Negotiating a house price....advice please!

mrsspence

Hi,
My hubby and I have viewed 2 house within literally a 2 minute walking distance on the same estate.
Both houses on for £125,000.
Both houses same layout (well originally were, one has a shack of a sun room to rear and other has a 'family room' where garage was).
House 1 needs nothing doing to it. Could move in tomorrow.
House 2 is vacant possession. And needs work doing to it. It doesn't even have double glazing. I get the feeling it's been the sellers parents and parents aren't living in it. It definatley needs at least £12k work doing to it.

My question is this. There are both up for £125,000.
Would I be sneered at if I went in for house 2 at £100k?
I'm of the opinion that this house just needs to be sold and a tidy amount made.
I also did a touch of research. It's neighbour sold in January this year for £105K and that had more done to it. Double glazing at least!

I need someone to either say "NO MrsS! You are taking the michael offering that".:mad:
Or "Yes MrsS I think that is a perfectly reasonable starting point!":cool:
£100k would be an ideal price as it would fit in our budget, and we have money for a deposit etc.

Any advise/warnings/ideas would be wonderful1

Thanks!

MrsS:D

ThrowingStonesAtYou

From the limited information above you've given I'd say £100k is probably about the limit of what you should offer. Other factors would be the state of the local house market (ie, where do you live) and how long the houses have been on the market for.

You may be sneered at in any case because many sellers still live with the fairies and think the housing crash never happened, but don't worry about it - i'd be more worried if they accepted your offer straight off!

disclaimer: i have never bought a house - but I did help a relative get a price 10% below what they were going to offer on a house earlier this year.

Squoozy

I think its always worth putting in an offer as a starting point and your offer seems reasonable to me. I also think the chances that the offer will be accepted depend on your circumstances, whether you have a property to sell or can make the offer with no chain. If you have no property to sell and can move quickly it makes you a very attractive buyer. Good luck, I hope you get it if you want it!

vegasvisitor

I don't know who you'll be making your offer to - Estate Agent? - if so then state the fact that you are also considering the other house too, so they will know that you will walk away if it doesn't work out.

mrsspence

Both houses are on the market with same estate agent.

House 1 has been on market at least 1 year.
House 2 since October and has had 8 viewings that I know of.

We're going to see mortgage adviser person to look into a mortgage etc so all our amounts etc will be on paper and in theory everything pending on the sale of our house.

I sound deluded I know, but I've mentally got my sleeves rolled up to wade in and get this sorted!
Hubby letting me get on with it! lol

teabelly

I'd offer 112k for the one that needs nothing doing to it and save yourself a bunch of hassle :-) Mention the one that has sold recently for 105k and mention you reckon theirs is better which is why you are offering 112k. Suspect they'll accept 115-118 to shift it. Check out the propertybee extension for firefox. That will show you the history of the property and how much they have changed the description and altered the price. If the second one is getting viewings at 125k then it probably isn't as badly priced as you hope.

Sellers don't have to sell at a price they don't want to and as it is recently to the market the price is unlikely to be as off the mark as you'd want. They won't drop to 100k for several months unless they are desperate to shift it.

princeofpounds

Sounds fine.

The house that sold next door is the best example of market pricing you have.

They can't ask for much more because you could just point to the other property and explain that you would just buy that one with the work already completed, so the value of the place is clearly 112 maximum, and probably less if you assume that the asking price of the other place probably has a little flexibility.

Personally I'd be tempted to start at 95, as you can only move up in negotiations, and target 105ish, which may be a psychological level for the sellers.

Remember that the asking price is irrelevant except perhaps as a guide to the willingness of the seller to accept a given price. They are typically (especially so these days) set higher than they realistically hope to achieve - any agent will have looked at the same database and the house next door and be aware that 100-105 is a genuine level.

DVardysShadow

mrsspence wrote: »

We're going to see mortgage adviser person to look into a mortgage etc so all our amounts etc will be on paper and in theory everything pending on the sale of our house.

Don't see the mortgage advisor with that estate agent or any other you might buy a house from.

sweetcheeks

Mrs S you are correct in wanting to negotiate. i am in the same postition with a property that i am interested in also.
2 in the same street with £10000 difference.

go in low and you can always negotiate a price closer to what the seller wants, though also something that you would be happy in paying.
good luck.

Fire_Fox

Why are you worried about what the other party will think? But do your homework before making a low offer - the sold price of one house is insufficient research.