Buying a house, help me hold my nerve (or not?)

victoriabean

OK, bit of back story. 12 months ago we lost out on a house which went for £220, our max offer was £215 as it needed lots of work doing. A year later (sold ours, now renting and many many houses viewed) another house on the same street has come up for sale. The vendors are selling privately, it's only been on a week, and they have no pressure to sell quickly as it's an inheritance.
the asking price is £240k. We've made what we think is a generous offer of £210k. It needs less work than the last house that sold on the street but obviously prices have fallen substantially in the last year, and we're now in a strong position.
They've rejected our offer saying they want a minimum of £225k. My plan was to restate the offer in writing, and leave it on the table until the end of the month. My husband wants to offer £215k.
What do you think? I really do want to buy this house, but I don't want to pay over the odds.

socrates

Two factors here - what can you actually afford and what will the valuation be. One affects the other and it can cost money to find out either way.

Make a final offer and be prepared to walk away.

Sometimes things happen for a reason and a better house may be just around the corner - literally!

Conrad

Honestly, I see no point in quiblling over £10 or £20k if you 'really want this house' and have been trying to buy for a year and when you consider £20k over say 40 years of use is £1.37 per day.

If you sold yours for the max you could extract from the buyers, so should be prepared to act in kind.

I'm careful with money myself, but I cant get all heated over £20k if it's a home I really want. I think of it in the sense it was only luck the homes Ive sold in the past provided me a healthy profit, so why not use some of that good fortune to buy the next home if it's the perfect place.

Best of luck.

victoriabean

Conrad, we accpted the first offer we got on our house after 10 months on the market - we probably could have hung out for more from them but their offer was fair and we wanted a quick and smooth sale.