Property advice

[anonymous-user]

I wasn't going to move until next year but one bored weekend later i find myself in a sales office!! One property was up for £295K, sales person said if i can complete quickly i can have it for below stamp duty thresh hold, when i ask how far below £245K was the answer! Now the property i really like is up for £300k, i'm thinking of going in with a piss take offer of £220K( i could see her paper work and some properties have been reduced from £320k to £285k this week). Would i be mad to even contemplate this? We all know the market is going down, these houses aren't complete yet so do i gamble & wait(risk that they do sell) or thrash out a deal now? Or do i forget the whole idea and see what's about in 12-18 months? This would be our final move so i don't want to get stung on this one. Help me out people as wifey wants a new house!!(& so do i!). Thoughts & comments very welcome, thanks.

[eldar]

If you are a cash buyer, go for it - no cash offer is too silly atm If you have to sell your house first, they'll be less keen.

[Bat21]

Buy if you feel comfortable with the commitment. If prices continue to fall, they will rise again so, providing you are not investing and don't plan to sell in the short term, its as good a time as any.

[ThatPhilBrettGuy]

As usual, it depends on where the house is.

[schmalex]

Go in very hard & very low. Don't feel as if you are offending the builder - at least they have a potential sale. You can always walk away if you don't like the shape of the deal

[briSk]

if you could get an old house with that much of a disount then you should go for it. as it's new... i am not so sure.

does it seem like a £250k house to you? or does it sseem like a £300k house?

[Trevelyan]

I'd say try and thrash out a deal now and see what they come up with. Once you know what offer is on the table you'll be better placed to make a decision. Go in very very low and work upwards though. A friend of mine exchanged contracts on a new build last week. It was up for £190k and he got it for £145k. In addition he got his stamp duty paid, a £1,000 allowance towards legal fees, plus the house fully carpeted throughout as part of the deal. When I saw him yesterday he was kicking himself for not asking for more as he was pretty sure he'd have got it...

[V8mate]

If you own a property at the moment and need to sell to move, making an offer on another property verges on the fraudulent given the current market. Selling your own property could quite easily take a year!

Edited by V8mate on Monday 1st September 12:55

[anonymous-user]

Thanks guys, it's a new build and surprisingly VERY well built(we've been arounds loads this weekend and the build quality on some was appaling). I'd say the house IS worth 200K even in a flat market, we are in a strange position in so much that our current house is a first time buyer house(so we are making a big leap from first tiem house to hopefully house for life), i can afford to knock some off to sell quick, i also have a fair bit of ££ in the bank(rather not post figures in open forum) but if required i could clear our current mortgage. Here is the development in queastion, prices on the 'net are not what they have in salesroom :-

http://www.persimmonhomes.com/detail.aspx?developm...

[briSk]

V8mate said:

If you own a property at the moment and need to sell to move, making an offer on anotehr property verges on the fraudulent given the current market. Selling your own property could take a year at the moment!

that's kind of how i feel.

i wouldn't want to make an offer on aother place until i'd exchanged at the very least to be honest. and really i think it makes sense to intend on renting and then purchase whilst in rented.

[briSk]

Dave_ST220 said:

Thanks guys, it's a new build and surprisingly VERY well built(we've been arounds loads this weekend and the build quality on some was appaling). I'd say the house IS worth 200K even in a flat market, we are in a strange position in so much that our current house is a first time buyer house(so we are making a big leap from first tiem house to hopefully house for life), i can afford to knock some off to sell quick, i also have a fair bit of ££ in the bank(rather not post figures in open forum) but if required i could clear our current mortgage. Here is the development in queastion, prices on the 'net are not what they have in salesroom :-

http://www.persimmonhomes.com/detail.aspx?developm...

i am not trying to worry you unduly.. but the finish of the SHOW home was to a high standard remember...

[anonymous-user]

briSk said:

if you could get an old house with that much of a disount then you should go for it. as it's new... i am not so sure.

does it seem like a £250k house to you? or does it sseem like a £300k house?

I'd say it is-take a look at the links and see the room sizes-it was like a mansion for us! Down sides, only a single garage(ideally wanted 2)and small back garden. This is a development where they are trying to create a town-something that always worries me. However we currently live in what they are calling the centre, we've lived here for 6 years and love it(the new builds are 10 min walk from here). I think i'd rather nice decent rooms and single garage, we did want double as i work from home but this has shifted in the last year to being more internet based.

[Welshbeef]

Fully agree with the new builds its impossible to say what they are worth as your the first buyer.

Maybe do it on a sq meter base so you can compare.

However when you do go in with an offer if you dont feel truely ashamed with the offer you give then trust me its not low enough.
Whats the worst that can happen - they refuse. The market is stone dead so any offer on the table will be looked at and possibly they would come back with a counter offer to you.

My dad (cash buyer) recently put in a £163.5k offer on a £340k house - the agent lol to start with but he had to pass the offer onto the vendor. Offer was refused - but that was 5 weeks ago now & noone else has even requested info on it... been on market for 7 weeks in total. I couldnt believe the low level offer but as he said to me really should have been lower still as I didnt get that ashamed feeling which I did back in the early 90's lol made a killing then.

[Welshbeef]

Dave_ST220 said:

briSk said:

if you could get an old house with that much of a disount then you should go for it. as it's new... i am not so sure.

does it seem like a £250k house to you? or does it sseem like a £300k house?

I'd say it is-take a look at the links and see the room sizes-it was like a mansion for us! Down sides, only a single garage(ideally wanted 2)and small back garden. This is a development where they are trying to create a town-something that always worries me. However we currently live in what they are calling the centre, we've lived here for 6 years and love it(the new builds are 10 min walk from here). I think i'd rather nice decent rooms and single garage, we did want double as i work from home but this has shifted in the last year to being more internet based.

Small garden & its a house for life... depends if thats important for you or not but for me a big garden is highly desirable -especially for kids in the future.

[Donut]

Dave_ST220 said:

Thanks guys, it's a new build and surprisingly VERY well built(we've been arounds loads this weekend and the build quality on some was appaling). I'd say the house IS worth 200K even in a flat market, we are in a strange position in so much that our current house is a first time buyer house(so we are making a big leap from first tiem house to hopefully house for life), i can afford to knock some off to sell quick, i also have a fair bit of ££ in the bank(rather not post figures in open forum) but if required i could clear our current mortgage. Here is the development in queastion, prices on the 'net are not what they have in salesroom :-

http://www.persimmonhomes.com/detail.aspx?developm...

We viewed a Persimmon show home in Birmingham and it was stunning! after speaking to the sales lady and agreeing a price that they could drop to, she showed the actual house we where considering.....

Different standard of fittings, floorings and tiles etc - total disapointment is what we left with.

[briSk]

..my actually answer now:

if you'll have a decent LTV, you like the house, do think you'll live there for ages, can't find otherstuff elsewhere you like as much for the same money.. then i'd offer a couple of hundred K and consider working up from there.

BUT be incredibly harsh on any snagging.

(is it possible for them to build you a bigger garage or is it 'integral', really check the dinemsions if it's a single integral garage unless you're using it for a model T (!) )

[schmalex]

Dave_ST220 said:

briSk said:

if you could get an old house with that much of a disount then you should go for it. as it's new... i am not so sure.

does it seem like a £250k house to you? or does it sseem like a £300k house?

I'd say it is-take a look at the links and see the room sizes-it was like a mansion for us! Down sides, only a single garage(ideally wanted 2)and small back garden. This is a development where they are trying to create a town-something that always worries me. However we currently live in what they are calling the centre, we've lived here for 6 years and love it(the new builds are 10 min walk from here). I think i'd rather nice decent rooms and single garage, we did want double as i work from home but this has shifted in the last year to being more internet based.

My advice, for what it's worth.

Don't buy this house. There are a few compromises from your ideal in your post above. If this is to be a house for life, the market is ideally positioned for you to buy a house with absolutely no compromises (it is another negotiable varible).

Use the market to your advantage to ensure that you end up with exactly what you want, not a compromise.

[briSk]

i've seen a house in Shropshire which requires 'a little work'. garaging, stabling...

[scotal]

briSk said:

i've seen a house in Shropshire which requires 'a little work'. garaging, stabling...

Don't tell me, the gardens are great for BBQ's

[V8mate]

briSk said:

..my actually answer now:

if you'll have a decent LTV, you like the house, do think you'll live there for ages, can't find otherstuff elsewhere you like as much for the same money.. then i'd offer a couple of hundred K and consider working up from there.

BUT be incredibly harsh on any snagging.

(is it possible for them to build you a bigger garage or is it 'integral', really check the dinemsions if it's a single integral garage unless you're using it for a model T (!) )

No. Once they've got your money they'll lose interest quicker than pig in a pie factory.
Be demanding whilst negotiating - not just the price, but on the absolute detail of the finish and get everything written down. E.g. specify manufacturers for fittings, tiles etc