new build vs resale? also accepting offer?

cranezoe

We have an offer on our house. FTB who have their mortgage approved in principle using our EA. Although it seems a low offer we want to try and work with it as its great to actually have an offer.

We have been to see several properties over the last few days and there is one we would love to buy. but we can only offer the difference of £30-40k between what we get and what we spend. The house we want is up for 165k and we offered our max of £152k but its been rejected straight away.

What should we do? Do we accept the offer from our FTB and tell them we have to keep looking? do we hold our nerve on the house/keep on at their agent/walk away and keep searching?

then today we went to look at some new builds and found one that we liked too. thats up at £196k and we dont know what we should offer on that or what kind of discounts new builds generally take. ??

the two houses are fairly similar sizes downstairs but upstairs is much bigger in the new build as it is 3 storey. and the new build would have nice kitchen, bathrooms and carpets etc and would be ready in March/April. but then in the resale one the area is nicer/nearer to work/ we could go to one car, and there is better parking and a bigger garden and is chain free but needs decorating etc.

we could always reject the offer on ours but it doesnt seem sensible to do so.

Please help!

cranezoe

any thoughts?

lincroft1710

If you can't afford even £153K, then I can't see you making an acceptable offer on one priced at £196K. Would you be prepared to knock almost 25% off your asking price? Hang on to your buyer, as if worst (or best happens) you may have to rent for a few months.

cranezoe

Im not brilliant on % but ours was up at 130k and the offer is 115k. So thats about 12%? maybe we shouldnt accept it then. so confusing. another house on my road that is the same as mine is up for 145k so thats about 20% if we had ours up at that price. we dropped ours three weeks ago to try to encourage ftb and its the cheapest house within a 5 mile radius but still the offer is quite a bit lower.

what kind of discount would you try and negotiate on a new build?
153k wouldnt have to be our max on a new build. the one we offered on needed tidying up, redecorating, a new boiler. we would want to put in a new kitchen at some point.

hethmar

Is the new build price less than others in that road? I mean, have they discounted it a lot already? Personally Id tell the sales person your situation and be frank about the top price you can offer.

Debt_Free_Chick

cranezoe wrote: »

we could always reject the offer on ours but it doesnt seem sensible to do so

Do you have to sell/move?

lethal0r

have you researched your area? are prices falling fast? personally i think your offer on that house is too high, even though its been rejected.

dont buy a new build if its not even built yet, and think twice about buying one anyway.

Doozergirl

I would do as hethmar suggests and lay it down on the table for the developers. In this market I suspect they will be more flexible than owner occupiers. Perhaps even if the outright offer isn't good enough for them, there may be the option of part-ex if they will offer you a better price for your house.

Also with the resale property you have offered on - I would seriously approach the estate agent again - explaining, just like you have to us, that you have had to take a lower offer on your house and are looking at the differential in price between the one you sell and the one you buy, rather than the actual selling price of yours. Is it possible that rather than an outright rejection, that these vendors might be prepared to do the same as you - make slightly lower offers on their potential properties to cover the difference? I'm sure it won't sound like rocket science to the EAs.

cranezoe

The new build is on a new development and so its been hard to find figures, though we did find one that was the same type of house in the same area sold in June 2007 for £198k.

We do want to sell. we dont have to but we are in a 2 bed and running out of space and do want to have another baby etc etc. We put the house on the market in March and had an offer in May of 150k which we accepted and found a house but our buyer then fell through.

I will speak to the agent about the house we offered on again. I put it all to them when we went in to speak to them on saturday and they said they understood and would put the offer positively but the vendor just flat out rejected it. Its no onward chain, she has moved out and is living somewhere else. She says she'd rather rent it than sell it for a low price. I dont know whether to keep pushing that or just accept that some people are too stubborn to work with!

Think I want to at least put an offer in on the new build. Our buyers are happy to wait to move in til March/April.

dander

Have you tried to negotiate your sale price up a little bit further? You might be able to get them up a little bit. Was it your first offer on the other house that was rejected? It might be worth talking to the estate agent and finding out exactly what they will accept.

In the current market I would think long and hard about which house you'll be happier to stay in for the long term. Don't be dazzled by the freshness and newness of the new build, because that won't last - try and think about which advantages of each property will really make a difference to you 5/10 years down the line.

cranezoe

we negotiated our price up by 5k from initial offer. they cant go any higher apparently and I dont want to push them for that as it would be more likely to fall through at the end.

it was our first offer that was rejected. I spoke to the agent today - she is marketing at 165k and will not consider less than 160k. the agents are frustrated but hey what can you do. they will speak to her again.

Havent spoken to the new build people yet, bit nervous about it all.

Spoke to my agent and officially accepted the offer. they want us to push for exchange asap but I have said I cant until I find somewhere, I dont want to come out of the market, I just want to keep it relative.