Should I write a letter to the seller to make a a case for why they should accept our offer?

Hoenir

bobster2 said:

HillStreetBlues said:

Would be an interesting begging letter.
We really really like the property it's our dream one, could you sell it to us for £790k.
PS we can afford more, just we don't want to pay it.

Indeed.

OP - would you be receptive to a letter from the seller making a passionate plea? Saying that they really need £830k from this sale so that they can buy their new dream home. So could you please get a slightly larger mortgage?

Remember selling a property some years ago. Had really interested buyers, visited twice. When the offer finally came through via the Agent. They wanted us to cover the cost of them remodelling part of the downstairs . So had knocked £35k off their one and only final offer !

ReadySteadyPop

Grumpy_chap said:

bobster2 said:

HillStreetBlues said:

Would be an interesting begging letter.
We really really like the property it's our dream one, could you sell it to us for £790k.
PS we can afford more, just we don't want to pay it.

Indeed.

OP - would you be receptive to a letter from the seller making a passionate plea? Saying that they really need £830k from this sale so that they can buy their new dream home. So could you please get a slightly larger mortgage?

Oddly, something similar did happen when my Mum was looking to downsize from her house to a bungalow.  She saw one bungalow that was priced far higher than anything else in the area (by about £150k) but she decided to view in any case so that she would at least know what a bigger budget would get her.
The bungalow was nice enough, probably better suited to a family rather than downsizing older person, but really not worth anywhere near what the vendors were asking.  Mum fed back that the price seemed high compared to other properties she had viewed and the EA agreed but then said that is the amount the vendor requires as they wish to buy X property and they needed that amount from the current property plus maximum mortgage to be able to afford the X property.
Mum simply responded that she would like a Rolls Royce, could she sell her Focus for more than it is worth to make the RR affordable?

Exactly, what the seller "needs" for their next move is of no consequence to "the market". Smart sellers will drop their price AND their next offer in a difficult market.

TheJP

maxxpayne said:

Hello,

We just came back from visiting what looks like our dream property - only challenge, it's 30k over our budget - which we've already stretched by 90k.

Background - late last year when we started our house hunting, we spotted this property on sale for 850k. The listing description mentioned in range of 850-900k. So we disregarded it at that time, as we were ideally looking at properties at around 750k mark, as we wanted to keep our existing property as BTL and buy a new house as main residence.

Fast forward a few months, we found a property, got mortgage approved etc. but decided to pull out as we needed to make a number of compromises. It happened this week.

At the same time, we noted that the 850k property is now down to 800k, but with similar description, e.g. range of 800-850k - while I have no idea why estate agents do this, nevertheless went to visit the house with the hope of getting an idea of exactly what the owner wants.

After speaking to the agent, looks like the owner wants around 830k - which honestly is high for us. We'd prefer not have a mortgage of over 400k, so 800k was going to be the sweet spot.

So what are my options now? The house is in a nice place in north London with excellent schools nearby so it's a desirable place. I could max out at an offer of 810k at probably, taking out even more savings than I wanted.

Do you think it's worth for us to write an passionate plea as to how we love the house but don't have the budget to the owner and see if that works?

If its your dream house you would do all you could to secure it, you just want someone else to pay for it. I would likely think the agent will bin the letter before the ink is dry, the seller wont see it. No one wants begging letters when they have already reduced the price and TBH no one cares if its your dream house they want to sell to afford their next move or whatever else they want to use their equity on.

Options- 

1. Be a grown up and sell your BTL to fund your 'dream house'.

2. Make a really low offer and see what happens (likely you wont be taken seriously if you decide to go with option 1).

3. Look at how you could borrow more or release more funds (see option 1).

Good luck (i do mean that, if its your dream house then dont let it go).

incus432

gazfocus said:

Being really honest, if I received a letter from a potential buyer, it might soften the blow of a low offer but I wouldn’t really be interested in an explanation as to why you can’t afford my house or why you just don’t want to pay the price I’m looking for. I would still be questioning why you viewed a house that you can’t afford. 

At the end of the day, it’s not the sellers problem that you don’t want to stretch far enough to pay their required price and if you let them know it’s the perfect house for you, they will likely hold out for more anyway hoping you’d pay it because afterall it’s the perfect house. 

All the time

Sellers price houses for more than they expect to get

Buyers view houses beyond their budget

But writing to the vendor is a bad idea - deal with the agent, that's why they're there

ReadySteadyPop

Don`t write to them, view other properties, they are already starting to reduce their price, give them time to get a feel for the reality of the market.

kinger101

If I'm selling a house, I want as much money as I can get for it.

If I started getting letters from prospective buyers that told me I must drop my price because they're really passionate, it would put me right off.  You'd sound like a moody teenager pining for someone out of their league.

maxxpayne

TroubledTarts said:

Looks like all the  mocking replies have scared the OP off.

I'm here - amusing replies though.

maxxpayne

Some good feedback here (and some maybe a bit hilarious). 

Would appreciate eyes on the following letter I'm drafting to the agents.

Dear XXX,

Thank you for showing us around NNN, much appreciated.

After careful consideration, I'd like to formally submit an offer of XXX.

While I understand that the offer is at the lower range of the asking price, I believe we are strongly poised as buyers:

1. Chain-Free: We have a written offer from XXX who are interested in a cash purchase of our current flat. XXX completes the process in less than 6 weeks.
   

2. Flexible Moving Timeline: We are able to accommodate a moving timeline that suits the seller’s needs, as long as it doesn't push us into XXX
   

3. Affordability: We already have a decision in principle (please see NNN) that shows we can easily afford any mortgage on this property.
   

I would be grateful if you could present our offer to the seller and communicate our willingness to work closely with them to meet their timeline requirements, if any. 

Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you need any further information or documentation from us to support our offer.

NNN

Sapindus

Points 1 and 2 are good.  It's actually telling the seller what's in it for them.

Then it all falls apart with point 3 where you admit you could afford "any" mortgage so they may as well hold out to see how much higher you'll go.

kinger101

Just put the offer to the agents.  If they think your offer has any merit, they'll do a better job if landing it.

They just want their selling fee.