new here..ftb queries!

maryotuam

Estate agents always say there is another interested party. It might be true and it might not be!

Fulham_Mark

The estate agent saying is "It's not how much the house is worth but how much you are prepared to pay for it". In your case you're prepared to pay well over what it's worth and I am sure the estate agent knows it.

sadly FTBs are cannon fodder. You're paying tourist prices for your holiday beer.

There will always be more houses coming on the market. Although it's tough to do, try not to get emotionally attached to anything, keep looking at other houses and be very tough with agents.

superfran_uk

Ditto wrote: »

maybe because everyone on here says houses are over priced and need to come down more?

Oops I thanked you by accident.

You can't say just because a house is listed for 180 then it is automatically overpriced. Similarly just because you personally can't afford it does not make it overpriced. The only thing that does make it overpriced is if you can buy other properties of the same or similar standard for less, in which case you should buy one of those instead!

caljoemor

Fulham_Mark wrote: »

In your case you're prepared to pay well over what it's worth and I am sure the estate agent knows it.
QUOTE]

How do you know that the house isn't worth the 170,000 that the OP has said they are considering paying????

Yakubu22

sambi wrote: »

Hi, i havent posted on here before..but am a bit clueless and could do with some advice!

We are FTB's and after viewing only one other house have found the perfect house, and put an offer in. It was on at £180,000, which seemed a bit high and as we are in a good position (no house to sell, big deposit, mortgage agreed in principle) we put in a cheeky offer of £155,000..which was rejected...we upped it to 162,000 and still a no. Asked how much she was willing to accept and the agent said £170,000...

Not sure what to do now, we could afford to go to £170k but we have no idea what we are doing, is it worth negotiating further for a few thousand off, or playing the waiting game for a bit? Every bit of advice we get seems to be suggesting we play some sort of game, which is frustrating!

Also, what are the next steps after this? Once we have an offer accepted, do we just instruct a solicitor and the mortgage lenders and then its all down to them?

We ideally want this all wrapped up by august as that's when our rental contract ends...seems possible since the seller has found a house she likes and will be mortgage free, and those people have found a house they want which is currently vacant...am i being too optimistic?

thanks for any replies
Sam

What prices were equivalent houses going for on the same street around 2003-2004? That's your target price...

Type the street name and town/city here

http://www.houseprices.co.uk


If the 170K is around the 2005-2007 mark be wary that you may be paying overthe odds...i suppose it depends on how much you really want that house.

Yakubu22

sambi wrote: »

thanks for all the replies!

my boyfriend has put in an offer of 169k as the estate agents rang and said someone else was really interested and had arranged a second viewing. I think he panicked a little as we do really want the house, and yes, would be very disappointed not to get it. Maybe we could've gone in a bit lower, but hopefully this might swing it..fingers crossed.

just got to wait now i suppose..

Take everythink an EA says with a pinch of salt. They are selling something and will apply the same pressure as a Used Car Salesman by making you think you're missing out on something special.

Ditto

superfran_uk wrote: »

Oops I thanked you by accident.

You can't say just because a house is listed for 180 then it is automatically overpriced. Similarly just because you personally can't afford it does not make it overpriced. The only thing that does make it overpriced is if you can buy other properties of the same or similar standard for less, in which case you should buy one of those instead!

I've returned the karma and thanked you back;)

I didn't say it was overpriced, I just said maybe it was because everyone on here says houses are over priced and need to come down more?
The op said they were clueless so maybe they read a few threads where people had said houses where overpriced and thought that the house they was looking at must be also?

I'm a ftb as well so I'm looking for a house that is reasonably priced for my budget and will compare it to other houses in the area and if it is better I will put an offer in.

Maybe the op could put up a link, or a postcode?

superfran_uk

Agree - Rightmove link would help!

Davesnave

May I ask what is 'perfect' about the house? I've seen literally dozens of houses, yet none has approached perfection.

I'm buying something that's good and a huge bargain, but to make it 'very good' will take time and money. Personally, I'm more than happy with that; it's been a blooming long time looking.

£170k is a massive amount of money. It's also just a shade under 5% shy of the asking price, so there's no huge bargain there in monetary terms.

It may be that someone else is interested, in which case you can ask to be informed if they offer. The agent knows you are in a good position, so he/she won't forget you.You may also find that this other party just melts away.;)

Nowhere in your post do you tell us (very roughly) where the property is or how long it has been marketed. Without this information, no one can really advise you about your offer. For example, in Colchester houses have been selling and in areas of Manchester it's been a different story. Maybe there's someone local around on MSE.

The bottom line is that you have little to compare with and you are worried & frustrated, both by the uncertainty of the negotiation process and by your own lack of knowledge. Believe me, you have all the time in the world to get this right, so take the advice of the poster above and get going on Nethouseprices, now, this minute!

Sorry to sound so stern, but it really isn't a game; it's your money and it's serious!

Best of luck whatever you do. If you don't get it, for whatever reason, there will be another; you can depend on that.