Interpretation of Seller Behavior

I can fully understand you and your expert is probably not far off from what one would have paid for such a house a few years ago. The problem is, the market is doing something different. Offer what the house is worth to you but don't let yourselves be pushed to amounts that you consider unreasonable. In my experience, sooner or later, a buyer will be found for every house in the range of the asking price. And usually sooner because people only see the low interest rates, not the renovation costs.

How can this behavior be interpreted?

As it is. The offer is too low.

Have we really disqualified ourselves shamelessly with the offer?

In my opinion, yes.

The house is basically good, cellar top,

Aha.

The upper floor and roof will swallow another 75-100k in renovation costs.

These are things YOU WANT. Reminds me of my house sale. House good for 2-3 people. Then an interested party comes along and tells me about remodeling the bathroom and turning one room into two (for 2 children's rooms). It would cost him 25000 and he reduced our asking price by 25000 as an offer. But it is not the seller’s job to make a property what it is not. A used property is used, not new construction. This also applies to the garden. If you plan a roof expansion in a bungalow (that's how it reads here), then it is not the seller who has to pay for it. The market yields significantly more than any tables indicate. 5-10% is normal as a counteroffer. So if in your eyes it is too expensive, you don’t offer anything more. Then you decline. The appraiser calculated for you how much an expansion would cost you and then compared it to a comparable house, it seems.

In the overheated market, there are surcharges on conservatively determined valuation results, which are too high for the financing banks, then they also say "njet" even to otherwise good customers. The seller will have heard offers in the bidding competition that have raised his hopes. Now he will want to test how high he can go without a bank of one of the bidders putting a wrench in the unity of the parties involved. Even if the price ultimately lands close to your last offer, he will accept another one of similar height, but not yours. You are the one who has poked into his price dream bubble with your offer. That you only went 10k above an estimated value of 330k was unwise: in an overheated market, to speculate on such a small delta between "value" and "market price" was indeed more audacious than just bold. In my opinion, you should now write off the deal, file it away, bury it. Gladly also ceremoniously: burn the printout of the exposé and then there is a candlelight dinner, dress up, pop open a good bottle. Laugh about the rookie mistake and don’t go on the next hunt like amateurs again. Existing properties are a field of their own, and in my opinion should only be considered as an alternative to new construction with a lot of experience. Therefore: better keep looking for plots of land – not the next existing property right now.

Thank you for the honest opinions.

How can this behavior be interpreted?

There is not much to interpret. The seller does not want you as a buyer. I wouldn’t have dealt any further with a bidder who only offers me 75% of the listed price. If it's too expensive for you, no harm is done.

Even if that were the case, if it can be sold without pressure, there will always be someone willing to pay the asking price in a normal/good location with demand. The next 3 months actually play into the seller’s hands anyway since you can still claim the Baukindergeld.

@An ultimatum is always sensible, because now it doesn’t even matter anymore :cool:

We don’t even know how sought-after the location is. And the blanket statement "the asking price will always be paid at some point" logically cannot stand as is.

Even in the Düsseldorf suburbs, not every price imagined by a proud homeowner and his realtor buddy is paid. Some end up facing reality a few months later.

Nevertheless, I still maintain: try to find a nice "closing" with the seller again. Just part on good terms. "What a pity. We really would have loved your very beautiful house. Unfortunately, that’s all we can do. We wish you good luck. You have our number blablabla." He knows your last offer.

Mentally, however, close the chapter anyway.