"Offer what you think it's worth", you say...

SGE1

...Only I don't know what it's worth! Fully agree with putting in an offer I think is fair and reflects the value of the property, and if that offer was declined, I'd have no qualms about walking away and looking for something else, but at this stage, I don't know where the fair benchmark should be set.

I'm at a stage where the figures are so high (>£300k) that I find myself going, "£340k? Or maybe £360k? I mean, there's not a lot of difference is there?". Obviously there is a lot of difference, 20 grand is a lot.

So how do you work it out? I'm on the calculator docking 10, then 15% off the asking price, but I don't know whether the asking price is set high in order to counter this kind of tactic, or whether it isn't (it's come down a lot, but that doesn't mean it's accurately price now).

I feel like I'm in a giant guessing game and I don't like it. Help me!

chickmug

SGE1 wrote: »

I feel like I'm in a giant guessing game and I don't like it. Help me!

Others will give you more detail on how to value but I think your comments about it being a guessing game are true.

As an agent I have seen other agents introduce a policy where all their staff have to inflate the values as they are not getting enough stock on - and they earn a commission. Then most obnoxiously the staff are told of they get sellers to drop by a certain amount within a certain time they earn another bonus.

Another agent used to employ cheap staff and once they had looked around the house they had to call back into the office to get a figure from someone more senior.

Get three agents in and hear wildly different figures so perhaps the thing to do is get 10 in and discount the silly high, and the silly low ones and average the rest.

But back to you hopefully you will soon get more tips.

Fortheloveofmoney

Have you ever looked at something and really wanted it but you thought the price was too high for what you'd get out of it? I'd apply the same principle with house buying backed up with research on what property sells for in the area (actual sold prices and not the marketed price).

I'd also take in to consideration what I'd need to spend and whether that had already been reflected in the asking price.

theartfullodger

"Offer what you think it's worth", you say...

£323.7k

Cheers!

Lodger

AlecE

SGE1 wrote: »

...Only I don't know what it's worth! Fully agree with putting in an offer I think is fair and reflects the value of the property, and if that offer was declined, I'd have no qualms about walking away and looking for something else, but at this stage, I don't know where the fair benchmark should be set.

It's not necessarily what the property is worth on the open market, it's what you are PERSONALLY willing to pay for it. If the house is on the market for £400k and it's worth £420k to you then offer less than £400k with the view of settling at or before £400k. If on the other hand it's only worth £380k to you then offer £360k perhaps and stop at or close to £380k. In the long term the house will gain in value, but that is over the long term.

Apologies for the get out

Alec

SGE1

AlecE wrote: »

It's not necessarily what the property is worth on the open market, it's what you are PERSONALLY willing to pay for it. If the house is on the market for £400k and it's worth £420k to you then offer less than £400k with the view of settling at or before £400k. If on the other hand it's only worth £380k to you then offer £360k perhaps and stop at or close to £380k. In the long term the house will gain in value, but that is over the long term.

Apologies for the get out

Alec

Sure. but as an FTB I've never handled or had to come to terms which such a huge amount of money, hence why it's hard to tell where to stop, I can't tell you what it's worth to me. It's not like I'm selling something that I can compare it to. Or rather, I know what it's worth to me in qualitative not quantitative terms (i.e. I really like it, that's about as much as I know).

I've tried Zoopla, but everyone here seems to think it's rubbish, so I've truly run out of ideas.

SGE1

theartfullodger wrote: »

"Offer what you think it's worth", you say...

£323.7k

Cheers!

Lodger

I'd like to be able to get away with that. It came on the market last summer for £470k though, so I think God might smite me if I take it too far.

lostinrates

SGE1 wrote: »

I'd like to be able to get away with that. It came on the market last summer for £470k though, so I think God might smite me if I take it too far.

But the devil may cheer

Have you tried the other sold price sites besides zoopla, and are you charting other asking price falls on Property Bee? IMO its all sort of guessing, and the fact there can be so much diverse opinion from professionals and longterm property watchers might support that

AlecE

SGE1 wrote: »

Sure. but as an FTB I've never handled or had to come to terms which such a huge amount of money, hence why it's hard to tell where to stop, I can't tell you what it's worth to me. It's not like I'm selling something that I can compare it to. Or rather, I know what it's worth to me in qualitative not quantitative terms (i.e. I really like it, that's about as much as I know).

It's <reacted> scary isn't it. I worked out what my (personal) ceiling was based on the deposit I had to offer (around £58k to include expenses etc) and how much I realistically expected I could afford each month for the mortgage payments (given a realistic interest rate). In the end I decided that I could afford up to £175k, this is for stamp duty reasons and also that given a £50k deposit I would need a £125k mortgage and at 4.15% over 5 years I could afford it. At the moment I've offered £173k but the HBR has suggested £170k so there's room for negotiation.

The amount I'll be in debt still scares the bejusus out of me though

Alec

SGE1

lostinrates wrote: »

But the devil may cheer

Have you tried the other sold price sites besides zoopla, and are you charting other asking price falls on Property Bee? IMO its all sort of guessing, and the fact there can be so much diverse opinion from professionals and longterm property watchers might support that

I thought all the sold price sites were pretty much the same? I've got nethouseprices on my bookmarks but don't check it much, I'll have a look. And yeah I'm doing the whole property bee stalker thing; I've got 30 properties saved (about 5 I'm genuinely interested in, about 25 are just to see prices fluxes), I check out any changes every few days. There's not been a lot of action recently.

lostinrates

SGE1 wrote: »

I thought all the sold price sites were pretty much the same? I've got nethouseprices on my bookmarks but don't check it much, I'll have a look. And yeah I'm doing the whole property bee stalker thing; I've got 30 properties saved (about 5 I'm genuinely interested in, about 25 are just to see prices fluxes), I check out any changes every few days. There's not been a lot of action recently.

TBH I don't use them that often (we looking at agricultural rather than residential things). I only tried PB for the House Price ghetto But I try the odd thing through them all. Only two of them have the data for my parents house. I have no idea why that is.