cromptonnut Posted February 9, 2017 Author Share Posted February 9, 2017 Nothing new to report at the moment, we have our appointment with the mortgage person this afternoon and we will then find out if we can go any further, if not then the ball is in the seller's court, if this really is the only offer they've had after 10 months on the market and 18 viewings then honestly I'm not sure why they're holding out. As pointed out elsewhere, a home is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it, not what the owner thinks it's worth, or what the agent thinks it's worth, or even what the local area might be doing. Quite why the agent thinks it's "really worth about £245k" I'm not sure, when they're marketing it at £235k because you always end up under-offering. I have absolutely no intention of getting into a "bidding war" with anyone, as we can find other places that are actually larger but without the convenience of a 10 minute walk to the nearest station, or the nice views. A nice view isn't worth £20k extra to us. Yes, £10k to the seller will make a difference to their buying power, but it also makes a big difference to our buying power too. It's just a game of poker and at the end of the day if I fold and walk away, that's life. If someone else think's it's worth £235k or more then let 'em pay it. We can't unless I sell a kidney on ebay. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hayfield Posted February 9, 2017 Share Posted February 9, 2017 Nothing new to report at the moment, we have our appointment with the mortgage person this afternoon and we will then find out if we can go any further, if not then the ball is in the seller's court, if this really is the only offer they've had after 10 months on the market and 18 viewings then honestly I'm not sure why they're holding out. As pointed out elsewhere, a home is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it, not what the owner thinks it's worth, or what the agent thinks it's worth, or even what the local area might be doing. Quite why the agent thinks it's "really worth about £245k" I'm not sure, when they're marketing it at £235k because you always end up under-offering. I have absolutely no intention of getting into a "bidding war" with anyone, as we can find other places that are actually larger but without the convenience of a 10 minute walk to the nearest station, or the nice views. A nice view isn't worth £20k extra to us. Yes, £10k to the seller will make a difference to their buying power, but it also makes a big difference to our buying power too. It's just a game of poker and at the end of the day if I fold and walk away, that's life. If someone else think's it's worth £235k or more then let 'em pay it. We can't unless I sell a kidney on ebay. Good luck with the meeting Price is always a difficult matter, as for the seller they might not be able to afford to move unless the property reaches a certain value. Many people have been stuck in a property either by negative equity or the cost differential plus the cost of moving. Perhaps the equation is you feel the property is not worth the asking price verses the owners needing a minimum amount to be able to move, a clear case of Catch 22 Good luck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold teaky Posted February 9, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 9, 2017 "... the seller they might not be able to afford to move unless the property reaches a certain value." Entirely plausible but then the seller can always use the same argument as cromptonnut to reduce their own buying price. cromptonnut appears to be in a strong position here since he is the end of the chain, has the only offer on the table, has finance arranged (as far as he is able) and ultimately may be prepared to walk away if necessary. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
EddieB Posted February 9, 2017 Share Posted February 9, 2017 I'd say go with your head and not your heart. Perhaps because you've shown interest over a long time, the vendors and their agents may have thought you want the place so much that you'll up your offer. The standard response should be - "I've upped my offer as far as I can go - so up yours!". People that try these tactics can often be petulant when it comes to leaving the property in the state you expect it to be. Just be grateful you haven't spent money on surveys and valuations. Assuming of course that you don't really, really want this property... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny Emily Posted February 9, 2017 Share Posted February 9, 2017 Mixed experiences of Estate Agents. Some were very good, and some were hideous charlatans. We made an offer on one place that needed gutting, had no fitted kitchen at all (previous old dear had liked what she had got in 1952 and stuck with it) and the roof was starting to lose slates so needed attention. The Estate Agent never even put our offer to the vendor and told us we had to up our offer by 10% there and then. They had the gall to suggest that we could live with the kitchen, and that the roof was not an issue as they hadn't seen any damp patches in the upstairs rooms. I told them I wasn't interested and we never went back. Another Estate Agent suggested to us that we might like to view a property between the two other viewings they had us booked into, to kill the hour's wait. I wasn't enthusiastic as the house they were offering a viewing in didn't look anything special. They billed it as something to do for an hour, and we did and we ended up buying it as it was such a hidden gem. We put in an offer of £92,000 on the asking price of £110,000 and they didn't even miss a beat, put it to the vendor who accepted as it had been on the market for 18 months and they had emigrated to Italy. They were such good Estate Agents that I would not hesitate to use them again. If it wasn't for their suggestion, we would never have found this house. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hayfield Posted February 9, 2017 Share Posted February 9, 2017 "... the seller they might not be able to afford to move unless the property reaches a certain value." Entirely plausible but then the seller can always use the same argument as cromptonnut to reduce their own buying price. cromptonnut appears to be in a strong position here since he is the end of the chain, has the only offer on the table, has finance arranged (as far as he is able) and ultimately may be prepared to walk away if necessary. Rob I am not saying it one way or another. If the seller needs £x's to move and he cannot get it, then he cannot move. Simple economics, now if he has to sell then that's a different story, as he has to sell up at the market cost (or less if a forced sale) and make alternative arrangements. Otherwise he stays put, perhaps chained to a property he wants out of. Thankfully the last 3 moves (first one was the only property we could afford) have been to properties we knew we wanted. I see the post saying head over heart, which is good sound advice. Its even better when hearts choice is in line with heads purse Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cromptonnut Posted February 11, 2017 Author Share Posted February 11, 2017 Well a little update for you. I had a nice chat with the owner in the week and asked if he would mind giving me an email address, as I had "concerns" about the agent not passing everything on. He was happy to share, and although I didn't plan to "chat figures" he was quite open about their situation and their needs and expectations. We both ended the call happy and understanding the other's position. We also agreed to "let the agent stew" a bit so this morning I had an email from the agent quite chatty and asking for an update from the mortgage person. As I was at work at the time I left it until I got home where I simply acknowledged receipt of his email, and that I hoped to get back to him early next week. I copied the email into the owner who then phoned us about 20 minutes late. He said that he had "had words" with the agent about not making it clear to us that the price had gone up, and that they had been to look at a few places today and had some more planned tomorrow. However they had done some number crunching themselves and said that if we could reach the "original" £229,950 then they would accept the offer, which we agreed to. I am going to confirm this to the agent on Monday who will then confirm acceptance of the offer (keeping things like that through the official channels) but essentially we are just that confirmation away from being homeowners. We were always prepared to go to £229950 anyway but I think for the sake of a couple of thousand pounds we are happy with "both head and heart" as discussed previously in the discussion. That then only leaves the important decisions left to make, such as whether to get a 20x6 shed or a 13x10 shed for the layout to get built in. I know it's not all over yet however we are feeling very happy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 12, 2017 Share Posted February 12, 2017 I am going to confirm this to the agent on Monday who will then confirm acceptance of the offer (keeping things like that through the official channels) but essentially we are just that confirmation away from being homeowners. Congratulations! Pop back to the thread and keep us posted. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Neal Ball Posted February 12, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 12, 2017 Congratultions, glad it's all sorted out. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hayfield Posted February 12, 2017 Share Posted February 12, 2017 Well a little update for you. I had a nice chat with the owner in the week and asked if he would mind giving me an email address, as I had "concerns" about the agent not passing everything on. He was happy to share, and although I didn't plan to "chat figures" he was quite open about their situation and their needs and expectations. We both ended the call happy and understanding the other's position. We also agreed to "let the agent stew" a bit so this morning I had an email from the agent quite chatty and asking for an update from the mortgage person. As I was at work at the time I left it until I got home where I simply acknowledged receipt of his email, and that I hoped to get back to him early next week. I copied the email into the owner who then phoned us about 20 minutes late. He said that he had "had words" with the agent about not making it clear to us that the price had gone up, and that they had been to look at a few places today and had some more planned tomorrow. However they had done some number crunching themselves and said that if we could reach the "original" £229,950 then they would accept the offer, which we agreed to. I am going to confirm this to the agent on Monday who will then confirm acceptance of the offer (keeping things like that through the official channels) but essentially we are just that confirmation away from being homeowners. We were always prepared to go to £229950 anyway but I think for the sake of a couple of thousand pounds we are happy with "both head and heart" as discussed previously in the discussion. That then only leaves the important decisions left to make, such as whether to get a 20x6 shed or a 13x10 shed for the layout to get built in. I know it's not all over yet however we are feeling very happy The agreement will always be with the owners, I have found in the past some estate agents seem to be a law to themselves full of self importance However there are a lot of both devious buyers and sellers out there Glad to hear that things seem to be resolving themselves and a bit of mutual understanding has been arrived at. Hopefully the agreement reached will resolve in a sale Just tell the agents what has been agreed and that you now expect them to assist you in the sale process through to completion Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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