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Found a house we wanted that went live last Thur. We made on offer $12K below asking Sat afternoon, our agent thinks it’s a good offer. Seller came back with extending closing from 30 days to 60 days and $2.5K below asking. We countered at their closing timing and $8K off. They said they sleep on it and tell us in the morning.
Wife tossed and turned all night so we withdrew our offer Sun morning without hearing the sellers answer.
Turns out wife loved the house but was just anxious about moving and leaving her friends, it took me until Wed to get that our of her. She was having regrets about passing on the house Sun morning...
So we call our realtor Wed afternoon 2pm, explain ourselves and ask for forgiveness of all concerned, and ask to revive our offer, upping our offer $3K as penance, so only $5K under asking. There are no other offers. Husband is traveling so they’ll let us know lunchtime Thur.
Realtor calls Thur 11am with bad news. Another “strong offer” came in Wed night. Because we withdrew Sun, they accepted the other offer. Of course we don’t know what the other offer was, though we’ll see when the house is sold.
We’re very disappointed, but we know we have no one to blame but ourselves.
We had made two offers before anyone else, so I guess we’d hoped they might have viewed it as a competitive bidding situation, and they would have asked us if we wanted to beat the other offer. And I didn’t think to ask our realtor if there was anything we could have done to move our offer to the top. Surely she would have suggested we up our offer if it was possible?
Again we understand we have no one to blame but ourselves for withdrawing Sun night - and that’s probably all there is to this, unfortunately for us. For those who’ve experienced many transactions, is there anything we could/should have done on Wed/Thur to salvage the deal?
Our only hope now is the other buyer exits, but we know that’s highly unlikely. Sigh.
If there is more than one offer, "more likely to close" may be the deciding factor. This can cause a seller to sometimes choose a lower offer. Do everything you can to look like a buyer who will close. No strange contingencies, high downpayment or cash offer, businesslike responses to all offers and communications. Waffling is the opposite of "likely to close".
First of all, you'll just need to be more sure of your (collective) desires when you make an offer. (But you already know that.) You'll never know what a Seller might accept. Playing the waiting game can be nerve-wracking, but it's part of the process. I'd rather wait a bit, and hope for a better deal, than offer more than needed. Sometimes Sellers will surprise you at what they'll take.
Once in a competitive bidding situation, though, the biggest factor to most Sellers is assurance of a smooth closing.
Found a house we wanted that went live last Thur. We made on offer $12K below asking Sat afternoon, our agent thinks it’s a good offer. Seller came back with extending closing from 30 days to 60 days and $2.5K below asking. We countered at their closing timing and $8K off. They said they sleep on it and tell us in the morning.
Wife tossed and turned all night so we withdrew our offer Sun morning without hearing the sellers answer.
Turns out wife loved the house but was just anxious about moving and leaving her friends, it took me until Wed to get that our of her. She was having regrets about passing on the house Sun morning...
So we call our realtor Wed afternoon 2pm, explain ourselves and ask for forgiveness of all concerned, and ask to revive our offer, upping our offer $3K as penance, so only $5K under asking. There are no other offers. Husband is traveling so they’ll let us know lunchtime Thur.
Realtor calls Thur 11am with bad news. Another “strong offer” came in Wed night. Because we withdrew Sun, they accepted the other offer. Of course we don’t know what the other offer was, though we’ll see when the house is sold.
We’re very disappointed, but we know we have no one to blame but ourselves.
We had made two offers before anyone else, so I guess we’d hoped they might have viewed it as a competitive bidding situation, and they would have asked us if we wanted to beat the other offer. And I didn’t think to ask our realtor if there was anything we could have done to move our offer to the top. Surely she would have suggested we up our offer if it was possible?
Again we understand we have no one to blame but ourselves for withdrawing Sun night - and that’s probably all there is to this, unfortunately for us. For those who’ve experienced many transactions, is there anything we could/should have done on Wed/Thur to salvage the deal?
Our only hope now is the other buyer exits, but we know that’s highly unlikely. Sigh.
Write a letter to the sellers. Tell them how you're feeling, why you're hesitating, why you offered what you offered, etc. Sellers will often choose a "human" with feelings/pets/kids etc over a strong offer if they feel there's a person on the other side of the transaction.
You were simply outbid and your timing issues also got in the way. Oh well. There will be another house. Next time both of you need to be aligned and verify with eachother that this is what you both want to do. There will always be both buyers’ and sellers’ remorse in almost every deal. Accept that. Understand that. When you pull the trigger, shoot to hit the target.
Write a letter to the sellers. Tell them how you're feeling, why you're hesitating, why you offered what you offered, etc. Sellers will often choose a "human" with feelings/pets/kids etc over a strong offer if they feel there's a person on the other side of the transaction.
We conveyed our honest background, our apologies and took responsibility that it was 100% our regrettable mistake - hoping they might forgive us. I offered to write a letter or explain/apologize ‘hat in hand’ directly to the listing agent and sellers but our agent said don’t. Our realtor says she shared it all, I don’t know otherwise
Though we withdrew on Sun, fatal mistake in hindsight - our offer is a clean as we can make it - all cash with proof of funds doc, their extended closing date, above average earnest money and no contingencies (not dependent on sale of current house). It wasn’t enough in this case. We would have upped our offer, but evidently the seller decided they didn’t want to deal with us despite our offer and explanation. And we know that’s entirely their prerogative. I wish we could have spoken for ourselves, but our agent and the listing agent seem perfectly capable and professional so I didn’t feel like I should insist on talking to the seller and risk further damage.
I don't think you could have salvaged the deal on Wed/Thurs. If I were the seller I would have accepted the other offer if it were lower (and even with your explanation/apology) just because I would have been worried that, having bailed once, you would have bailed again somewhere along the line (inspection, etc.).
Now that you two are on the same page, I don't see you making the same mistake again. Hopefully you find what you are looking for!
Yes - Don't be too hard on yourself. You know why this one failed... next time, hopefully, you will be more sure about what you want, and more confident in your decisions.
RE - ideas about salvaging this one... They've accepted another offer, so that is probably not possible. If it comes back on the market, approach then.
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