is 20% under the asking price a cheeky offer

spend_thrift

I agree - and if I had the money I would probably offer the asking price. The place has a lot of potential. Since I don't have the money, I'm stuck offering what I *can* offer (which will increase in relative terms to the value of the property if the market falls as is being predicted).

The person stuck on the asking price is the vendor, since she bought in 2008 and is already looking at a loss even at the current asking price. Since she doesn't appear to have a place lined up to buy herself, it's all a bit abstract and she's talking about what she'd like to get, rather than what she needs.

westlondonbuyer

Ah yes, the vendor who wants a crazy price and won't negotiate...I've encountered a fair few of those this year. Some of them on this board:o

To be fair, lots of people will have borrowed against their house to release equity (perhaps to give a house deposit to their kids, eek), resulting in a higher capital sum to repay.

Or they need to sell for a certain price in order to move to the next rung of the ladder in their area.

So they can't be as flexible as you'd think someone sitting on a house nominally worth 4 times what they paid for it would be.

I feel sorry for your vendor actually. No-one moves after 2 years unless they really have to. Something awful is probably happening behind the scenes:(

spend_thrift

westlondonbuyer wrote: »

If you're buying a place at the very top of your budget, don't also buy a place that needs work.

Thanks for the tip

This place I'm looking at is fine as it is, although there is a lot of potential to do it up. The kitchen needs a bit of cosmetic attention as the current owner is a bit eccentric and has cut up the work top, but otherwise it's in good condition.

Ironically she can't quite understand that she sold her previous home at the top of the market in order to downsize, and is therefore well ahead overall...

For your mum I suppose it comes down to a choice between wanting to spend the money to do the place up and be comfortable living there, or hang on to her money and hope the market picks up and she can see enough of a potential return on her investment to make doing the place up financially worthwhile.

My vendor doesn't seem to understand that selling in this buyer's market also means she is buying her next place in the same market and is likely to get a lower price herself. She also downsized to move into this place and I suspect she is hoping to upsize again when she moves on (unrealistic but there you go).

spend_thrift

westlondonbuyer wrote: »

Ah yes, the vendor who wants a crazy price and won't negotiate...I've encountered a fair few of those this year. Some of them on this board:o

I feel sorry for your vendor actually. No-one moves after 2 years unless they really have to. Something awful is probably happening behind the scenes:(

I think what happened to her happened in 2008, which is why she downsized and bought a place that doesn't suit her at all. She is very vocal about how she is putting up with it, and didn't know what she was thinking when she bought. If I had to guess I'd say that she divorced and hasn't adjusted to her new circumstances yet.

What is quite sad about her situation is that she's living confined to the kitchen as she keeps her living room unused. She has a "big house" mentality still and the place is crammed with furniture which is not making her life pleasant at all in what is actually quite a spacious place for what it is.

From my point of view allowing her to move on to something more suitable for her, while I get something I feel is very suitable for me, is a win-win.

It's just finding that price that can make both happen, which at the moment isn't working out for either of us.

westlondonbuyer

spend_thrift wrote: »

My vendor doesn't seem to understand that selling in this buyer's market also means she is buying her next place in the same market and is likely to get a lower price herself.

This was why I sold at a marked decrease on my asking price.

Unfortunately, as a buyer I'm finding not everyone thinks the same way.

I guess vendors of family houses are a lot older, and the % loss from peak feels so much greater to them. They want to hang on until the market improves. Which might be this September, 2012, 2014, or never, depending on which newspaper you read.

westlondonbuyer

spend_thrift wrote: »

From my point of view allowing her to move on to something more suitable for her, while I get something I feel is very suitable for me, is a win-win.

It's just finding that price that can make both happen, which at the moment isn't working out for either of us.

I know exactly what you mean. This is my situation too. It sucks. I just want a home, I'm a real nesting bird and no good at renting.

spend_thrift

It's a 1-bed flat in my case, rather than a family house, although I do understand your point. Having bought only 2 years ago and at the peak in the market, she's already reduced the price below what she paid for it and she's very much aware of that.

I suppose people also have different attitudes to money. For some people, as long as they get what they need or want to move on, then it doesn't matter what the actual figure is, and for others they get fixated on a hard cash sum.

Last night my Mum commented that although they only paid £45k for their house 30 years ago, an average weekly wage for a labourer at that time was only £20. Today the house might be worth ten times that, but wages have gone up by the same amount too. It's all relative.

The hard part for most first time buyers seems to be how much deposit we're required to put down. I've got about 18% which isn't bad, but to get the next level of borrowing I need 25-30% which is £45-50K and more like the equity you'd have after selling your first place, than a deposit.

spend_thrift

westlondonbuyer wrote: »

I know exactly what you mean. This is my situation too. It sucks. I just want a home, I'm a real nesting bird and no good at renting.

Me too. I'm fed up with the instability of renting and especially house sharing. I just want a place that I can settle into and know that it won't be going anywhere. The actual cash value is irrelevant to me as long as I can afford it and I like the place and I'm not setting myself up for trouble later on.

westlondonbuyer

Big prices and big deposits: this is why you now have couples buying 1-bed flats.

When I bought my first place, such places were known as "bachelor pads".

The idea that a decade later it would be common to find *two* people and their stuff in such small spaces would have made people laugh out loud.

ILW

westlondonbuyer wrote: »

Big prices and big deposits: this is why you now have couples buying 1-bed flats.

When I bought my first place, such places were known as "bachelor pads".

The idea that a decade later it would be common to find *two* people and their stuff in such small spaces would have made people laugh out loud.

Think it all goes around, I remember in the eighties boom there were loads of stories about cupboards in London blocks being converted into "studio flats" and sold for (at the time) vast sums.