Made Offer On A House

Scrubs

Okies, here is the situation..

House in question has been up for sale since last September, not sure though if there was already a price drop. I spotted it about 1 month ago, 'offers in the region of' 146k. It is a 3 bedroom semi in a good area, although the house is in need of cosmetic upgrading. From what the estate agent said, it has been empty since September when the old lady passed on, and house is being sold by her son.
I had offered 136k, so 10k off what they are looking for, got a call back asking if I would meet in the middle at 140k. Told them I'd have a think about it over the weekend. I'm a FTB in no rush, so was wondering what the next move should be in the offering stakes?

I was thinking of saying 137.5k as next offer, that sound reasonable? Or should I just up my first offer by say, 1k? Kinda new to this offering malarky as you can tell!

socrates

Scrubs wrote: »

Okies, here is the situation..

House in question has been up for sale since last September, not sure though if there was already a price drop. I spotted it about 1 month ago, 'offers in the region of' 146k. It is a 3 bedroom semi in a good area, although the house is in need of cosmetic upgrading. From what the estate agent said, it has been empty since September when the old lady passed on, and house is being sold by her son.
I had offered 136k, so 10k off what they are looking for, got a call back asking if I would meet in the middle at 140k. Told them I'd have a think about it over the weekend. I'm a FTB in no rush, so was wondering what the next move should be in the offering stakes?

I was thinking of saying 137.5k as next offer, that sound reasonable? Or should I just up my first offer by say, 1k? Kinda new to this offering malarky as you can tell!

If you are serious then stick to your guns BUT as always its the mortgage valuation that counts.

Tell them you want to view the property again - take a builder and get a rough estimate for 'cosmetic works' - and structure your deal accordingly

There are a lot of people here who will give you good advice - you came to the right place!

themanbearpig

I personally think you should have pitched your first offer lower, around £120 or 15% off asking price, which is generally what is expected now days. Since you have gone in at such a high starting point, now make it clear that it is your final offer, and let the vendor sweat for a few days. Considering its been on the market for so long, he would be a fool not to accept such a high offer, and will probably do so.

Are you sure the house just requires redecoration? What about electrics, central heating, boiler, roof work, insulation etc? These things cost much more than you would expect, and a house that looks like it needs £5k work can easily cost £15k+ for essential works. Tread very carefully.

Sammy85_2

I'd hold on for now. You're only £10k under asking as it is. Let them sweat it for a bit. If you come back with another offer you'll be playing into their hands.

We were in a similar spot about 3 years ago. An end of terrace in a remote spot came up that we fell in love with. It was £135. We came in at £105k (as it was a mess) and worked up to £112.5k. The old lady who owned it had died and three sons were now selling it, and at £112.5k it was being considered, only one of the sons wasnt keen on selling.

Two doors along another modernised one came up for sale at £150k and that put an end to it. The house went off the market and was being modernised so they could achieve a similar money. They're still doing it up now.


It all depends on how much you want it. I think if you give in now, you'll regret paying so much a little way down the line.

Im glad we held out, we have a 3 bed detached now for not much more.

alexlyne

How much are other houses in your area on the market for, is the 146 good or bad? Don't assume you can put in a silly offer, or stick to your guns, and still get the house. Maybe 140 is good... maybe 136 is the maximum you're prepared to go for. If someone is absolutely desparate to sell, they'll take 10-15% off, but otherwise not (would you?).

However, you are in a strong position as long as you're the only person interested. Remember this.

homehunter

OP - I would say stick to it, I think what an earlier post said about getting a rough valuation for work is a good one - I'll have to remember that myself!

On a related note - I've seen a property which is empty, needs some work (looks cosmetic mainly but suspect there may be other things too, boiler, check the electrics etc - I haven't actually booked a viewing yet!) - the agent is asking "offers in excess of £140k". There's no way I'd offer that given the work that needs doing, we're FTBs so need a big deposit plus money left over to start work. They can't refuse to entertain any offers under that can they? Especially with this the news about prices not reaching a trough until end of the year.

I know that legally they have to put forward any offers they receive, but I just wondered what the deal is with this 'offers in excess of' line....

Sammy85_2

homehunter wrote: »

I just wondered what the deal is with this 'offers in excess of' line....

Wishful thinking...

Scrubs

Thanks for the replys folks. I still have not got back to them yet about their counter offer. What I do know is that I'm not willing to move to the 140k they asked to meet at beacuse of the work that would need done. Not like I'm in any rush here just now to move anywhere. I'm thinking of calling back tomorrow and saying that I'm sticking with my offer and will leave it on the table untill the end of the week.

As for prices in the same area, I checked the 'show houses that are SSTC' box on right move and seen a property of the exact same style, only it didnt need any decoration and did not have as much land as the one I'm looking at (which is a corner plot). That was a fixed price of 145k, which I take it the vendors got.

I'm actually starting to drive myslef mental now constantly thinking about this..

cuthbert_the_octopus

I wouldnt assume that the other house went for asking price (unless you live in Scotland, where I believe fixed price means fixed price).

I would check houseprices.co.uk and see how much local houses have been sold for recently.

Scrubs

Cuthbert, yep I'm in Scotland. It has just been a recent sale so have no way to check if it did go for the exact 145k.

sunnysea83

Where i live south of UK a lot of housing are coming up as offers in region of 145-160k