House buying and Negotiating

lightspeed

Hi, I was just after some quick advice/opinions on my current buying situation.

Myself and my partner are FTB's and have being looking at various properties in our local area. We recently came to the conclusion that buying a decent sized house in a desirable area was a priority despite the fact that it would probably stretch us further finanicially than first planned.

Anyway, we have seen a house that fits the criteria which is priced at £159,950 and have consequently put a bid in (albeit, a cheeky one) for £146,200. We waited several days only to be told that the vendor has left the country for Austrailia and has told her solicitor that she wont accept anything below the lower end of £150,000.

We dwelled on the idea and quite quickly increased the offer to £150,000 (may be a bit too hasty). Today this of was again rejected and the EA stated that the vendor will not accept anything lower than £155,000.

Do i now assume that this is an amount set in stone or meet them half way. Our financial situation will allow it but we are gradually eating into our substantial deposit that would be needed to update this property (i.e. new bathroom, kitchen and decor throughout).

Any advice would be helpful

Thanks in advance.

Cristy

We recently found ourselves in a similar situation to yours (i.e. trying to negotiate with a vendor not prepared to go below a certain amount on a house needing a fair bit of work).

I would have to suggest to work out how much it would cost you to do it up to an acceptable standard, subtract that from the asking price and make a FINAL offer, stressing that you cannot afford to go any higher than this. Stress your desirable position of FTBs, and make it clear that you are prepared to walk if need be.

It is easy to get caught up in the moment and offer asking price (or very near to it) on a house that isn't really worth that much, just because you have fallen in love with it. Ask yourself - could you live without any or some of the renovations you are planning if you had to up your offer?

In our case, the answer was NO, and we walked. The house wasn't worth the asking price, the vendors weren't going to compromise (and we offered 98% of asking price as our final offer) and we weren't either. Funnily enough, a better house turned up the next week, in a better area, at a better price and in a better state of repair. We made a good offer on this and it was accepted