Lovely House - Over budget - Greedy vendor(?)
Discussion
We've viewed a house and feel it is great for us. Was put on market at £309,000 in August and reduced in September to £299,995. Advertised via PurpleBricks so no agent, direct to the owner.
It's a 3-bed town house on a recently built estate (2013) with a converted garage. Non-converted properties on the same estate go for £270,000 with the most recent one selling for £270,000 in Feb 2016, and prior to that an identical one sold for £272,000 in October 2015.
They've already rejected an offer of £290,000 and while we love the house, we don't see it being worth more than that, even with the conversion. Is a garage conversion really worth upwards of £30k!?
Speaking to the owner, they had a bereavement recently and despite having people want to view the home between October and December, they didn't feel they had the time or energy for it so apparently we're the first to view since September.
We're likely to go in with an offer of £292,500 but reluctant to go higher unless we can justify this cost. The house requires some cosmetic work (carpets, cleaning, painting) to make it reasonable.
It's hard to get perspective on house prices as to a degree we're lead to believe what the agents tell us it's worth and I suspect this is the case with these vendors, who were told it's worth £300k and so won't accept much less than this. Wondering if there's anything else we can do to get an idea of what the property should really be worth? With these sums of money, it's not something you can picture in the same way as, say, a holiday or another significant but "everyday" purchase. Houses are thrice-in-a-lifetime as it were and costs vary massively.
It's hard to work out if we're paying more than it's worth because we really like it, or if it's actually worth that much. As we're dealing with the vendors directly I want to be able to negotiate positively. I work in sales and I'm usually on the other side of this table, but it's similar skills so I'm trying to find some facts to go in with!
Apologies if this rambles a bit, I've had a boozy lunch...!
It's a 3-bed town house on a recently built estate (2013) with a converted garage. Non-converted properties on the same estate go for £270,000 with the most recent one selling for £270,000 in Feb 2016, and prior to that an identical one sold for £272,000 in October 2015.
They've already rejected an offer of £290,000 and while we love the house, we don't see it being worth more than that, even with the conversion. Is a garage conversion really worth upwards of £30k!?
Speaking to the owner, they had a bereavement recently and despite having people want to view the home between October and December, they didn't feel they had the time or energy for it so apparently we're the first to view since September.
We're likely to go in with an offer of £292,500 but reluctant to go higher unless we can justify this cost. The house requires some cosmetic work (carpets, cleaning, painting) to make it reasonable.
It's hard to get perspective on house prices as to a degree we're lead to believe what the agents tell us it's worth and I suspect this is the case with these vendors, who were told it's worth £300k and so won't accept much less than this. Wondering if there's anything else we can do to get an idea of what the property should really be worth? With these sums of money, it's not something you can picture in the same way as, say, a holiday or another significant but "everyday" purchase. Houses are thrice-in-a-lifetime as it were and costs vary massively.
It's hard to work out if we're paying more than it's worth because we really like it, or if it's actually worth that much. As we're dealing with the vendors directly I want to be able to negotiate positively. I work in sales and I'm usually on the other side of this table, but it's similar skills so I'm trying to find some facts to go in with!
Apologies if this rambles a bit, I've had a boozy lunch...!
I guess its different where you are, but round here garage conversions don't add value. A mate recently sold one and it really struggled to sell - the feedback was consistent that the conversion was an issue. Whilst people don't use them for cars, they still need space to store all their junk, bikes, garden stuff, etc.
romeogolf said:
... what the property should really be worth?
It worth whatever anyone is prepared to pay. If the vendor is asking more than people are wanting to pay then it's over-priced. And the world is full of over-priced things.
I don't think there is anything much more to it than this, is there?
2Btoo said:
romeogolf said:
... what the property should really be worth?
It worth whatever anyone is prepared to pay. If the vendor is asking more than people are wanting to pay then it's over-priced. And the world is full of over-priced things.
I don't think there is anything much more to it than this, is there?
Applies to anything, Cars, boats, watches, motorbikes.
Worth what anybody is prepared to pay for them.
Recently sold for £331,000.
romeogolf said:
We've viewed a house and feel it is great for us. Was put on market at £309,000 in August and reduced in September to £299,995. Advertised via PurpleBricks so no agent, direct to the owner.
It's a 3-bed town house on a recently built estate (2013) with a converted garage. Non-converted properties on the same estate go for £270,000 with the most recent one selling for £270,000 in Feb 2016, and prior to that an identical one sold for £272,000 in October 2015.
House prices went up by over 6% on average last year, so your £270k last Feb is now £286.2k based on those average increases. So £13.7k for a garage conversion that created an extra bedroom (?) doesn't sound unrealistic. It's a 3-bed town house on a recently built estate (2013) with a converted garage. Non-converted properties on the same estate go for £270,000 with the most recent one selling for £270,000 in Feb 2016, and prior to that an identical one sold for £272,000 in October 2015.
MitchT said:
Offer what it's worth to you. The vendor will probably laugh. Six months later they may come crawling back, or they may have sold it to someone else for nearer the price they wanted. Such is life.
Or they may have taken it off the market.You can't always find out, but it's great if you can establish what the vendors motivation to sell is. When we last moved most of the people didn't actually seem to want to move - one had already taken it off the market once and when we asked where they were moving to they had no idea.
If they've got nothing driving them to sell then they won't accept "low" offers, and even if they do they might string you along for a bit and then pull out.
Edited by Sheepshanks on Saturday 14th January 23:21
MWM3 said:
romeogolf said:
We've viewed a house and feel it is great for us. Was put on market at £309,000 in August and reduced in September to £299,995. Advertised via PurpleBricks so no agent, direct to the owner.
It's a 3-bed town house on a recently built estate (2013) with a converted garage. Non-converted properties on the same estate go for £270,000 with the most recent one selling for £270,000 in Feb 2016, and prior to that an identical one sold for £272,000 in October 2015.
House prices went up by over 6% on average last year, so your £270k last Feb is now £286.2k based on those average increases. So £13.7k for a garage conversion that created an extra bedroom (?) doesn't sound unrealistic. It's a 3-bed town house on a recently built estate (2013) with a converted garage. Non-converted properties on the same estate go for £270,000 with the most recent one selling for £270,000 in Feb 2016, and prior to that an identical one sold for £272,000 in October 2015.
Key word is average. In some areas they went down. In others +20%.The house is worth the same as a non converted one plus the costs to convert.
As others say, it's worth the last accepted bid. When I bought my place I put low bids in across a few places. Most people said "sod off" so I kept my money. One vendor said "Well, maybe" and after a deal over the carpets, washer and of all things the lawnmower, we had a deal. I reckon I picked up between 5% and 10% under hat they might have got.
2013 3 bed town houses are hardly in short supply or unique, so bid what you think and if a vendor bites then they bite. If they don't, then buy a similar place in the next street for £10k or 20k less.
2013 3 bed town houses are hardly in short supply or unique, so bid what you think and if a vendor bites then they bite. If they don't, then buy a similar place in the next street for £10k or 20k less.
Similar to another poster garage conversions around here don't generally add value and will narrow the market slightly.
Seeing as you like it I would go for £292.5k offer but if they reject it I would tell them your reasons for not going higher and let them know the offer is there should they change their mind.
Seeing as you like it I would go for £292.5k offer but if they reject it I would tell them your reasons for not going higher and let them know the offer is there should they change their mind.
Sir Bagalot said:
The house is worth the same as a non converted one plus the costs to convert.
For me and, I'm sure, many others a house without a garage is worth less than one with. Even if it has an extra bedroom.
I don't need or want an extra bedroom, but I do want/need somewhere to keep my carunder cover.
In my opinion, anyone that lists a property at £310k........does so because they will deal at £300k..........if they reduce it to £300k then I would expect that to become "no offers".........in the same was that I list a car at x+£500............the £500 is the wiggle room.
The thing is, you can't say a vendor is greedy, they want a figure for their property, if it's more than you want to pay, does that make you tight or them greedy??
If the property is perfect then why not go for it? I'd rather have paid a little more for the perfect property than be in a mediocre property that I felt I'd battered the vendor down enough to make it a great "deal"................
The thing is, you can't say a vendor is greedy, they want a figure for their property, if it's more than you want to pay, does that make you tight or them greedy??
If the property is perfect then why not go for it? I'd rather have paid a little more for the perfect property than be in a mediocre property that I felt I'd battered the vendor down enough to make it a great "deal"................
Not much more to add other than the affordability issue; if you can afford what they're asking then it's less of an issue. If you're struggling to reach their asking price then maybe this isn't the property for you.
In summary; if you can afford it and like it and there are no other similar properties that you like in this area, then one option is to buy it.
Good luck!
In summary; if you can afford it and like it and there are no other similar properties that you like in this area, then one option is to buy it.
Good luck!
Sir Bagalot said:
I'm sorry but Key word is average. In some areas they went down. In others +20%.
The house is worth the same as a non converted one plus the costs to convert.
Yes of course but without knowing the exact location of the property it is reasonable to work on an averahe to emphasise that house price have generally risen considerably over the past year and unlikely that the value was the same as a year ago. Key word is average. In some areas they went down. In others +20%.The house is worth the same as a non converted one plus the costs to convert.
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