Help on first offer....

goonernumber1

Am very interested in an ex-LA (perfect location, very nice size, mostly private now) and the asking price is £139,995. The previous owner has moved into his partner's house (reason for selling) and he is paying both mortgages (so he wants ot sell quickly). I was just wondering if anybody has any advice on what I should offer as the starting price?? Thanks in advance...

AndrewSmith

Hi,

Try reading this thread first, see if it helps.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=175653

Andy

goldbyron

I would put in a first offer of about £130,000 to test the waters. If he wants the asking price he will make it known. It is worth a shot.

loulou41

I have seen a house I like at 299k in Harrow. Please what should be my offer, I do not want to embarass myself by making a low offer? I have read, it shoud be 5 or 10% below the asking price. Thanks

Doozergirl

Loulou, as long as you are sure it's worth it then £270 - 275k would be okay. I'd hope to settle around the £285,000 mark if they've been on for a little while.

loulou41

Very new to the business of buying as am looking to buy for my daughter and son in their joint names. I do not have a clue whether the house is worth that price. Hubby is keen on it as it is within walking distance of harrow & Wealdstone station and this is very handy for daughter as she can take the fast train. She will be the one who lives in it. Is there anybody who can help to value the property before making an offer? I do not wish to spend a lot at that stage. I have also checked the property prices websites. Thanks for your help.

Doozergirl

You've already checked sold prices, so another couple of hours trawling rightmove, propertyfinder, findaproperty etc for current asking prices and then viewing as many similar properties as you can, within a mile of the one you are interested in, will help you to establish whether the asking price is realistic. There is no way that you should go ahead on a purchase without being sure that you're paying the right price.

Your surveyor will give a valuation for mortgage purposes (if indeed you are buying with a mortgage) but you will have incurred costs by that point so it's much better to be sure beforehand.

missk_ensington

A really useful site in https://www.houseprices.co.uk Put in the address/postcode/town you are looking to buy and it tellas you what they've recently been selling at (although don't assume because someone else paid 100k instead of 150k that you should also be paying 100k, because it doesn't tell you what state the proprty was in)

The person who started this thread, what an ex-LA house and where do you live (North or South?) You see in the North £139k isn't that cheap, but in London is probably would be. It makes all the difference!

herbiesjp

ARe you buying with a mortgage?

Will the mortgage be in your childrens name seeing as the property is for them?

Hvae you checked to see if the mortgage will be achieveable for whoever the mortgage is for?

goonernumber1

missk_ensington wrote:

A really useful site in https://www.houseprices.co.uk Put in the address/postcode/town you are looking to buy and it tellas you what they've recently been selling at (although don't assume because someone else paid 100k instead of 150k that you should also be paying 100k, because it doesn't tell you what state the proprty was in)

The person who started this thread, what an ex-LA house and where do you live (North or South?) You see in the North £139k isn't that cheap, but in London is probably would be. It makes all the difference!

Ex LA is ex local authority, which basically means it was a council block, but now all the flats are privately owned. And I am in the south (about 30 mins from central London, (a very sought after location))

missk_ensington

Right I see, well I can't comment on the prices down south but look one the site Ive said and check what theyve been selling for, as well as HOW MANY have sold in the last 3 years. This, in my opinion, is as important as value-its no good having a house you're unable to resell!
Without appearing offensive, Id always advise caution in buying ex-council. You cannot be sure that EVERY house is privately owned (unless you go to land reg and check the deeds on EVERY house!) and it only takes one house, with one bad tenant to makes your life hell. Also, without also wishing to sound like a stuck up conservative pig, the people who buy council houses are often the people who USED to live there as a tenant, which doesn't change the type of people who live near you. Its a vicious circle, because the the people who can get a mortgage don't really want to live there, and the people who do want to live there because they have friends/family there, cant get the mortgage, hence difficult to re-sell.

Obviously if that's all you can afford at the mo with London being so expensive, then you might have no choice, but have a really good look around (you might find something smaller that needs a load of work doing) . Also, when you come to sell, people who view your house will be put off by the fact they think you might have bought it dirt cheap under the Right To Buy scheme and made a load of money (even if thats not the case). The best way to make money is buying something with potential to make money. I just bought for £90k (asking price 100k) but the rest of the street is selling between £120-150,000, but it needs LOADS of work doing. Will spend £15k on loft conversion, and £10kon improvement and sell for £150k making £35,000 profit in under 12months. Id then buy something at £120,000 (use £30,000 to pay off mortgage, which was only £80k to start with) which needs a lot of work and sell for £160k or whatever...etc etc, and pay all profits off mortgage. In 3 years I'll have £180,000 house with no mortgage and I'll only be 23.

Then you can get a mortgage to buy a second property.... and so it continues until you a) have as much money as you want or b) cant be bothered anymore! (Admittedly, it is stressful living in a construction zone! and it absolutely has to be a house that needs huge amounts of work, not just redecorating. I look for houses where the occupier has either died or gone into residential housing. These are great cos not only do the kids want the money fast cos they're so greedy, but they have huge profit margins)

Sorry for the essay! Hope this info helps you, or someone else!

x