House price negotiation

Most_Wanted

I am a first time buyer.
Theres a property I really like....needs a bit of renovation but I think that's the only way I can buy cheap and decorate and refurbish to my taste.

Anyway I made a number of offers. The asking price is 205k.
Offered 177, 185 and lately 193.
They were all rejected.

A few days back the agents phoned me and said "up it to 195k and we think we can convince them to accept".
I said I will get back to them as I have already exhausted my deposit and mortgage possibilities.

The thing is - the house directly opposite which was for sale at 230k (as it was in much better condition) has been on the market for more than 8 months had a sale fall through as the survey found it had been under pinned (subsidence)

In hindsight I would like to offer LESS than the 193k I reached last time - when the agents are asking for 2k MORE.

How do I play this?
Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance

xlt_hunter

Walk away - there is always another one around the corner - mind you, tell the estate agent that you have lost interest they might take the £193k.

But with house prices set to fall (I hope!) you might be better holding onto your cash for the time being if they are going down.

cattie

Personally if somebody made me 3 unrealistic offers on my house & then came back with an offer that was lower than their previous one I know what my response would be & It certainly wouldn't be polite!

You have the choice to either make a sensible offer or find another house. Just because the house opposite has been underpinned has no relevance to the house in question.

tomstickland

I think it was worth a try. Wait and see what happens. The house might sit there for a few more months yet.

Torash0

:xmastree: House prices are not about to fall, all indications show that they will continue to rise slowly. Of course this does depend on where you live., but in general they will rise.
I would walk away and let them come running after you. :xmassign:

mummytofour

A friend of mine, is currently buying a house, the house was put on the market abck in the summer for 225k, then reduced along the way down to 215k then when she finally viewed it was on at 205k she offered 192 and was told no in the end she offerd and got it for 195k.

The thing to remember is the vendor has a figure that they cant go under (in most cases) look at it like this if the vendors can not get enough money, they there cant move so no sale anyway.

I think 195k sounds like a good price, if you cant afford that then walk away, something else will come along.

tomstickland

Noone knows what they are going to do. The message in, for example, Bricks and Mortar is that realistically prices houses continue to sell. There are plenty of stories of houses that haven't sold, so, to me, that means there's a downwards pull on prices. Depends on what sort of houses and where, but in Gloucester flats and coach houses in the <£100K range are falling.

BobProperty

I'd be more concerned that the house opposite has subsided. Do you know why? If there is a general problem in the area, you might want to avoid the street/area anyway? It's not in St Annes is it? (St Anne's is an area I know reasonably well and parts of it have a problem with subsidence) If there is a problem with the house, even if it is curable (which it usually is) it isn't anything like as mortgageable as a house without the problem.

Most_Wanted

Thanks for your help folks.
The thing is that I see the house having plenty of potential. It is ideal for me in terms of location and setup.
I am thinking to use the fact that the house opposite's "structural problems" has forced me to reconsider my position and no longer prepared to offer what I had previously.
Or, do you think that a price can be made contingent on a survey? i.e. should any structural issues arise they must offer a price of say 3k less?
I dont know - something like that?

Thanks once again

BobProperty

Most_Wanted wrote:

Thanks for your help folks.
The thing is that I see the house having plenty of potential. It is ideal for me in terms of location and setup.
I am thinking to use the fact that the house opposite's "structural problems" has forced me to reconsider my position and no longer prepared to offer what I had previously.
Or, do you think that a price can be made contingent on a survey? i.e. should any structural issues arise they must offer a price of say 3k less?
I dont know - something like that?

Thanks once again

Structural problems like subsidence could cost a lot more than 3k. If you really, really want this house and have £200k in the bank then get structural survey done. If you need a reasonable sized mortgage (or possibly any sort of mortgage) then you are unlikely to get one if there is subsidence, unless someone pays out money to get it fixed immediately.

---lee---

Any offer you make is subject to a satisfactory survey.

If the survey throws up any problems you can then request that these are corrected or the money to correct them is deducted from the sale price. If these are minor issues, fine. If the house has any sort of structural problems, I would run a mile.

Personally, I would leave them to come back to you. First time buyers have few complications and desirable in terms of a quick and uncomplicated completion. If they are desperate to sell, you will get a good deal and they will get what they want (the house sold). If they are not desperate, they can hang around for a better offer.

:xmassign: