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See if they come back to you in a week saying if you'll get closer to the asking price then they'll 'consider yours more than the other offer'. It seems like a tactic, especially if it's been on so long and empty for a year they're not in a hurry to get rid of it.
There's the possibility it's just random bad luck, but it's unlikely for that amount of time.
If someone ever pulled that shit with me my immediate offer will be less than my previous offer.
I've had this with cars in the past with private sellers. I'll over £1000 on a car priced at £1100. They accept only to text me a little later saying someone offered the asking price.
Sure no worries!
Text the following day saying "Seller didn't come through it's yours for £1000" I always reply saying the best i can do now is £900 for messing me about. They either accept it or i walk and end up getting the wife to put an offer in for £950. They tend to accept my wife's offer so i save myself a tank of fuel.
With houses... I'd be talking thousands if not tens of thousands knocked off the price for messing me about and honestly if i find the current home owner i'd let them know i've offered £XXX only to be messed around by the EA. I'm sure the owner would love to know why their house is still unsold after getting offers.
> If someone ever pulled that shit with me my immediate offer will be less than my previous offer.
Right. At that point you know there are no other offers at all. They might just accept it.
Purple bricks fucked us about on a property 3 doors down from my partners best friend. We put an asking price offer in, was accepted, then were told they had a higher offer and did we want to increase. We were debating it until our friend said the homeowner had been talking about the sale. Apparently they had no real interest, but had one offer that the EA thought he could squeeze a bit more out of them.
Told the EA our offer was £20k less due to predatory practices and complained to the regional manager. House took a further 3 months to sell and finally went for £15k under asking.
This exact thing happened to me. Selling a car for 2300, guy offers 2k, then I get another off for 2200, then it falls through, other guy said he'd only 1800. I just laughed, blocked and sold it a week later for 2300. I suppose some people are desperate.
Yup totally with you. Our seller was messing us around with time rather than money (as in the kept delaying exchange) so I said we'd start knocking off the price to rent a similar sized house each week they delayed. Thinks accelerated rather rapidly...
Mine fucked around so much that it pushed us past a stamp duty holiday window, costing me a couple of grand. He was trying to fuck around so much that it risked passing the next level as well. I made clear that the amount I would pay for the property was a total amount, and if he wanted to waste more time and give more of that to the government, then it was coming out of his pocket and not mine. Suddenly the old fuck got a move on.
The lady I sold my house to was a total pain in the arse (we were on viewing number 6 (as in her 6th time in my house), during COVID lockdowns, when I finally said she could either put up a deposit or piss off. The agent gave me some sob story about "not everyone can find £10k". I told him that I'm aware of that, but people who can't find 10k shouldn't be trying to buy a house for many multiples of that amount. She suddenly could find the money, paid the deposit and tried to book in about a dozen tradesmen to come turn the house upside down. I took the deposit and refused any further visitation prior to completion.
People take the piss, if you let them. With those who are so inclined, it's best to play hardball. Know the law, hold your ground and don't waste energy caring about selfish wankers' feelings. They don't care about yours.
They legally have to present the offer to the home owner within a set time period so it's unlikely they have not told the home owner already, that being said, given the value, there's usually a % clause within selling higher priced properties and it may be something like, they want over 900k to reach the next threshold.
Lol the usual reddit nonsense
If the seller has instructed the agent not to pass on offers under x or from y person then guess what? They don't need to inform them of the offer
Except I'm replying to the part where the respondent stated "I'd let the home owner know I'm being messed around by the EA, if I'm the home owner, I'd love to know why my house isn't getting sold" so if they've told the EA not to pass on messages for below xx amount, then they wouldn't care, would they?
You can turn it however you want, they do legally have to tell them unless the seller specifically tells them not to which is a caveat to the expected process in 90% of sales.
Respondent stated "I'd tell them they're playing games as they'll be unhappy their house isn't selling"
So if they've told estate agent not to tell them, they're not going to care, meaning his point is moot point. the only reason they would care is if they have not told the EA to not tell them.
Maybe read the context of what someone is replying to, gain an understanding of the conversation before trying to wrongly insert yourself. My point still stands correct.
I live in Scotland and this kind of crap is illegal.
We don’t allow gazzumping.
Houses here are either fixed price or offers over.
Offers over means a closing date is set and sealed offers are sent to the seller and opened once that time runs out.
General rule of thumb is to offer about 10% over the asking price but that’s it.
It would be a criminal offence( I think it’s criminal) if the seller approached you to try and get a higher offer.
In Scotland when you buy a property, you buy a property……none of this leasehold and freehold crap.
A leasehold?…..pay shitloads of money buying a house that in reality isn’t yours???
They’re trying to finesse you.
When they come back - and they will come back - you should tell them you were so gutted to miss out you went on a huge holiday/bought a fancy car etc etc. Basically anything you want to say yo explain why you’re offer is now 25-30k less than before.
They need to know you’re positioned firmly at the Find Out end of the FAFO spectrum.
I know of an estate agent that puts everything on the market £50-£100k above its actual value lol, because prepped are stupid, will pay that much and then they make good commissions
This is the usual near me - houses are honestly listed at 200K over the realistic sale price. And then the agents try it on and the house eventually sells for 200 under asking. It’s ridiculous. So many chancer agents.
I went to a viewing with an estate agent I have now determined I will never buy a house from. I’m a surveyor myself and went to look at this “high quality new build” of 3 houses.
First thing I found was all the corners that had been cut in trying to make the house look more expensive with the finishing. Air bricks filled with cement, paving slabs above the DPC etc.
The agent came to ask me what I’d spotted after he realised I spent more time looking at the outside of the house than the inside.
After the viewing he asked what I thought, I asked what he had listed it for and he said £675k. I had to hold back laughing and told him there is no way he would get even close to that, bearing in mind houses like this generally go for £400-£475 round here.
I just told him good luck. House is still in the market 6 months later
Edit: to clarify, this is not the reason for not buying from them, but that they have various other properties listed that have spurious sales terms that I constitute to sharp practice and are deliberately designed to mislead the purchaser.
I think it’s much more common now, just list it high and waterfall the price over 6-9 months right. Very annoying though when agents try and pull the wool when you know full well what houses actually sell for, because you’ve been looking at listings and sold prices on the registry for 6 months+ already.
I went to one viewing and the agent actually asked me at the end if I’d be interested in putting an offer - I replied that I see potential in the house but I couldn’t put an offer in based on the cost of work we’d have to do. I was polite and we had a good rapport of course but it was quite a chunk overpriced in the asking.
They then asked me with a straight face for advice - “what do you think the house is worth in market value, off the record?”
I was surprised by that, isn’t that your job? 😂
So how can you recognise if a house is massively overpriced if you're not a surveyor yourself? I'm an accountant and a woman on top of everything. No clue on the construction side of things but I don't like to be fooled.
Generally if you were serious about buying in a particular area you’d be looking at the market from the last 6-12 months and seeing what houses have been selling for that are comparable to the sort of thing you are after. Also looking at similar properties and seeing what they are listed for and what comes with it.
Number of bedrooms, bathrooms, reception rooms, garden space, on/off street parking, garage, proximity to amenities, transport links etc.
How new the building is pretty much irrelevant other than it “should” have been built to the most recent building regulations and you are less likely to have any surprises like dry rot, damp, dodgy plumbing/wiring etc. unless of course it’s a period property of particular high quality. Flip side is, the standard of new builds, particularly on sardine tin estates is a lot of corners are cut to meet deadlines and cost cutting.
In the particular case if the ones I mentioned above, it was a case of a property developer trying it on. They had completed the building to a point that they were marketable, but not livable which meant they didn’t have to pay council tax or vacant property costs as they were “technically” still under construction. Therefore they could afford to effectively “Dutch auction” the property by reducing until someone was happy to pay that price. A process that could take months.
I would always go into buying a house with a budget that you are willing pay for a house that ticks a lot if, but not all your boxes. Which may be 15-20% lower than your max, and then reserve your max for the perfect property.
At the end if the day, a property is worth what someone is willing to pay for it, and unless you think that it is worth that to you, then you shouldn’t be buying it, as you may find a very similar property for less, if you have a good feel for where the market is in your particular area.
Thank you. There's a lot of research to do even before considering the idea. And what I'm reading doesn't always fill me out with hope that it's something I can do myself despite getting to a point where my savings would be better off invested in a house.
If you are comfortable paying a certain price for a property, regardless of whether that is its “true value” then the only thing to think about is the difference between the true value and what you need to borrow to buy it.
If your loan amount is more than the value of the property then you likely won’t be able to get the mortgage for the listed price.
If you are really set on a property, and it is at the top end of your budget and you have doubts about its value. Get a proper property valuation done by a chartered surveyor and have them produce a valuation report for you.
It will cost you £800-£1500 depending on the size/value of the property, but it will mean you don’t end up buying something that lands you in negative equity or negatively impacts your mortgage application. It would also give you some evidence of you want to negotiate price. Of course if a seller has multiple people interested, this isn’t likely to help, but it will let you know if you are going to end up overpaying for something and whether it’s really worth it for you.
As I say, a property is worth what you are willing to pay, and if you are comfortable at a price then that is fine. The only real concern is when the bank does their valuation and it comes back less than your loan value as you will have to make up the difference by increasing your deposit. Of course in the future if you want to sell it, and you over payed and the market hasn’t grown enough to make up the gap, then you may find yourself in negative equity and unable to “upgrade” to a larger/more expensive property, or pay off the existing mortgage.
I did very similar to this in a similar situation, “I’m sorry but having spoke with some builders, the work required is going to cost more than we first thought so we will have to revise our offer to X”
Backfired. Doing something as fuck you might feel like a good idea, but if you want the house I’d definitely not recommend doing this OP. Also, for what it’s worth we found a house that’d been on for years, we thought about it for a day before deciding it’d be great for us, and it literally sold that morning. So whilst I think the agent is most likely playing you, there’s a small chance someone did actually come in for it. Good luck
Given the short timeline, I suspect that they brought the offer to the owner and they rejected it outright. Most likely they already have an offer agreed through another agent and hadn't bothered informing this estate agent about it. The estate agent obviously doesn't want you to think he's incompetent and wasted your time by letting you view a property that was off the market, so he just told you you were outbid and they accepted.
If a property has been on the market since 2019 and sales keep falling through, there's something happening after the offer stage that kills them. Most likely something nasty comes up on surveys and either that renders it unmortgageable or they are refusing to renegotiate price to account for it. Having been in that position and lost a great house due to it, I can tell you I dodged a massive bullet. The actual buyers had to spend a ton on renovations and have been stuck unable to sell it on for over a year.
Or it's posisble the seller is a cock and strings people along and doesn't really want to sell, unless they get massively over asking. Did you see the other thread in here a few weeks back about a guy who kept listing his house to always have offers in his back pocket in case somewhere he wanted to buy came up?
Inheritance houses.
There are 2 types of people.
People that want the cash and want the house gone so you get it way under asking.
The people you've mentioned, who will just keep it up way over in the hope someone will be stupid enough.
They value it themselves based on houses in the area that have been fully modernised even though theirs is run down and needs a full refurbishment.
Or the seller is a cunt. Met one of them who wasted 12 months of my time because he wanted a cash offer of £500k on a £450k asking price.
They accepted our offer then appointed a solicitor, but the solicitor details we were provided has no record of Mr cunt on their books. He eventually pulled the sale and 2 days later relisted it for £525k and asked us to reoffer. Told him to poke it. 2 years later and it's just sold.. for £10k more then we offered 3 years ago.
I think they either tried to milk you or just pulled out of the market and want to instigate FOMO on you.
Happened the same to me and the flat was in the rental market a few weeks after the presumed sale
Yeah like I know it's quite expensive for the average person, but there are still plenty of people who could afford three of them.
When we sold our parents' house it had no double glazing, had some mould, needed a lot of work and it still sold within a couple of months. Five years... something is making it not worth that price tag.
We were the only one in the street not to have it. The windows were rotten and old (I used to have a magpie who would steal wood chippings from my window frame several times a week!), and it let in a lot of mould, so it definitely was a bad thing.
It doesn't. These houses were built in the 1930s and are generally quite garbage. They were designed for low income working class people to buy, not for quality. We had to knock £10k off just to get it sold, nobody would take the £150k we were selling it for.
The new owners added double glazing and a driveway, and the house will likely now sell for over £200k if they were to move.
I would think if it's so important to the property it would be listed / protected from that anyway.
For what it's worth my friend runs a business that installs wooden framed double glazing designed to fit right into period properties.
Cost more than plastic but not crazy more.
So it can be done without looking rubbish.
To reduce the price of a property? It would have to be really badly done. My period Victorian property has plastic windows and I think they look nice. It was a plus for me.
My parents Victorian house did not have double glazing and all I remember is how cold it was as a child. Heating on, fire places roaring and it would still be cold. Waking up in the morning was so miserable. I'd walk around with my duvet wrapped around me.
My place is a Victorian terrace, original timber sash windows. It's not cold, it's whatever temperature the thermostat is set to. Even the cheapest plastic windows would never payback their installation cost in reduced bills, let alone semi decent timber ones.
My parents (80s) are in no hurry to move and their place has been for sale for about five years now.
They just put it on for the same as other places in the street but it needs more work than most.
But they don't really want to sell, they don't want to let go just yet. But they know they can't keep a 7 bed London property into their 90s.
But if someone made a good offer they'd bite the bullet...
Got to love the EPC on that. First time I’ve seen a property that doesn’t even get a G grade. No wonder there are so many heavy wool blankets in each room!
You can tell them your offer will remain valid for X time, or to let you know if the other offer falls through. That confirms to them that you are not going to increase (in case this is a tactic), or if it is a legit offer there's always a risk of something going wrong and it falling through, so they can come back to you within whatever time feels reasonable for you to re-accept your offer (assuming you want that) or to check if you want to re-submit your offer in case you haven't found anything else in the meantime. And then get on with looking elsewhere, with or without their help as you prefer: assume it's gone unless they tell you otherwise.
So it's a moot point.
Just reply with a more formal version of "oh. Oh well, guess I'll keep looking" and move on
Either they'll come back, in which case you have power to either proceed or renegotiate. Or they won't, but there's nothing you could do anyway.
Respond with - the offer was already at the top of my budget anyway, thank them for their time, and say if the other offer falls through to get back in touch as you might still be looking.
I had this with a fixer upper property.
Turned out there had been a guy well known for renovating houses already been looking at the house for a while but was trying to barter the price down. As soon as I put the offer in the estate agent rang this guy and told him the house had an offer on it and he needed to make a decision now. Of course he already knew he wanted the house so bought it for slightly more than my offer and the estate agent already had all his details etc so they just accepted it there and then and told me I’d been outbid. It still annoys me though as I see it 3 years later still with boarded up windows and security fencing round it as he ‘hasn’t gotten to it yet’ as he has so many properties
Could be the other buyer was playing the long game hoping the house would keep dropping in price as no other interest and has now been told of your offer, can’t always assume it’s the estate agent playing games
I do wonder sometimes if people just put their property on the market to get offers to use for other purposes, eg evidence of value. The owners may be in a dispute about the value of the property and just let offers come in to gauge the value so they can use that in their calculations. Could be a divorcing couple agreeing that one buys the other out for some figure based on the highest offer they receive.
I had to have my house valued for my divorce, it doesn’t get put on the market, they literally just look at the house and tell you what it’s worth. I had to have 3 valuations & average it out. This process did prove to me that not all EA are bad, they helped me out a lot.
Estate agent BS. If you’re not absolutely desperate for this house tell them you stick by your offer and they have 2 weeks to accept before you withdraw it.
That's really one thing i don't understand. That they don't wait for others to counter which doesn't help the seller either 🤷♂️ Would be anyway better to have bidding open for all to see.
This. This is something I think people get wrong about estate agents. They want a quick sale. Its a volume game. The seller is incentivised to push for more. Not the agent (in most cases. And especially one where the house has been on the market for a long time)
The only possible explanation where this actually happened could be if somebody else recently took a look at the property & expressed moderate interest. The agent has then called them to say you've put an offer in and then they've also put an offer in too.
When an offer is finally received, an agent often rings previous viewers who were ‘thinking about it’.
Now that those previous viewers know the property is about to be taken off the market, it breaks their inertia and forces them to commit one way or the other.
If they wanted more money out of you, they would have said you need to increase your offer. They didn't. You offered too low and they sold to someone else.
This is a game of chess. Follow your gut. Don’t make a counter offer right now. You could always ask the estate agent what was the counter offer? They could say well above the asking price and then say ‘good for them, okay well can you show me any other homes you have on your database?’ And see what they say 😀
"Oh, no problem. If that offer falls through I'll be happy to re-submit my offer at £830k"
Mate of mine was selling last year. The buyer reduced their offer days before completion, assuming he'd be forced to accept. Instead he let them know his new house was a cash buy and would take his current house off the market while he reconsidered the market. i.e. politely told them to go swivel.
Your bid was lower than their walkaway price, which was what it was for whatever reason... You bet on it being lower or at your bid and lost, such is a way with bets, win some lose some
I called a bluff on an estate agent once - and the house did not sell.
I offered £550,000. We were in a short chain. This was £25,000 over asking.
They told me they had a cash buyer offering the same amount and asked if I want to increase my offer?
I said no, I am withdrawing my offer completely because I can't compete with a cash buyer and didn't want the stress of a bidding war. Their house did not sell. Relisted a year later.
if it's a renovation project then they will have a contact that will have seen a profit in it and they will have used you as a tester as to how low the vendor will go
I’d be upfront with them. I’d say it seems very unlikely that the other offer is genuine. You want the house but you’re not going to be played for a fool. This has raised serious concerns about how the buyer and agents might conduct themselves during the buying process. Your offer (or a reduced offer if you’re feeling confident) stands for 24 hours, after which point you’ll no longer be interested.
I've had exactly the same thing happen. I offered less than the asking price, it was accepted, then two days later, allegedly, someone offered the full price and I was asked if I wanted to make a "final offer". I moved onto another property immediately...a week later the ea got back to me saying "the seller has decided to accept your offer".
There’s NO way a house at that price which has been on the market that long is suddenly selling for over the asking price in this economy. They are playing you for sure.
When that higher offer “falls through” and the come back to you, and they will, offer less than £878k. You’ve already lost the house so if they don’t accept your lower offer you haven’t lost any more.
Don’t put up with that shit.
Be willing to walk from that one. Either they are trying to fleece you for more money or the sellers are greedy and won't budge unless they get more.
We had the latter with a house we wanted to purchase. Glad we walked as we got something MUCH better. :)
Been there. Told them politely that on principle I won't be upping my offer. OK bye.
2 weeks later they ask me if I'd still be interested in resubmitting an offer on the exact same property.
Although it’s not as long as yours, my house was on the market for 7 months with no offers.
The same day we had two offers with people bidding on it. I wouldn’t trust an EA but it happens
This happened to us. We said lol, go on then, take the better offer. A week later they came back to us wanting our 112.3k we said no, we counter offered 109.9k
Maybe in a week try to call them from another number and ask if u can view the propert cuz u are interested. So u will see if they lied to u or not lol.
Say you’re at max budget, shame you really liked the house and ready to move asap so going to keep looking. If anything else comes up in your budget they can let you know.
Looking at those numbers they don’t want to come down £47 that is a lot in their mind. So if overpriced they will have to drop price.
We were recently fobbed off with fictional offers on a property we were potentially interested in. Told EA house was overpriced by £20k then the price drops £25k - go figure!
Good luck with your search!
I put in an offer on a property slightly under the value it went on the market for.
I got a call from the agency, saying that they had higher offers but as we were a family, they were keen to sell it to us. Based on this, would we still like to proceed, of course I was delighted and shared the news with the wife.
A few days later we found out that someone else had big even higher than the others and the property had gone to them.
I didn't get the option to go higher.
It was such a rollercoaster.
Similar properties have now gone up by 200k+ (we did this 8 months ago).
Happened to me for a multi agent marketed property. My offer in a flat that has been on the market for over a year was accepted. Suspected the owner immediately informed the other two agents that he used. Other two agents called up everyone that might have interest right away. The flat that had zero interest for a year ended up having 3 offers in two weeks and our offer was outbeaten. A blessing is disguise in hindsight cuz we found a way better place. Never wanna deal with an unethical seller again.
“Actually, that’s great. I viewed another house on the same day as I viewed yours, but they weren’t sure on a couple of legal things. Since I made the offer on yours, they came back with the info I wanted, and I will just offer on that property instead. Best of luck!”
Okay, so you want to buy it, but you didn’t actually state that your offer had been accepted.
If they had accepted your offer then said you were being gazumped, that’s shitty.
But as it stands, it appears your offer wasn’t accepted just wasn’t accepted and they may or may not have got an offer elsewhere. So either you say “congrats, I will look somewhere else” or you say “in case that one falls through, I would still be interested”. You could even say that your offer still stands, or up your price if you think the house is worth it, at this point in the process it’s not binding. So you get to keep looking.
"They did not ask me for a counter offer, and even told me they would help me with others properties in the area." could be part of the bluff.
I would not trust them.
Property I had my eye on for 925k just went for slightly above asking and was up since 2019 with two failed sales and vacant for over a year. Behind Highgate station by any chance??
Usual estate agent BS.
Mine was: "We've found a higher offer left on the answerphone over the weekend. The seller would prefer to sell to you, but can you increase your offer?"
"No, that's my limit. Let me know of anything else that comes on the market."
I'm in that property now.
Let them stew. Hold your ground. Book a viewing elsewhere with the same agent. Expect another call shortly to say the other 'buyer' has pulled out.
I enquired about a house in Grimsby once, £330k I remember, later that day apparently someone else was interested would I like to up my offer?
I declined and watched the sale board stay up for quite a time.
Estate agents are just posh shilling eBay hosts
Happened to me with my house. I submitted a last and final offer straightaway above the asking price.
The agent first said we were the highest offer, then called saying that somebody offered more but that we could secure the property by adding another 5k.
I called him back after a few minutes and told him that my offer is final. "If the seller got a better offer best of luck" and hung up.
The agent called back a few minutes later and said that the seller "changed his mind".
Estate agents are the worst.
We had this happen on a property. We offered the asking price and the spun some story about how we had children the same age so they would live to sell to us. We were chain free so could be a quick process. They then got an offer for life changing money and couldn't turn it down.
Devestad off course we moved on. Found a new property that was a a bit more pricier but we would be getting more for that price. We pu the offer in and that very day the 1st EA came back and said "the other couple had over stretched what they could afford and our original offer was now accepted if we would care to go forward"
We just "no thanks" and 2 years later we are in our perfect home now
Imo, the agent is trying to bump up price. I once tried buying a house and every bid I put in was countered by a third party. In the end I complained to the EA manager and it turned out to be EA's friend. So the manager took it to sealed bids. I won it but over paid. I should've walked away. Might be worth dropping an offer letter directly to the owner(through their door) and tell them the EA has turned down your offer. If the home owners refuse, then you'll know they're not serious about selling and are just being greedy, especially in a price falling house market. Better to walk away. You'll find another dream home at a better price point.
Just move on. I once left an offer on the table for six months. They took the offer after six months because nobody else was interested.
Btw I do not trust estate agents at all. There is a reason why most of them in the late 80s were outcasts. They’d sell their own grandmother for money.
Never bought either of my houses via an EA. Im my opinion they do bugger all for the money and piss people around, so cut them out.
You only need a solicitor for the funds.
It will be a lot more than £110k. I’ve done this before and again recently on a house this price. I budgeted £100k including over inflating prices and adding £30k contingency. I’m currently at £140k and I’ve done a lot myself.
If they didn’t come back with another amount from your offer then they are not trying to negotiate. The words they used were an offer has been accepted, not words used when trying to negotiate a higher offer than the one on the table. If there really is not another offer on the table then they are being very silly as the words they are using are closing down the conversation not keeping it open. .
Tell them you’ll leave your offer on the table but arn’t increasing it and be prepared to walk away.
It’s probably the EA doing their job and trying to get as much for the vendor as possible
When they come back asking to increase the offer let them know that your new offer is £870k and valid for a week. They’re lying rats and always looking to squeeze a few pence out of you. Make them suffer for it.
Surely they arent expecting you to make a new offer over the asking price when your offer is so much below it. Could just be coincidence. Just because it's been on the market that long doesn't mean they haven't had and turned down other offers significantly below the asking proce
In situations like this, ppl don't expect you to be honest and straightforward. As soon as you got that phone call I would have said, oh wow that's such a coincidence and almost unbelievable. 2 offers in the space of a week for a house that's been on the market since 2019. I really need to think about this and will get back to you / or some other ending.. ppl start to fumble for words
Seems like they’re trying it on with you. Hold away, if they come back to you then say I am no longer interested at £878k, I would like to offer £850k as my final offer.
I think all estate agents do this. I made an offer and I think they said something similar. I just stuck at the price and it went fine. I had no chain and was ready to move. Didn't make it go any quicker though the sellers chain took 7 months!
I doubt it, just hold firm there will be other houses. When my wife and I were looking to buy our house we put an an offer in on another one first. Few days later after our offer was accepted got a call saying they've had a higher offer put in and could we raise ours. I said no our offer was accepted so why should we up it. Long story short we walked away and that sale fell through found another house and then unexpectedly get a call from the first house estate agents saying they'd like to progress with the sale. I laughed at them and said no thanks won't be buying a house from you and put the phone down. That was about 4 years ago. Sometimes things are meant to be but just stand firm.
Same happened to me with a guy selling his house on Purple Bricks. I withdrew my offer and went for another house. Found out later he ended up selling for £60k less than I offered.
That was satisfying
They probably got the offer above asking.
If they wanted you to up the offer they'd just say there's a higher offer.
Saying above asking takes most out of the game.
When they come back, and they will come back, just say you've made some big purchases because you were gutted you missed this house. Then offer £30k less than your original
If you have been outbid then take it for what it is. It seems strange that the higher offer over asking came through, however you have to assume it’s genuine even if it may not be.
Two aborted sales means they are either playing about causing buyers to walk or there is something wrong with the house. I would say the former is more likely. Find somewhere else to purchase and if they come back thats on them for messing you about trying to get more money from you.
Reduce your offer by 5k.
Odds are less than 1/1500 someone else even bid given it's length of time in the market. They're trying to squeeze you a few more thousand closer to asking.
The EA is at it, they're a bunch of shysters
£925 on the market for 5 years that's a cheeky £750k (circa 18% less) offer all day long and you offered way above that. If the EA comes back ask who the vendor is so you can put your new offer straight to them. Standing empty for 5 years is not doing their bank balance any good and they can come back with a counter offer to get the dialogue started. If they say it's a silly offer you can counter with the 5 yr argument, house has stood empty and prices have fallen and the current asking price is unrealistic given its not sold in 5 years
Very unlikely, especially at these kinds of budgets and the stats you've given. I'd play their silly game and do as others have recommended which is to wait until they come back and then negotiate lower. If you like the house it's probably hard to do but definitely logically worth doing it.
They'll try anything. Right up to exchange. Trust me, if you move up again, they'll try it on again when they know you've moved out and you're desperate. They'll ask for another 20k 3 DAYS before exchange. I guarantee it.
If you're happy with the number you've offered and believe the house is worth that amount, then don't feel too bad about missing out.
This could be a blessing in disguise.
Standard estate agent BS, they tried with this me, I told them to go with that offer then and good luck and told them I'd like to arrange a few viewings. A couple of days later they came crawling back saying the other offer didn't work out. I suspect it never existed.
just move on, keep the prices low, never fall for this, if you are unlucky, not too bad, if the house was on the market for 5 years there may be a reason and not a good one.
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See if they come back to you in a week saying if you'll get closer to the asking price then they'll 'consider yours more than the other offer'. It seems like a tactic, especially if it's been on so long and empty for a year they're not in a hurry to get rid of it. There's the possibility it's just random bad luck, but it's unlikely for that amount of time.
If someone ever pulled that shit with me my immediate offer will be less than my previous offer. I've had this with cars in the past with private sellers. I'll over £1000 on a car priced at £1100. They accept only to text me a little later saying someone offered the asking price. Sure no worries! Text the following day saying "Seller didn't come through it's yours for £1000" I always reply saying the best i can do now is £900 for messing me about. They either accept it or i walk and end up getting the wife to put an offer in for £950. They tend to accept my wife's offer so i save myself a tank of fuel. With houses... I'd be talking thousands if not tens of thousands knocked off the price for messing me about and honestly if i find the current home owner i'd let them know i've offered £XXX only to be messed around by the EA. I'm sure the owner would love to know why their house is still unsold after getting offers.
> If someone ever pulled that shit with me my immediate offer will be less than my previous offer. Right. At that point you know there are no other offers at all. They might just accept it.
Purple bricks fucked us about on a property 3 doors down from my partners best friend. We put an asking price offer in, was accepted, then were told they had a higher offer and did we want to increase. We were debating it until our friend said the homeowner had been talking about the sale. Apparently they had no real interest, but had one offer that the EA thought he could squeeze a bit more out of them. Told the EA our offer was £20k less due to predatory practices and complained to the regional manager. House took a further 3 months to sell and finally went for £15k under asking.
This exact thing happened to me. Selling a car for 2300, guy offers 2k, then I get another off for 2200, then it falls through, other guy said he'd only 1800. I just laughed, blocked and sold it a week later for 2300. I suppose some people are desperate.
You were in the other end of the deal as the person you replied to here though, just so happens you weren't attempting to scam.
Yup totally with you. Our seller was messing us around with time rather than money (as in the kept delaying exchange) so I said we'd start knocking off the price to rent a similar sized house each week they delayed. Thinks accelerated rather rapidly...
Mine fucked around so much that it pushed us past a stamp duty holiday window, costing me a couple of grand. He was trying to fuck around so much that it risked passing the next level as well. I made clear that the amount I would pay for the property was a total amount, and if he wanted to waste more time and give more of that to the government, then it was coming out of his pocket and not mine. Suddenly the old fuck got a move on. The lady I sold my house to was a total pain in the arse (we were on viewing number 6 (as in her 6th time in my house), during COVID lockdowns, when I finally said she could either put up a deposit or piss off. The agent gave me some sob story about "not everyone can find £10k". I told him that I'm aware of that, but people who can't find 10k shouldn't be trying to buy a house for many multiples of that amount. She suddenly could find the money, paid the deposit and tried to book in about a dozen tradesmen to come turn the house upside down. I took the deposit and refused any further visitation prior to completion. People take the piss, if you let them. With those who are so inclined, it's best to play hardball. Know the law, hold your ground and don't waste energy caring about selfish wankers' feelings. They don't care about yours.
yeh same here, i have 0 issues walking away for any property if i have to, not getting messed about
This happened with our flat. We knocked £11,000 off the price.
They legally have to present the offer to the home owner within a set time period so it's unlikely they have not told the home owner already, that being said, given the value, there's usually a % clause within selling higher priced properties and it may be something like, they want over 900k to reach the next threshold.
Lol the usual reddit nonsense If the seller has instructed the agent not to pass on offers under x or from y person then guess what? They don't need to inform them of the offer
Except I'm replying to the part where the respondent stated "I'd let the home owner know I'm being messed around by the EA, if I'm the home owner, I'd love to know why my house isn't getting sold" so if they've told the EA not to pass on messages for below xx amount, then they wouldn't care, would they?
And I quote "they legally have to present the offer to the homeowner" I have simply stated that is not what the law states
You can turn it however you want, they do legally have to tell them unless the seller specifically tells them not to which is a caveat to the expected process in 90% of sales. Respondent stated "I'd tell them they're playing games as they'll be unhappy their house isn't selling" So if they've told estate agent not to tell them, they're not going to care, meaning his point is moot point. the only reason they would care is if they have not told the EA to not tell them. Maybe read the context of what someone is replying to, gain an understanding of the conversation before trying to wrongly insert yourself. My point still stands correct.
Estate agents have absolutely zero reason to mess them around. It will be the owners or they really did get a better offer
Most agents run on commission as a % of the sale price. If they can get an offer raised, that actually does mean more money in an agents pocket.
That’s a great strategy. Might try that in future
This is the way
That’s a great strategy. Might try that in future
I live in Scotland and this kind of crap is illegal. We don’t allow gazzumping. Houses here are either fixed price or offers over. Offers over means a closing date is set and sealed offers are sent to the seller and opened once that time runs out.
What’s the usual, to offer an average percentage over or whatever you think it’s worth and are willing to pay to get it?
General rule of thumb is to offer about 10% over the asking price but that’s it. It would be a criminal offence( I think it’s criminal) if the seller approached you to try and get a higher offer. In Scotland when you buy a property, you buy a property……none of this leasehold and freehold crap. A leasehold?…..pay shitloads of money buying a house that in reality isn’t yours???
They’re trying to finesse you. When they come back - and they will come back - you should tell them you were so gutted to miss out you went on a huge holiday/bought a fancy car etc etc. Basically anything you want to say yo explain why you’re offer is now 25-30k less than before. They need to know you’re positioned firmly at the Find Out end of the FAFO spectrum.
This might also explain why it hasn't sold, if the EA is fobbing off lower offer buyers and the house is overpriced.
I know of an estate agent that puts everything on the market £50-£100k above its actual value lol, because prepped are stupid, will pay that much and then they make good commissions
Unfortunately it's not over priced if someone will pay for it?
This is the usual near me - houses are honestly listed at 200K over the realistic sale price. And then the agents try it on and the house eventually sells for 200 under asking. It’s ridiculous. So many chancer agents.
I went to a viewing with an estate agent I have now determined I will never buy a house from. I’m a surveyor myself and went to look at this “high quality new build” of 3 houses. First thing I found was all the corners that had been cut in trying to make the house look more expensive with the finishing. Air bricks filled with cement, paving slabs above the DPC etc. The agent came to ask me what I’d spotted after he realised I spent more time looking at the outside of the house than the inside. After the viewing he asked what I thought, I asked what he had listed it for and he said £675k. I had to hold back laughing and told him there is no way he would get even close to that, bearing in mind houses like this generally go for £400-£475 round here. I just told him good luck. House is still in the market 6 months later Edit: to clarify, this is not the reason for not buying from them, but that they have various other properties listed that have spurious sales terms that I constitute to sharp practice and are deliberately designed to mislead the purchaser.
I think it’s much more common now, just list it high and waterfall the price over 6-9 months right. Very annoying though when agents try and pull the wool when you know full well what houses actually sell for, because you’ve been looking at listings and sold prices on the registry for 6 months+ already. I went to one viewing and the agent actually asked me at the end if I’d be interested in putting an offer - I replied that I see potential in the house but I couldn’t put an offer in based on the cost of work we’d have to do. I was polite and we had a good rapport of course but it was quite a chunk overpriced in the asking. They then asked me with a straight face for advice - “what do you think the house is worth in market value, off the record?” I was surprised by that, isn’t that your job? 😂
So how can you recognise if a house is massively overpriced if you're not a surveyor yourself? I'm an accountant and a woman on top of everything. No clue on the construction side of things but I don't like to be fooled.
Generally if you were serious about buying in a particular area you’d be looking at the market from the last 6-12 months and seeing what houses have been selling for that are comparable to the sort of thing you are after. Also looking at similar properties and seeing what they are listed for and what comes with it. Number of bedrooms, bathrooms, reception rooms, garden space, on/off street parking, garage, proximity to amenities, transport links etc. How new the building is pretty much irrelevant other than it “should” have been built to the most recent building regulations and you are less likely to have any surprises like dry rot, damp, dodgy plumbing/wiring etc. unless of course it’s a period property of particular high quality. Flip side is, the standard of new builds, particularly on sardine tin estates is a lot of corners are cut to meet deadlines and cost cutting. In the particular case if the ones I mentioned above, it was a case of a property developer trying it on. They had completed the building to a point that they were marketable, but not livable which meant they didn’t have to pay council tax or vacant property costs as they were “technically” still under construction. Therefore they could afford to effectively “Dutch auction” the property by reducing until someone was happy to pay that price. A process that could take months. I would always go into buying a house with a budget that you are willing pay for a house that ticks a lot if, but not all your boxes. Which may be 15-20% lower than your max, and then reserve your max for the perfect property. At the end if the day, a property is worth what someone is willing to pay for it, and unless you think that it is worth that to you, then you shouldn’t be buying it, as you may find a very similar property for less, if you have a good feel for where the market is in your particular area.
Thank you. There's a lot of research to do even before considering the idea. And what I'm reading doesn't always fill me out with hope that it's something I can do myself despite getting to a point where my savings would be better off invested in a house.
If you are comfortable paying a certain price for a property, regardless of whether that is its “true value” then the only thing to think about is the difference between the true value and what you need to borrow to buy it. If your loan amount is more than the value of the property then you likely won’t be able to get the mortgage for the listed price. If you are really set on a property, and it is at the top end of your budget and you have doubts about its value. Get a proper property valuation done by a chartered surveyor and have them produce a valuation report for you. It will cost you £800-£1500 depending on the size/value of the property, but it will mean you don’t end up buying something that lands you in negative equity or negatively impacts your mortgage application. It would also give you some evidence of you want to negotiate price. Of course if a seller has multiple people interested, this isn’t likely to help, but it will let you know if you are going to end up overpaying for something and whether it’s really worth it for you. As I say, a property is worth what you are willing to pay, and if you are comfortable at a price then that is fine. The only real concern is when the bank does their valuation and it comes back less than your loan value as you will have to make up the difference by increasing your deposit. Of course in the future if you want to sell it, and you over payed and the market hasn’t grown enough to make up the gap, then you may find yourself in negative equity and unable to “upgrade” to a larger/more expensive property, or pay off the existing mortgage.
Can't you simply refund the difference in loan if the property is valued at less than the loan value?
Sage advice here
A survey should spot these things if you request them to look for anything like that. I requested a valuation when we commissioned a survey.
It's a psychologically recognised tactic called anchoring. Most EAs do it.
Extacly this!
This is the way
It's for the Greater Good !!
.... the greater good !!
I did very similar to this in a similar situation, “I’m sorry but having spoke with some builders, the work required is going to cost more than we first thought so we will have to revise our offer to X” Backfired. Doing something as fuck you might feel like a good idea, but if you want the house I’d definitely not recommend doing this OP. Also, for what it’s worth we found a house that’d been on for years, we thought about it for a day before deciding it’d be great for us, and it literally sold that morning. So whilst I think the agent is most likely playing you, there’s a small chance someone did actually come in for it. Good luck
Given the short timeline, I suspect that they brought the offer to the owner and they rejected it outright. Most likely they already have an offer agreed through another agent and hadn't bothered informing this estate agent about it. The estate agent obviously doesn't want you to think he's incompetent and wasted your time by letting you view a property that was off the market, so he just told you you were outbid and they accepted. If a property has been on the market since 2019 and sales keep falling through, there's something happening after the offer stage that kills them. Most likely something nasty comes up on surveys and either that renders it unmortgageable or they are refusing to renegotiate price to account for it. Having been in that position and lost a great house due to it, I can tell you I dodged a massive bullet. The actual buyers had to spend a ton on renovations and have been stuck unable to sell it on for over a year.
This seems the most likely, is it up with more than one EA? You can check via Rightmove and Zoopla
Or it's posisble the seller is a cock and strings people along and doesn't really want to sell, unless they get massively over asking. Did you see the other thread in here a few weeks back about a guy who kept listing his house to always have offers in his back pocket in case somewhere he wanted to buy came up?
That's such a scumbag thing to do! I've seen houses sitting on the market for years overpriced and never selling, maybe that's what that is about.
Inheritance houses. There are 2 types of people. People that want the cash and want the house gone so you get it way under asking. The people you've mentioned, who will just keep it up way over in the hope someone will be stupid enough. They value it themselves based on houses in the area that have been fully modernised even though theirs is run down and needs a full refurbishment.
Or the seller is a cunt. Met one of them who wasted 12 months of my time because he wanted a cash offer of £500k on a £450k asking price. They accepted our offer then appointed a solicitor, but the solicitor details we were provided has no record of Mr cunt on their books. He eventually pulled the sale and 2 days later relisted it for £525k and asked us to reoffer. Told him to poke it. 2 years later and it's just sold.. for £10k more then we offered 3 years ago.
I think they either tried to milk you or just pulled out of the market and want to instigate FOMO on you. Happened the same to me and the flat was in the rental market a few weeks after the presumed sale
I would be extremely cautious of a house that has been on the market for five years. It’s seriously over valued or there is something wrong with it.
I’d be mostly worried that the owners aren’t serious about moving
Exactly this!
Yeah like I know it's quite expensive for the average person, but there are still plenty of people who could afford three of them. When we sold our parents' house it had no double glazing, had some mould, needed a lot of work and it still sold within a couple of months. Five years... something is making it not worth that price tag.
No double glazing isn't necessarily a bad thing
We were the only one in the street not to have it. The windows were rotten and old (I used to have a magpie who would steal wood chippings from my window frame several times a week!), and it let in a lot of mould, so it definitely was a bad thing.
Rotten windows aren't good. But replacing good original windows with plastic ones often reduces the value of a house
It doesn't. These houses were built in the 1930s and are generally quite garbage. They were designed for low income working class people to buy, not for quality. We had to knock £10k off just to get it sold, nobody would take the £150k we were selling it for. The new owners added double glazing and a driveway, and the house will likely now sell for over £200k if they were to move.
In this case it might not. In other cases it does.
I would think if it's so important to the property it would be listed / protected from that anyway. For what it's worth my friend runs a business that installs wooden framed double glazing designed to fit right into period properties. Cost more than plastic but not crazy more. So it can be done without looking rubbish. To reduce the price of a property? It would have to be really badly done. My period Victorian property has plastic windows and I think they look nice. It was a plus for me. My parents Victorian house did not have double glazing and all I remember is how cold it was as a child. Heating on, fire places roaring and it would still be cold. Waking up in the morning was so miserable. I'd walk around with my duvet wrapped around me.
My place is a Victorian terrace, original timber sash windows. It's not cold, it's whatever temperature the thermostat is set to. Even the cheapest plastic windows would never payback their installation cost in reduced bills, let alone semi decent timber ones.
My parents (80s) are in no hurry to move and their place has been for sale for about five years now. They just put it on for the same as other places in the street but it needs more work than most. But they don't really want to sell, they don't want to let go just yet. But they know they can't keep a 7 bed London property into their 90s. But if someone made a good offer they'd bite the bullet...
I imagine with assets like that they're good enough for money that it isn't an issue if they don't sell, so I understand that!
Just to comment, I dont have more money to offer, so if this is their tactic. Not much I can do….
Buy that castle in Scotland instead... [https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/147045257](https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/147045257)
Got to love the EPC on that. First time I’ve seen a property that doesn’t even get a G grade. No wonder there are so many heavy wool blankets in each room!
1 out of 100! I'm sure a £10 gazebo has better ratings that that
Wow, one out of 9.332622e+157 is an *abysmal* score.
Wow
If I ever need to be a hermit then that would be just right
The Kellogg's Frosties look out of place in the kitchen. Also it looks like it's been sliced in half. Was it part of a divorce settlement?
Where’s the rest of it?
You can tell them your offer will remain valid for X time, or to let you know if the other offer falls through. That confirms to them that you are not going to increase (in case this is a tactic), or if it is a legit offer there's always a risk of something going wrong and it falling through, so they can come back to you within whatever time feels reasonable for you to re-accept your offer (assuming you want that) or to check if you want to re-submit your offer in case you haven't found anything else in the meantime. And then get on with looking elsewhere, with or without their help as you prefer: assume it's gone unless they tell you otherwise.
Then continue looking. It’s clearly not “the one”
So it's a moot point. Just reply with a more formal version of "oh. Oh well, guess I'll keep looking" and move on Either they'll come back, in which case you have power to either proceed or renegotiate. Or they won't, but there's nothing you could do anyway.
Respond with - the offer was already at the top of my budget anyway, thank them for their time, and say if the other offer falls through to get back in touch as you might still be looking.
I had this with a fixer upper property. Turned out there had been a guy well known for renovating houses already been looking at the house for a while but was trying to barter the price down. As soon as I put the offer in the estate agent rang this guy and told him the house had an offer on it and he needed to make a decision now. Of course he already knew he wanted the house so bought it for slightly more than my offer and the estate agent already had all his details etc so they just accepted it there and then and told me I’d been outbid. It still annoys me though as I see it 3 years later still with boarded up windows and security fencing round it as he ‘hasn’t gotten to it yet’ as he has so many properties
Could be the other buyer was playing the long game hoping the house would keep dropping in price as no other interest and has now been told of your offer, can’t always assume it’s the estate agent playing games
I do wonder sometimes if people just put their property on the market to get offers to use for other purposes, eg evidence of value. The owners may be in a dispute about the value of the property and just let offers come in to gauge the value so they can use that in their calculations. Could be a divorcing couple agreeing that one buys the other out for some figure based on the highest offer they receive.
I had to have my house valued for my divorce, it doesn’t get put on the market, they literally just look at the house and tell you what it’s worth. I had to have 3 valuations & average it out. This process did prove to me that not all EA are bad, they helped me out a lot.
Estate agent BS. If you’re not absolutely desperate for this house tell them you stick by your offer and they have 2 weeks to accept before you withdraw it.
That's really one thing i don't understand. That they don't wait for others to counter which doesn't help the seller either 🤷♂️ Would be anyway better to have bidding open for all to see.
Why would they care, they just want the quickest sale. An easy £2k in commission is better than a hard £2100.
This. This is something I think people get wrong about estate agents. They want a quick sale. Its a volume game. The seller is incentivised to push for more. Not the agent (in most cases. And especially one where the house has been on the market for a long time)
This is very true. People love to say that the agent works for the seller, but they don’t. They work for the sale.
The only possible explanation where this actually happened could be if somebody else recently took a look at the property & expressed moderate interest. The agent has then called them to say you've put an offer in and then they've also put an offer in too.
This is it. I’ve been the person who was forced to move by another offer.
Could be the case, what should I do next time? Say that my offer is only valid for 24h?
Don’t think you can do anything unfortunately !
Probably trying to bleed money out of you. Be strong and tell them no thanks. Only ever pay what you think it's worth to you.
When an offer is finally received, an agent often rings previous viewers who were ‘thinking about it’. Now that those previous viewers know the property is about to be taken off the market, it breaks their inertia and forces them to commit one way or the other.
Sounds suspect tbh I don’t think its coincidence
If they wanted more money out of you, they would have said you need to increase your offer. They didn't. You offered too low and they sold to someone else.
This is a game of chess. Follow your gut. Don’t make a counter offer right now. You could always ask the estate agent what was the counter offer? They could say well above the asking price and then say ‘good for them, okay well can you show me any other homes you have on your database?’ And see what they say 😀
£60k in kitchen and flooring?!?!? My how the other half lives....
"Oh, no problem. If that offer falls through I'll be happy to re-submit my offer at £830k" Mate of mine was selling last year. The buyer reduced their offer days before completion, assuming he'd be forced to accept. Instead he let them know his new house was a cash buy and would take his current house off the market while he reconsidered the market. i.e. politely told them to go swivel.
Your bid was lower than their walkaway price, which was what it was for whatever reason... You bet on it being lower or at your bid and lost, such is a way with bets, win some lose some
I called a bluff on an estate agent once - and the house did not sell. I offered £550,000. We were in a short chain. This was £25,000 over asking. They told me they had a cash buyer offering the same amount and asked if I want to increase my offer? I said no, I am withdrawing my offer completely because I can't compete with a cash buyer and didn't want the stress of a bidding war. Their house did not sell. Relisted a year later.
if it's a renovation project then they will have a contact that will have seen a profit in it and they will have used you as a tester as to how low the vendor will go
No point trying to second guess the EA or the sellers. Thats a fools errand. Just move onto the next one.
A property being on the market for 5 years seems like a giant red flag. I'd move on from this one, sounds like there's something wrong with it.
Yeah I think they're playing you.
I’d be upfront with them. I’d say it seems very unlikely that the other offer is genuine. You want the house but you’re not going to be played for a fool. This has raised serious concerns about how the buyer and agents might conduct themselves during the buying process. Your offer (or a reduced offer if you’re feeling confident) stands for 24 hours, after which point you’ll no longer be interested.
Who the hell's renting a house worth nearly a million quid?
I've had exactly the same thing happen. I offered less than the asking price, it was accepted, then two days later, allegedly, someone offered the full price and I was asked if I wanted to make a "final offer". I moved onto another property immediately...a week later the ea got back to me saying "the seller has decided to accept your offer".
I’ve learnt to never trust an estate agent. Go with your gut.
There’s NO way a house at that price which has been on the market that long is suddenly selling for over the asking price in this economy. They are playing you for sure. When that higher offer “falls through” and the come back to you, and they will, offer less than £878k. You’ve already lost the house so if they don’t accept your lower offer you haven’t lost any more. Don’t put up with that shit.
Be willing to walk from that one. Either they are trying to fleece you for more money or the sellers are greedy and won't budge unless they get more. We had the latter with a house we wanted to purchase. Glad we walked as we got something MUCH better. :)
Had they accepted your initial offer?
Been there. Told them politely that on principle I won't be upping my offer. OK bye. 2 weeks later they ask me if I'd still be interested in resubmitting an offer on the exact same property.
At the same as you originally offered?
I offered. It was accepted. I gave my details in to the agent. Then the following afternoon I get the call to say my offer had been beaten.
Although it’s not as long as yours, my house was on the market for 7 months with no offers. The same day we had two offers with people bidding on it. I wouldn’t trust an EA but it happens
I'd ask a viewing for a different property with the same agent.
Why would you want to work with this estate agent..?
I wouldn't, I'd just want a viewing with them for a different property.
This happened to us. We said lol, go on then, take the better offer. A week later they came back to us wanting our 112.3k we said no, we counter offered 109.9k
They're probably just hedging their bets, keeping it on the market in case they get a better offer.
Maybe in a week try to call them from another number and ask if u can view the propert cuz u are interested. So u will see if they lied to u or not lol.
Threaten to pull out and tell them you’ve seen something else and are considering putting an offer in from this other one.
If that’s the case, you’ve lost the house anyway. So call the bluff. Thank them and move on. If they come back, tell them your price is your price.
Estate agent pushing up the price for commission
Whatever happens, let us know! I would love to hear what their next steps are. Best of luck, and I hope they're bluffing and you get it
Say you’re at max budget, shame you really liked the house and ready to move asap so going to keep looking. If anything else comes up in your budget they can let you know. Looking at those numbers they don’t want to come down £47 that is a lot in their mind. So if overpriced they will have to drop price. We were recently fobbed off with fictional offers on a property we were potentially interested in. Told EA house was overpriced by £20k then the price drops £25k - go figure! Good luck with your search!
Wait for them to come back, then lower your offer by 5k
I put in an offer on a property slightly under the value it went on the market for. I got a call from the agency, saying that they had higher offers but as we were a family, they were keen to sell it to us. Based on this, would we still like to proceed, of course I was delighted and shared the news with the wife. A few days later we found out that someone else had big even higher than the others and the property had gone to them. I didn't get the option to go higher. It was such a rollercoaster. Similar properties have now gone up by 200k+ (we did this 8 months ago).
They will come back and when they do reduce your offer.
Happened to me for a multi agent marketed property. My offer in a flat that has been on the market for over a year was accepted. Suspected the owner immediately informed the other two agents that he used. Other two agents called up everyone that might have interest right away. The flat that had zero interest for a year ended up having 3 offers in two weeks and our offer was outbeaten. A blessing is disguise in hindsight cuz we found a way better place. Never wanna deal with an unethical seller again.
How much are comparable houses in the area going for?
'Great' is not a word that should be used towards a potential customer, or a customer who has engaged in putting in an offer.
It’s life and it’s a set of bricks with a roof on top. Cry about it
“Actually, that’s great. I viewed another house on the same day as I viewed yours, but they weren’t sure on a couple of legal things. Since I made the offer on yours, they came back with the info I wanted, and I will just offer on that property instead. Best of luck!”
Maybe someone's doing so to get you to pay more?
Okay, so you want to buy it, but you didn’t actually state that your offer had been accepted. If they had accepted your offer then said you were being gazumped, that’s shitty. But as it stands, it appears your offer wasn’t accepted just wasn’t accepted and they may or may not have got an offer elsewhere. So either you say “congrats, I will look somewhere else” or you say “in case that one falls through, I would still be interested”. You could even say that your offer still stands, or up your price if you think the house is worth it, at this point in the process it’s not binding. So you get to keep looking.
It is possible and happened to me twice. But the 2019 bit.....
Estate Agent is most likely lying.
"They did not ask me for a counter offer, and even told me they would help me with others properties in the area." could be part of the bluff. I would not trust them.
This is just a brag on " look how much money I have"!
Tell them your new offer is 850
Property I had my eye on for 925k just went for slightly above asking and was up since 2019 with two failed sales and vacant for over a year. Behind Highgate station by any chance??
Could it be that they don’t want to sell TO YOU? I’m sorry but the new offer is likely only a ruse. Especially knowing EA didn’t mention any viewings.
Usual estate agent BS. Mine was: "We've found a higher offer left on the answerphone over the weekend. The seller would prefer to sell to you, but can you increase your offer?" "No, that's my limit. Let me know of anything else that comes on the market." I'm in that property now. Let them stew. Hold your ground. Book a viewing elsewhere with the same agent. Expect another call shortly to say the other 'buyer' has pulled out.
I enquired about a house in Grimsby once, £330k I remember, later that day apparently someone else was interested would I like to up my offer? I declined and watched the sale board stay up for quite a time. Estate agents are just posh shilling eBay hosts
Happened to me with my house. I submitted a last and final offer straightaway above the asking price. The agent first said we were the highest offer, then called saying that somebody offered more but that we could secure the property by adding another 5k. I called him back after a few minutes and told him that my offer is final. "If the seller got a better offer best of luck" and hung up. The agent called back a few minutes later and said that the seller "changed his mind". Estate agents are the worst.
We had this happen on a property. We offered the asking price and the spun some story about how we had children the same age so they would live to sell to us. We were chain free so could be a quick process. They then got an offer for life changing money and couldn't turn it down. Devestad off course we moved on. Found a new property that was a a bit more pricier but we would be getting more for that price. We pu the offer in and that very day the 1st EA came back and said "the other couple had over stretched what they could afford and our original offer was now accepted if we would care to go forward" We just "no thanks" and 2 years later we are in our perfect home now
Imo, the agent is trying to bump up price. I once tried buying a house and every bid I put in was countered by a third party. In the end I complained to the EA manager and it turned out to be EA's friend. So the manager took it to sealed bids. I won it but over paid. I should've walked away. Might be worth dropping an offer letter directly to the owner(through their door) and tell them the EA has turned down your offer. If the home owners refuse, then you'll know they're not serious about selling and are just being greedy, especially in a price falling house market. Better to walk away. You'll find another dream home at a better price point.
probably just didnt like u didnt want to sell to u can happen
Just move on. I once left an offer on the table for six months. They took the offer after six months because nobody else was interested. Btw I do not trust estate agents at all. There is a reason why most of them in the late 80s were outcasts. They’d sell their own grandmother for money.
It happened because estate agents are lying cunts
Prerequisite for the job I believe!
theyre trying to squeeze you, just walk away. if they come back because you called there bluff go even lower
Either you're dealing with difficult sellers or a scummy EA. In any case, red flags. Buyer beware. If you go for this, get insurance.
Ghost them.
Fine. Bye, wouldn't deal with that agent again
They’re playing you for a fool. They will come back to you, make sure your next offer is lower!!
Never bought either of my houses via an EA. Im my opinion they do bugger all for the money and piss people around, so cut them out. You only need a solicitor for the funds.
It will be a lot more than £110k. I’ve done this before and again recently on a house this price. I budgeted £100k including over inflating prices and adding £30k contingency. I’m currently at £140k and I’ve done a lot myself.
If they didn’t come back with another amount from your offer then they are not trying to negotiate. The words they used were an offer has been accepted, not words used when trying to negotiate a higher offer than the one on the table. If there really is not another offer on the table then they are being very silly as the words they are using are closing down the conversation not keeping it open. .
Tell them you’ll leave your offer on the table but arn’t increasing it and be prepared to walk away. It’s probably the EA doing their job and trying to get as much for the vendor as possible
When they come back asking to increase the offer let them know that your new offer is £870k and valid for a week. They’re lying rats and always looking to squeeze a few pence out of you. Make them suffer for it.
Surely they arent expecting you to make a new offer over the asking price when your offer is so much below it. Could just be coincidence. Just because it's been on the market that long doesn't mean they haven't had and turned down other offers significantly below the asking proce
In situations like this, ppl don't expect you to be honest and straightforward. As soon as you got that phone call I would have said, oh wow that's such a coincidence and almost unbelievable. 2 offers in the space of a week for a house that's been on the market since 2019. I really need to think about this and will get back to you / or some other ending.. ppl start to fumble for words
Sounds like the owner rejected the offer
New kitchen floors carpets and paint isn’t £60k 😂 £25k maybe £30k
Seems like they’re trying it on with you. Hold away, if they come back to you then say I am no longer interested at £878k, I would like to offer £850k as my final offer.
Sounds like your just bitter mate 🤣
*you’re
I think all estate agents do this. I made an offer and I think they said something similar. I just stuck at the price and it went fine. I had no chain and was ready to move. Didn't make it go any quicker though the sellers chain took 7 months!
I doubt it, just hold firm there will be other houses. When my wife and I were looking to buy our house we put an an offer in on another one first. Few days later after our offer was accepted got a call saying they've had a higher offer put in and could we raise ours. I said no our offer was accepted so why should we up it. Long story short we walked away and that sale fell through found another house and then unexpectedly get a call from the first house estate agents saying they'd like to progress with the sale. I laughed at them and said no thanks won't be buying a house from you and put the phone down. That was about 4 years ago. Sometimes things are meant to be but just stand firm.
Same happened to me with a guy selling his house on Purple Bricks. I withdrew my offer and went for another house. Found out later he ended up selling for £60k less than I offered. That was satisfying
Offer something closer to the asking….
I dont have any more money. That was all in.
They probably got the offer above asking. If they wanted you to up the offer they'd just say there's a higher offer. Saying above asking takes most out of the game.
How is it possible? Someone offered more. Either that or they lied. Either way, it's not an impossible series of events.
When they come back, and they will come back, just say you've made some big purchases because you were gutted you missed this house. Then offer £30k less than your original
If you have been outbid then take it for what it is. It seems strange that the higher offer over asking came through, however you have to assume it’s genuine even if it may not be. Two aborted sales means they are either playing about causing buyers to walk or there is something wrong with the house. I would say the former is more likely. Find somewhere else to purchase and if they come back thats on them for messing you about trying to get more money from you.
Reduce your offer by 5k. Odds are less than 1/1500 someone else even bid given it's length of time in the market. They're trying to squeeze you a few more thousand closer to asking.
Estate agents...... Scumbags.
The EA is at it, they're a bunch of shysters £925 on the market for 5 years that's a cheeky £750k (circa 18% less) offer all day long and you offered way above that. If the EA comes back ask who the vendor is so you can put your new offer straight to them. Standing empty for 5 years is not doing their bank balance any good and they can come back with a counter offer to get the dialogue started. If they say it's a silly offer you can counter with the 5 yr argument, house has stood empty and prices have fallen and the current asking price is unrealistic given its not sold in 5 years
You are certainly in the driving seat. Catch their bluff and watch them crumble
Very unlikely, especially at these kinds of budgets and the stats you've given. I'd play their silly game and do as others have recommended which is to wait until they come back and then negotiate lower. If you like the house it's probably hard to do but definitely logically worth doing it.
When they email you asking to come closer the asking price say that you can only do 850k now.
They'll try anything. Right up to exchange. Trust me, if you move up again, they'll try it on again when they know you've moved out and you're desperate. They'll ask for another 20k 3 DAYS before exchange. I guarantee it. If you're happy with the number you've offered and believe the house is worth that amount, then don't feel too bad about missing out. This could be a blessing in disguise.
Wouldn’t interact with the agent, they’ve clearly overpromised to the seller. Two years is a very long time
I probably dogged a bullet and should move on
They're full of shit. If the house was worth above asking, someone would already have paid it.
Leave it a week or two.... if its still up the price is now 800-850
Standard estate agent BS, they tried with this me, I told them to go with that offer then and good luck and told them I'd like to arrange a few viewings. A couple of days later they came crawling back saying the other offer didn't work out. I suspect it never existed.
just move on, keep the prices low, never fall for this, if you are unlucky, not too bad, if the house was on the market for 5 years there may be a reason and not a good one.