Discussion
So Ms TAD and I are viewing two houses tomorrow. We are quite interested in one, the other is a potential fall back to live in for a while if we cannot get the preferred house (which is our second preferred one anyway, having been beaten to a house we first offered on and really wanted). Reason for the fall back house is that our landlord are set to issue a section 21 to us this week as they want to sell the house (we have been offered it, but we do not want it), so rather than go into rented again we are going to buy, even if not 100% what we want.
Anyway, to cut the waffle, the house we prefer is a 4 bed semi (no shared drive) without garage (it has been converted into a kitchen, so has a large lounge now as a result with separate dining room). There is room to build an outbuilding in the back garden (100 foot garden) and room to extend the property if we so wish to do so.
We feel the house is a little on the high side price wise, despite it been refurbished over the last 5 years, with the kitchen finished recently. As a result, we do not want to pay the asking price if we can avoid it. The house has been on the market for 3 months and we are surprised that it hasnt sold tbh. Based on that, and having not bought a house for over 13 years, is there a point when an offer becomes an insult etc? The house is £350k, obviously we don't expect to get it for 10% less. There hasnt been any sales on the street we are looking at for 3 years, and that was a terraced house, so it is hard to gauge a value.
Thanks.
Anyway, to cut the waffle, the house we prefer is a 4 bed semi (no shared drive) without garage (it has been converted into a kitchen, so has a large lounge now as a result with separate dining room). There is room to build an outbuilding in the back garden (100 foot garden) and room to extend the property if we so wish to do so.
We feel the house is a little on the high side price wise, despite it been refurbished over the last 5 years, with the kitchen finished recently. As a result, we do not want to pay the asking price if we can avoid it. The house has been on the market for 3 months and we are surprised that it hasnt sold tbh. Based on that, and having not bought a house for over 13 years, is there a point when an offer becomes an insult etc? The house is £350k, obviously we don't expect to get it for 10% less. There hasnt been any sales on the street we are looking at for 3 years, and that was a terraced house, so it is hard to gauge a value.
Thanks.
You need to have the agent on your side , remind them that ultimately your paying their wages , easy sale without chain is worth a lot to an agent , they get paid quickly without hassle . I always try to strike a relationship with the manager , matey , jokey type of thing but remind them your on their side to get the deal done quickly so they get their fees , every agent I've ever dealt with is only bothered about the fees off the sale , not this b
ks " we represent the seller "
ks " we represent the seller " I do tend to try and be pally pally with the agent. I have a feeling that the vendor may want asking, but the house isnt in the best area, though it's on the outskirts so it's OK, not our first choice but we cant afford to live in those area's)
Ideally I'd like to be at no more than 335k, plus associated fees.
Ideally I'd like to be at no more than 335k, plus associated fees.
kurt535 said:
Forgive me but you're not sounding in love with it,. No garage sounds a compromise as does the area. Are you sure you are happy not only bidding but living there?
Until I see the house then I won't know for sure. We always said that we would have to compromise on something, and it's likely the garage. The area isnt that bad in all honesty and having checked police.uk the reported crime rate is low. The area I live now in a rented house is better but the houses are smaller. Houses in Decent areas do not come up for sale often and when they do they are usually out side of our budget. TheAngryDog said:
So Ms TAD and I are viewing two houses tomorrow. We are quite interested in one, the other is a potential fall back to live in for a while if we cannot get the preferred house (which is our second preferred one anyway, having been beaten to a house we first offered on and really wanted). Reason for the fall back house is that our landlord are set to issue a section 21 to us this week as they want to sell the house (we have been offered it, but we do not want it), so rather than go into rented again we are going to buy, even if not 100% what we want.
Anyway, to cut the waffle, the house we prefer is a 4 bed semi (no shared drive) without garage (it has been converted into a kitchen, so has a large lounge now as a result with separate dining room). There is room to build an outbuilding in the back garden (100 foot garden) and room to extend the property if we so wish to do so.
We feel the house is a little on the high side price wise, despite it been refurbished over the last 5 years, with the kitchen finished recently. As a result, we do not want to pay the asking price if we can avoid it. The house has been on the market for 3 months and we are surprised that it hasnt sold tbh. Based on that, and having not bought a house for over 13 years, is there a point when an offer becomes an insult etc? The house is £350k, obviously we don't expect to get it for 10% less. There hasnt been any sales on the street we are looking at for 3 years, and that was a terraced house, so it is hard to gauge a value.
Thanks.
Anyway, to cut the waffle, the house we prefer is a 4 bed semi (no shared drive) without garage (it has been converted into a kitchen, so has a large lounge now as a result with separate dining room). There is room to build an outbuilding in the back garden (100 foot garden) and room to extend the property if we so wish to do so.
We feel the house is a little on the high side price wise, despite it been refurbished over the last 5 years, with the kitchen finished recently. As a result, we do not want to pay the asking price if we can avoid it. The house has been on the market for 3 months and we are surprised that it hasnt sold tbh. Based on that, and having not bought a house for over 13 years, is there a point when an offer becomes an insult etc? The house is £350k, obviously we don't expect to get it for 10% less. There hasnt been any sales on the street we are looking at for 3 years, and that was a terraced house, so it is hard to gauge a value.
Thanks.
TheAngryDog said:
no chain
TheAngryDog said:
compromise
I'd probably be going in at £320k on the basis of the points in bold. You need to ensure you pay what you feel the house is worth but also only buy if it is "right"... moving house is an expensive business so you don't want to be doing is again any time soon.I agree it doesn't sound as if you're that keen on this house. House buying and selling is expensive, time consuming and stressful, so you don't want to be doing it unless it's really what you want and you're planning to stay for a while. Have a good think about it before you put in an offer, if it's not right then don't do it.
Having said that, if you do decide to go for it, I don't see what's wrong with going in at 10% off asking, you're in a strong position and they've been on the market for a while, so will be wondering if they priced it too high and wanting to get a move on. After three months on the market, they won't be expecting to get their asking price anyway and they'd love to get a chain free buyer.
Having said that, if you do decide to go for it, I don't see what's wrong with going in at 10% off asking, you're in a strong position and they've been on the market for a while, so will be wondering if they priced it too high and wanting to get a move on. After three months on the market, they won't be expecting to get their asking price anyway and they'd love to get a chain free buyer.
I have literally pondered this very thing same as you.
The house I am looking at has been on the market 5 months, I think its over priced by 10%. I am going to wait a couple of weeks and make an offer 12% below asking and come up a little if I need to.
NO chain for me either, everything in place as best as possible to buy.
As others have said - if you dont ask you dont get.
The house I am looking at has been on the market 5 months, I think its over priced by 10%. I am going to wait a couple of weeks and make an offer 12% below asking and come up a little if I need to.
NO chain for me either, everything in place as best as possible to buy.
As others have said - if you dont ask you dont get.
XMT said:
I have literally pondered this very thing same as you.
The house I am looking at has been on the market 5 months, I think its over priced by 10%. I am going to wait a couple of weeks and make an offer 12% below asking and come up a little if I need to.
NO chain for me either, everything in place as best as possible to buy.
As others have said - if you dont ask you dont get.
There are no hard and fast rules because ultimately it depends on the seller and their situation. The house I am looking at has been on the market 5 months, I think its over priced by 10%. I am going to wait a couple of weeks and make an offer 12% below asking and come up a little if I need to.
NO chain for me either, everything in place as best as possible to buy.
As others have said - if you dont ask you dont get.
That said, I believe the market is as slow as it is because of inflated expectations of sellers based upon price increases over the past few years. I lost a few houses (and a lot of money) due to waiting for a correction that never happened.
Ultimately the houses sold (even the ones that had been advertised for 8-10 months), and they all, without fail, sold for what the buyers asked for.
If you offer 10-12% off asking, I'd be very conscious that it may result in you not being taken seriously and ultimately being put into a bad negotiating position.
Do keep us informed - I'd be really happy to be proven wrong.
yajeed said:
XMT said:
I have literally pondered this very thing same as you.
The house I am looking at has been on the market 5 months, I think its over priced by 10%. I am going to wait a couple of weeks and make an offer 12% below asking and come up a little if I need to.
NO chain for me either, everything in place as best as possible to buy.
As others have said - if you dont ask you dont get.
There are no hard and fast rules because ultimately it depends on the seller and their situation. The house I am looking at has been on the market 5 months, I think its over priced by 10%. I am going to wait a couple of weeks and make an offer 12% below asking and come up a little if I need to.
NO chain for me either, everything in place as best as possible to buy.
As others have said - if you dont ask you dont get.
That said, I believe the market is as slow as it is because of inflated expectations of sellers based upon price increases over the past few years. I lost a few houses (and a lot of money) due to waiting for a correction that never happened.
Ultimately the houses sold (even the ones that had been advertised for 8-10 months), and they all, without fail, sold for what the buyers asked for.
If you offer 10-12% off asking, I'd be very conscious that it may result in you not being taken seriously and ultimately being put into a bad negotiating position.
Do keep us informed - I'd be really happy to be proven wrong.
10-12% off asking, for a property which has been on the market for several months, is not a silly offer and certainly not an insulting one.
Firstly, I would talk to the agent. Ask the right questions. I ALWAYS ask "why hasn't it sold?" as the answers are often very telling. Remember the agent cannot lie, but be prepared not to get a straight answer... but ultimately how they answer this sort of direct questions tells me a LOT about the property, the vendor and the agent themselves.
It could be that the property was under offer and fell through, or the vendor was waiting on a specific buyer to sell their own house, or that the vendor has received a few offers but just won't accept them for some reason. Or there were long chains, or there's been a financial or conveyancing issue. Countless reasons.
Some agents will try and guide you as to what offer their vendor might accept (and are truthful and honest) whilst some won't, or are very cagey. Still worth asking the questions - how many offers has the vendor had, how many has he/she rejected and at what level? Did they reject the offers because of the offer amount or the buyer's position?
I also ask the agent 'how did the vendor arrive at the asking price / valuation?' - another testing question for an agent, and they can either choose to waffle and be cagey, or they can show you evidence of other similar properties recently sold in the area.
As with most things in life, information is key. Worth asking YOURSELF why you think it is x% overpriced (what evidence do YOU have?) or is it just your own gut feeling. If the latter, that's fine... you're deciding what the property is worth TO YOU, and that's as important as what it is actually worth (which is, after all, just a measure of what someone else is prepared to pay for it).
I'm sure someone said recently that the average property is selling for 94% of asking price, but this is just an average. For houses that have been on the market since 2016, and weren't snapped up when people started looking again in early 2017, there is obviously some reason why not.
Since you are in a great buying position, it is a good test of a vendor's resolve to have a 'take it or leave it' offer on the table from someone who is effectively a cash buyer (or at least chain free).
Firstly, I would talk to the agent. Ask the right questions. I ALWAYS ask "why hasn't it sold?" as the answers are often very telling. Remember the agent cannot lie, but be prepared not to get a straight answer... but ultimately how they answer this sort of direct questions tells me a LOT about the property, the vendor and the agent themselves.
It could be that the property was under offer and fell through, or the vendor was waiting on a specific buyer to sell their own house, or that the vendor has received a few offers but just won't accept them for some reason. Or there were long chains, or there's been a financial or conveyancing issue. Countless reasons.
Some agents will try and guide you as to what offer their vendor might accept (and are truthful and honest) whilst some won't, or are very cagey. Still worth asking the questions - how many offers has the vendor had, how many has he/she rejected and at what level? Did they reject the offers because of the offer amount or the buyer's position?
I also ask the agent 'how did the vendor arrive at the asking price / valuation?' - another testing question for an agent, and they can either choose to waffle and be cagey, or they can show you evidence of other similar properties recently sold in the area.
As with most things in life, information is key. Worth asking YOURSELF why you think it is x% overpriced (what evidence do YOU have?) or is it just your own gut feeling. If the latter, that's fine... you're deciding what the property is worth TO YOU, and that's as important as what it is actually worth (which is, after all, just a measure of what someone else is prepared to pay for it).
I'm sure someone said recently that the average property is selling for 94% of asking price, but this is just an average. For houses that have been on the market since 2016, and weren't snapped up when people started looking again in early 2017, there is obviously some reason why not.
Since you are in a great buying position, it is a good test of a vendor's resolve to have a 'take it or leave it' offer on the table from someone who is effectively a cash buyer (or at least chain free).
timetex said:
10-12% off asking, for a property which has been on the market for several months, is not a silly offer and certainly not an insulting one.
.....
I'm sure someone said recently that the average property is selling for 94% of asking price, but this is just an average. For houses that have been on the market since 2016, and weren't snapped up when people started looking again in early 2017, there is obviously some reason why not.
Since you are in a great buying position, it is a good test of a vendor's resolve to have a 'take it or leave it' offer on the table from someone who is effectively a cash buyer (or at least chain free).
Lots of good advice there. .....
I'm sure someone said recently that the average property is selling for 94% of asking price, but this is just an average. For houses that have been on the market since 2016, and weren't snapped up when people started looking again in early 2017, there is obviously some reason why not.
Since you are in a great buying position, it is a good test of a vendor's resolve to have a 'take it or leave it' offer on the table from someone who is effectively a cash buyer (or at least chain free).
I would query the 94% figure - noone validated it. It could be the number Zoopla publish - that's the only one I've seen. They're somewhat disingenuous since that's the sold prices vs the originally advertised price. Since it's common practice so start over the going rate and drop it a few weeks later, their method of calculation gives somewhat skewed numbers.
Estate agencies calculate final asking price vs sold price, and I'm yet to see one less than 96% on average.
Anyway, as you say, maybe they'll accept. From my experience of trying to buy over the past 6 months (in exactly their position though on more expensive properties), I found logic and a 'sensible approach' just didn't work.
It is a business transaction, but since you're dealing with a family (usually), it often becomes very personal to the seller.
Of course, I was buying in Cambridge - maybe I'd have had more luck in other areas.
CubanPete said:
Don't underestimate the value of no chain.
Hugely important to me when I'm weighing up buyers.Chains vary from being a minor PITA to a totally ungovernable clusterf*ck of idiotic delusions and downright lies. You often only find out the hard way......
If the vendors are in a hurry and/or have their eye on another place they may place a premium on your offer over one one from someone with a chain.
p1stonhead said:
Nothing is insulting IMO its business not personal when buying property.
Agreed. I didn't realise I was supposed to be making friends all these times! I'm not even sure low offers are offensive anyway. I once tried offering £170k for a £210k house and the agent just made me feel like a prat! It sold a matter of days afterwards so clearly I was! Though a few weeks later we bought the house we're in for £19k less so I can't have been too far off!
Paid asking price for the previous house. As others have said, it can all be down to seller circumstances, buyer position etc. etc. Offer what you'd like OP and go from there.
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