1st Offer?

Woby_Tide

so thats every single house in every single area sells at 93% of the asking price. That's phenonemal work from the British public to make sure we acheive the figure. I mean the stupid amongst us might think that it might vary region to region or even town to town based on the local market producing an overall average figure. How stupid do we feel now.....

Woby_Tide

*raises asking price by 7.5% to avoid upsetting the equilibrium*

Ian_W

Woby - you utter numpty!! Fancy you thinking it may vary from area to area. Do what it says hometrack - you know it makes sense.

The same is true for the proportion of the asking price achieved where in London this indicator has moved over 95% whilst there are some regions where this is still around 93%. - Hometrack Market Report 2/5/06

Property Magnate? - my @rse!!

aloiseb

Property_Magnate wrote:

Your first offer should be well below 93% to achieve that final figure.

So you paid 97% of the asking price. If Hometrack's statistics are correct then with numpties like you around many are paying far less to achieve the 93% average!

I think you should be grateful to these "poor innocents", Prop Mag. Their high offers are compensating for your low ones in working out the "average" offer.
I guess what I'm trying to say is, we can't all come in below average like you.

loftus

Well thanks for the debate.

I paid what I think is a reasonable price for the house. Houses in the part of town I bought in sell quickly because of the location and I need to be there for my kids.
Have I overpaid - I don't know. But I am happy with the purchase, at least until the survey comes in!

Property_Magnate

I hope the people who read this forum understand that a large number of Estate Agents comment on it. I also hope they understand that their views may be somewhat ... erm ... skewed!

Estate Agents aren't all bad though. A very good friend of mine was very successful ... until he sold up last year.

Know your market. Establish demand. The best tool to assess asking prices is to compare them with rents. There should be a premium when renting as all the risk is with the landlord. If it is cheaper to rent then the property is over-priced.

Take the weekly rent for similar properties (achieved not advertised!), add three zeros to give the true value of the property.

Simple. Even for an EA.

Ben_Baileys

ok - well this is interesting. I'm very close to making a first offer on the property. I am a very nervous FTB.

Where I'm looking to buy there isn't much on the market at the moment, and whatever comes on gets sold very very quickly. I am the only person to have seen this flat so far - the EA told me about it before it went on the market. Therefore if I offer asking price and make him undertake to not have any viewings it is essentially my property. No bidding war. No other competition. It's a done deal. I also think it is a fairly reasonable price for the property although I'd quite like to put in a lower offer. I wouldn't be surprised that if I did that and other people viewed the property it would eventually sell at asking price anyway - maybe even above asking price.

As I am nervous, what do you think of my decision that it is worth the extra few thousand pounds for the piece of mind that it will be my property and noone else will gazump me.

Doozergirl

Hi Ben,

I think if you have done your research and know that their asking price is realistic and property is moving quickly, then your decision is the right one for you. Vendors will not generally be open to offers in their first couple of weeks on the market - any offer makes them feel hopeful of full asking.

An offer slightly under which is rejected would allow you to say that you will only stretch to full asking price with the absolute promise that the house is taken off the market.

Good Luck!

Doozergirl

PM, whether a ratio of rent to property prices makes some sense in your mind of what house prices should be, it makes no sense in the real world! You can't change an entire market or make vendors sell to you by making silly offers on property.

There isn't an estate agent on this particular thread as far as I can see and with regards to people like myself and (I hope they don't mind me talking on their behalf) Andrew Smith and Ian W, we spend a great deal of time offering advice trying to help people make the best decisions they can for, I know you won't believe this, no personal gain!

I've taken my share of MoneySavings from this site and in my mind, apart from enjoying it, I think I have a bit of a duty to try and give something back. I hope I do. Whether a FTB in Doncaster buys a house for 73, 93 or 103% of the asking price makes very little difference to my existance, except that I feel good when someone PMs me to say thank you.

I'd like to know what your motivation is?

Property_Magnate

My motivation?

Great question. I suppose there is some perverse joy in doing a "Ratner".