Realistic offer?

woody252506

Hi,

me and my partner have seen a house we like and are considering making an offer.

Its a lovely 2 bed bungalow in a nice location and is exactly what we want. However it does need cosmetic updating (new wallpaper, carpets) as well as a new Bathroom as its designed for disabled use and very old and also in the long run requires a new fire and boiler system as its old but still works.

Its up for £114,995. We are first time buyers, have a mortgage in principal and are ready to make an offer now. We were considering starting at the 100k mark. Is dropping almost 15k on the first offer unrealistic or about right considering the work that needs doing and the current housing market?

Thanks

pizzagirl

Too much IMHO. Prices are going to fall at least another 20% so you've got to consider this.

Chris2685

It depends how realisitically the place is priced at the moment. I would say if you really like the place, put in an offer of around 20% less, and work up from there going to a limit that you are happy with. They really should accept 100k in this market, so start lower!

currynchips

Average house price dropped £4k last month. Steady decrease over the past 10 months, so unlikely to turn around sharpish. At a completely random guess, I suggest the aveage would fall another £10k by 2009.
Now the house you are after is lower than average, and that potentially means lower falls. What are other houses on the street worth? You want to get the house for what it will be worth by the time you move in - 2/3 months away. £100k is a good starter, but I'd perhaps be cheekier, maybe £96k?


Apparently there's something about offering an odd amount(96,750 instead of 100), that makes vendors feel you are stretching yourself.

And finally, never ever tell anyone what the maximum you can go to is, until it is your final offer. They will immediately aim for this.

woody252506

Thanks for the replies!:T

The street is very nice and has bungalows all along, all of which are well looked after.

A similar bungalow further down the same road is on the market for £135k but it is very nice and is done to a very good standard and has a wider drive and garage which is something the one we have seen lacks!:cool:

Chris2685

Offer 100k for the nicer one then first

GDB2222

woody252506 wrote: »

Thanks for the replies!:T

The street is very nice and has bungalows all along, all of which are well looked after.

A similar bungalow further down the same road is on the market for £135k but it is very nice and is done to a very good standard and has a wider drive and garage which is something the one we have seen lacks!:cool:

You do know about www.nethouseprices.com ? It tells you what other properties have actually sold for. Asking prices are not very relevant.

Also, prices are dropping at 2% a month at the moment - annualised, that's 25% a year. You really want to think about that before buying at the moment.

geoffky

you are offering far too much....it will be 20% cheaper next year

lostinrates

Chris2685 wrote: »

It depends how realisitically the place is priced at the moment. I would say if you really like the place, put in an offer of around 20% less, and work up from there going to a limit that you are happy with. They really should accept 100k in this market, so start lower!

We have not made any offers recently but theoretically, and as I tell the agents who are calling each week to see if I'm still looking, I've seen the headlines of '30% overpriced' as carte banche to be offering, should I care to at that sort of mark. The agents are still calling, so they can't be too put off by that. I understand the figure was not applicable to all sort of properties...but I blame media hysteria