FTB-how much under should we consider offering for houses?

Manchester_Lucy

Hi guys,

We are currenly looking at buying a property for the first time. We already have a 3 yr old son and don't really want to hold off having another before too long so therefore we need a family house (min 3 beds), with a garden etc.

The trouble is the average house price round here is £200,000 which is more than we could get in a mortgage or afford so we are forced to look slightly further a field. Have seen a few ex-council houses which aren't great but more affordable than a 'normal' 3 bed house.

Anyway my point is, how much under the asking price do you think that we could get away with without being completely blown out and accused of wasting time?

We've looked on websites such as https://www.ourpropery.co.uk to see what other houses on the same roads have gone for and a lot have sold in recent years for about £50,000 less than the current asking prices although we can't compare the interiers etc from that site.

We would probably be able to afford a mortgage of about £120,000 but some of these houses need re-fitting, re-decoration etc so we don't really want to stretch ourselves to the limit and then not be able to do it up or add value to the property once we're in it.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

lightspeed

Hi,

I have found myself in this situation very recently and have come to the conclusion that there are several factors that play key roles in how much you will pay/should offer for a house.

1)I obviously dont know your situation, however,if you have got a 10% deposit depending on salary's you may be able to lend more than was first thought. We had quotes from some reputable high street lenders that were 30-40K less than others. Enlist the help of an independant FA.

2)Be as honest as possible and use your position as a FTB. If you were in the vendors shoes how much would you want? Easier said than done, but if you be realistic about your valuation it can give you an indication on how low they may go. Asking questions to the EA (be prepared for bluffs from EA's) and the vendor regarding the amount of interest in the house and what others in the area are fetching (prices change a lot in a few years).

Finally, know your absolute max (taking into account your deposit and money for updating). Personally i wouldn't pitch the first offer much below 10% of the asking price, however, whats the worst that could happen. They say "no"!

Good luck.

rach29

Manchester_Lucy wrote:

We've looked on websites such as https://www.ourpropery.co.uk to see what other houses on the same roads have gone for and a lot have sold in recent years for about £50,000 less than the current asking prices although we can't compare the interiers etc from that site.

.

What you may need to consider is that these websites generally use actual sold price data to make their calculations, and where ex-council houses are concerned the last sold price may be what the owner paid the council which will be a much discounted price.

Therefore the valuation on the website may be somewhat 'off' what the real market value is.

tomstickland

If the property is realistically priced you can generally offer 10% below asking price without feeling bad about it.