Making an Offer

Jay1b

I read somewhere on this board how to word it when your making an offer, it was something like 'I would like to make an offer of £125K subject to survey and.....' But i cant remember the last bit, and i cant find where i read it now. The last bit basically said some flash term which means effectively they stop taking viewing from other people. Does anyone know what this is, or where abouts i read it?

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Also i've seen two houses (2 doors apart funny enough), and i'm kind of undecided which one to go for. The houses are identical except a few changes which have been made over the last 30 yrs or so.

House 1: Priced £132,500
Nice bay window, Kitchen is FLASH - oven stays, Lounge is very modern looking and has recently been redecorated to my tastes. Has a nice inbuilt fire place, which is remote control. Bathroom is nice, bedrooms need decorating (not badly). Has a garage, but to get to it, you need to walk out the back gate, along an alley for about 4m.

House 2: Priced £130,000
No bay window, kitchen is clean and certainly liveable - but old fashioned, the lounge is very nice, but more so aimed at my parents age group, the fireplace is old fashioned. Has a nice conservatory on the back running the width of the house and about 5' wide. You can access the garage directly from the backgarden, bathroom is nice, bedrooms are in a better state - but not really to my taste.

I prefer house 1, because i was very much taken by the kitchen and lounge - the bay window makes the room seem so much bigger. But i also like the conservatory on house 2 and the fact i can access the garage directly.

My parents point out that i could always redo the kitchen in a few years time, but then i could also build the conservatory in a few years time. The direct access to the garage and the bay window cant realistically be changed though.

What do people think? What do you think would be a suitable offer for each house? £125K? Obviously i dont want to offend them by putting in a stupidly low offer, but i want it as cheap as possible being a FTB.

Thanks.

mr218

depends on how desperate you are to move into either house. isnt the stamp duty threshold at 120 K. offer them both that amount and say that you will move immediately. it may not work. but if it does on either house, you have money left over to add whatever you want.
if you feel that 120K is too low and that the houses are already reasonably priced them make an offer of 125K on boht of them.

you are in a good situation as you have seen what can be done on each of these houses to bring them upto date. make a costing on what needs to be done like decorating the lounge, decorating the bedrooms, cost of kitchen, conservatory etc.

i would choose house two as it has structural advantages and the proximity to the garage, which no amount of money can bring. also by saving a minimum of 2000 on house two you can put in a decent kitchen. you can always change the lounge to your taste. dont be taken in by cosmetic changes. that is the reason why the first house is 2000 more. the conservatory on house 2 is a nice touch. so i would go for house 2. you can always improve on kitchen and lounge with a reasonable amount of money.

keep your options open on both houses and try to reduce the price on the second house as it seems the best option long term

Doozergirl

Go back for second viewings on both. This time, look at the roof on both, look at the quality and age of the windows, look at the boilers and the fuse boxes. House 1 will probably still win but you're looking to see that these things won't need replacing soon. Sometimes a house can be outdated but better structurally maintained and this should make it worth more money to you.

If you know what needs doing to each house, it gives you greater bargaining power with the other. If you feel that house 2 is worth less because of the extent of work, then you should be offering less to make it more attractive. Either way, play the houses off against each other, and give reasons for your offer. 'I'm offering x less because I like next door and it has a conservatory' and 'I'm offering y because next door has a newer kitchen and won't need replacing soon'.

If you can cope, I'd be making offers on both and seeing which comes out on top.

Jay1b

Thanks

I'm a bit ummm.. dubious about making offers on both. That just seems rude, which tbh wouldnt really bother me. But as they probably know each other (living 2 doors away), i dont want them to think i'm taking the !!!!!! and for them both to tell me to 'clear' off.

If i offered £120K, isnt there a chance that they could be offended, and not sell it to me even if i then made a better offer?

I think i need to do some research into Kitchen/conservatory costs etc...

mr218

when i say make an offer on both, i think it is a valid thing to do. you are putting on onus on them. i dont think there i anything unethical about making offers on both houses. you are not agreeing to buy the houses. you are just having initial negotiations about the price. whoever responds first and responds positively gets your cash. it is as simple as that. you dont have to be deceptive or underhand about it. you are just trying to get the best deal for yourself and you are pretty open about it

it is very common for sellers not only to accept two offers but to negotiate with two or more prospective buyers. so the fact that you are considering both houses need not be a big deal.

as i said work out what is more important to you and how much it would cost to have the best of both houses to be present in the house you buy . that will give you a good idea of what sort of money you need to get your 'dream' house

good luck. and keep us posted

Tahiti

In the same position, I would offer £120k on the property that I liked the most, and await their come back. I would make it clear that the offer is due to the stamp duty banding. They may not be happy with the offer, but at least you are giving them a reason for the offer.

Only you will know how you feel though.

[Deleted User]

I just want to add that you could offer £120K plus let's say 5K for fittings so you don't have to pay stamp duty! And I agree with Doozergirl, go back to see them with family/friends and look at the empty shell. You can also ask both Vendors about their immediate neighbours and see if they can win you over. Best of luck!

Jay1b

I think £5K for fixtures and fittings is quite excessive, but they both have garages... I was thinking about asking them whether they would sell the garage in a separate transcation... thoughts?

Doozergirl

Jay1b wrote:

I think £5K for fixtures and fittings is quite excessive, but they both have garages... I was thinking about asking them whether they would sell the garage in a separate transcation... thoughts?

You won't be able to do that, I don't think. The title deeds would have to split to make the garage seperate (I think), so the administration would be too much for the vendor. £5k for f+f would be too much also for HMR&C to not think it odd; £2k would be more like it.

I also agree very much with mr218. There is nothing wrong with making more than one offer if you are open about it. The fact is that there are two properties that you like - a major determining factor in which one you buy will be price! Nobody is suggesting that you be duplicitous or sneaky, you just need to establish the agreeable sale price for both to make that decision sensibly. If one isn't prepared to budge from asking price but the other is prepared to drop to a little over £120k, which house are you going to buy?? It's a no brainer for me!

Even if these people are friends, there's competition in who sells first. No sensible vendor is going to refuse to sell you their house because you were open about being interested in another property.

Jay1b

So you think i should make the offers at the same time? Or make one and say 'I need to know by tomorrow morning, because i have another house in mind' or something along those lines?

Doozergirl

It doesn't really matter, but my preference would be to do both at the same time and be totally honest.

The issues people have are with being messed about and lied to. If you are straight forward and honest, they can't complain. We have a house on the market as of last week and the mirror image next door is also for sale but at a cheaper price. I'd be silly not to expect a play-off situation but I can definately justify the extra cost, so I'll take the chance and completely understand if someone wants to make offers on both - why wouldn't they, they're the same house?

After all, if next door does go first, I'll have less competition!