price

peterhjohnson

I agree with the idea of leaving £193k on the table. I disagree with pre-announcing a lesser offer that will apply at a future date. Or limiting the "life" of your offer. You want to come over as a serious, steady buyer. Maybe in a months time, the (now) anxious seller will reach out to you asking if  £193k is still possible? Depending on your circumstances at the time, you might accept, reject or suggest a lower figure :-)

Marky4040

ThisIsWeird said:

Hi Selkie.

The answer is - everything said by everyone above.  

It's a 'game' - a horrible, expensive, game.

The EA is quite possibly an innocent party in this - a few £k in the selling price makes next-to-sod-all difference to what they receive. So, chances are they are simply doing what the seller is asking them to do, very possibly against the EA's better judgement and advice.

All an EA wants is a 'sale'. Think about it - for the seller (or buyer), what's the difference between £190k and £195k? Yup - pretty much £5k. For the EA, what's the difference, when they are getting a typical 1.5% commission? Yup, holding out for an extra £5k means - wait for it - seventfivequid more for them! It won't even buy them a bottle of champers.

So, the to-ing and fro-ing means nothing to the EA - they just want someone to buy the bludy house!

So, what to do? The folk above have it sussed, I think - you also 'play the game'. Of course, should anyone else come along, wanting that house more than you, then you run the risk of losing it. But that, of course, has always been the case, and always will be.

So, you need to 'fib' to the EA convincingly, so that they pass this info on to their client in a firm manner; "We love the house - we really do - and were happy to go with the £193k we offered, but against our better judgement as we really think it's only worth £190k. But, I have to say we are now losing the desire for the house, as we think we are being 'played' by the seller - it's putting us off the place, leaving a very bad taste. We've had a chat, and have made the decision - we will leave a £192.5k offer on the table, but are now actively looking elsewhere as we don't think the seller is being serious. Just let us know if they change their mind..."

Ooooooo.......i really like this answer, i really do. Very wise, very wise indeed. I mean i was about to go smash the vendors windows but this approach seems better 😂

[Deleted User]

RHemmings said:

Following on from @ThisIsWeird, here's my own sample email to the agents (based on OP saying they'll keep the £193k bid). Note, this is just a thought exercise about negotiating; please don't actually do this. 

Dear (EA),

Thank you for the reply concerning the buyer's expectations. While we have made an offer of £193k for the property, to tell the truth we feel this offer is generous and we believe that the property is only worth £190k. 

However, since we did make the offer of £193k, we will maintain this offer, but only for the next working week. We are concerned that the sellers may not be serious about selling their house, and we do not want to waste our time engaging with non-serious sellers.

Hence, our offer will decrease over time as follows.

Up until 5pm Friday 26th of July, our offer will be £193k. 
After that, until 5pm Friday 2nd of August, our offer will be £192k.
After that, until 5pm Friday 9th of August, our offer will be £191k.
And after that, our offer will be £190k. 

If at some point the seller chooses our offer, then please make sure that you have checked the above and are selecting the correct offer based on when the seller's acceptance is communicated to us. If you tell us that the seller has accepted an offer, and it's incorrect according to the above for the date of your email to myself, then I will consider that not only is the seller not serious but that you have failed a basic intelligence test.

Please note that as you may be able to guess, we are pretty sure that we won't be buying this propertly. We have already booked some viewings for other properties with other estate agents, and would be interested in any alternative properties that you may have. But, only if both the sellers and yourselves are actually serious about selling these properties. 

And, of course, if we offer on another property, then the above time-based offer is no longer valid. But, you are free to ask if we are still on the market, at any time. 

Regards,

OP

It would be satisfying in some ways to send this email. But, it would most likely just make the EA think that the sender is a crank. 

As entertaining as all that is, the vendor is not acting unreasonably given the offers of 192 and 193 in quick time which signaled that 195 could be achieved.

ThisIsWeird

RHemmings said:

Thank you for the reply concerning the buyer's expectations. While we have made an offer of £193k for the property, to tell the truth we feel this offer is generous and we believe that the property is only worth £190k.
However, since we did make the offer of £193k, we will maintain this offer, but only for the next working week. We are concerned that the sellers may not be serious about selling their house, and we do not want to waste our time engaging with non-serious sellers.
Hence, our offer will decrease over time as follows.
Up until 5pm Friday 26th of July, our offer will be £193k. 
After that, until 5pm Friday 2nd of August, our offer will be £192k.
After that, until 5pm Friday 9th of August, our offer will be £191k.
And after that, our offer will be £190k.

I'd love to be able to witness that!

Marvel1

I would look at other properties, if the seller wanted £195k then they should have advertised it at that price.

RHemmings

peterhjohnson said:

I agree with the idea of leaving £193k on the table. I disagree with pre-announcing a lesser offer that will apply at a future date. Or limiting the "life" of your offer. You want to come over as a serious, steady buyer. Maybe in a months time, the (now) anxious seller will reach out to you asking if  £193k is still possible? Depending on your circumstances at the time, you might accept, reject or suggest a lower figure :-)

As in my post, that was not a serious suggestion. 

Selkie56

I am so grateful for all the comments and I agree with the general consensus which is to leave the £193k on the table for now.  
RHemmings - you gave me a chuckle - thank you.
 

ThisIsWeird

Selkie56 said:

I am so grateful for all the comments and I agree with the general consensus which is to leave the £193k on the table for now.  
RHemmings - you gave me a chuckle - thank you.
 

Good luck, and please keep us updated.

Get your story ready! Don't over-egg! Keep it brief! But the EA needs to 'believe' that you mean it, and that should help inform them on how to relay this to their client; "Look, they are your best bet - they love your house, they've left £193k on the table, and I'm sure they'd move quickly if this was accepted. But, they seem genuinely upset by the toing and froing, and I know they have started to look elsewhere because of this... Perhaps worth grabbing this while you can?"

The EA wants a sale - give them the ammo.

And, you can always up your offer if that clinches it. It's a game...

A good EA will be trying these tricks anyway. The very first place I bought, the vendors were dragging their feet to the annoyance of the EA. I'd offered £52k for a 2-bed flat at the top of an Edwardian building at a prime location in Guildford - yes, it was 1992 - and the vendors were holding out for more which I couldn't stretch to, so I was sure I'd lose it to someone else. Then the EA called me up one day to tell me it was mine, at £51k. "Eh? How the?!" "They were annoying me by holding out, so I told them they were about to lose their best bet because he was looking at other properties, so "I'd knock a grand off, if I were you, if you still want to grab him quickly""

That guy earned his bottle of whisky. Robert Napper - I still remember the guy!

theartfullodger

Offer whatever you want to offer.  There are no rules.  Years ago there was a house i offered at more than 20% below the "offers over" price.  Got the bluntest rudest ever response rejection from agent.  I thanked them politely.

Made exact same offer a week later, cash.  Accepted.  Sold it couple of years ago.

There are NO rules!

prowla

I'd go back to the £192k.