What to offer

llh189

I am due to view a property that is being marketed for 164.5k, property bee says the initial record was dated 17th Jan this year, according to net house prices the property was last sold in October 2004 for 141k.

I am not sure of the chain position but I am a FTB buying under the my choice homebuy scheme.

What would you do?

Thanks

loki13

View it before making a decision about what it is worth to you. I don't think that solely from the asking price and last sale price you can make an informed decision - you have no idea if anything has been done to the house since it was last sold (it may have been completely renovated). View some other houses in the area as well, they will give you something to compare this one to, and may actually end up being a place you can see yourself living in.

LeonandAlison

Whenever making an offer my advise is to justify it if its below the asking price. Make sure the estate agent notifies the vendor that your a FTB with no chain, thats already one bonus point.

Also look at how long the house has been on the market for, if it has been on for quite a while without a reduction then it doesnt seem likely that anyone was interested in it at that price, and with reducing prices that always gives a good justification for a low offer.

QTPie

Firstly see whether you like the property...

BUT, whilst you are doing the viewing, look for and ask what improvements have been done by the current owners (i.e. since 2004).

If nothing has done, you would maybe look at a starting offer of £140k. If you liked it -and depending how serious they are about selling - you may or may not have negotiate up from there (if they don't accept your first offer).

If they have done a lot (new kitchen, bathrooms, rewiring, new windows, completely redecorated, conservatory, landscaped gardens etc), then £164,500 MAY be more reasonable. BUT it has been on the market for 6 weeks with no offers yet, so it hasn't been "snapped up" (despite a resurge in interest in the housing market)... So maybe a very reasonable starting offer would be £145k/£150k even if it has had quite a lot of work done since 2004.

BUT it depends on how cheeky you are (many people will say "prices will fall well below 2004 prices" - so offering that now may see you in negative equity in a year or two) AND how much you like the house AND how much they need/want to sell...

Only you can make that decision:
- see how much you like the house and how much you want it
- find/work out how much has been done since 2004 (to see how it should compare against it's price in 2004...)
- factor in your financial situation (how big a deposit you have, how long you are likely to stay there, the stability of your jobs and relationship etc).

and go from there... some people look at houses as "investment" (so the bottom line is the most important thing), others see houses as homes (so the price is just one factor).

Good luck
QT