Confused about house offer - HELP!

Doodlebug1

Hi,

Just looking for some advice and i guess reassurance of some sort as I havn't slept much for stressing about this!

There was a house that my husband and I both liked (not loved!) but it ticked most of the boxes and as I am due our first baby in a few months we are thinking with our heads rather than our hearts.

It was on the market for 175000, we put in an initial offer for 158500 but they declined and said they wanted 160000. But this has really confused us now as I feel as though our original offer may have been too high if they were willing to come down so much, what do you guys think? its a three bed semi, decent size in a ok area, we are financially stable, we could borrow up to 200k but decided we didnt want to as repayments would be too high for us. We have no chain and neither do they so we are both in a good position to move quickly. Also we checked our mortgage advisor with the estate agents a while ago - should we go to a broker or stick with the estate agents for the mortgage?

What should we do? is it feasible to go back and put an even lower offer or should we stick with our original offer?
please help a very pregnant woman!! lol!!

Thanks in advance!

overandout_2

You should definitely find out how much houses of similar size around your area have been sold for and you can make a more informed decision on whether the house is worth it.

Keep it simple - go with a broker instead of an estate agent's mortgage advisor.

Good luck

pramsay13

Have you had a full survey done, or at least a mortgage valuation?
You shouldn't rely on one paid for by the sellers, you should commission your own.
We bought a house on at offers over 160000. We put in a bid of 155,000 and they immediately accepted so we had similar doubts.
We then got a survey value of 145000 with some work needing done so we put in a final offer of 140000. They were obviously a bit annoyed as they thought they'd won a watch, but we had the paperwork to back our offer up.

overandout_2

A survey is usually only recommended once the offer has been accepted...

DVardysShadow

Doodlebug1 wrote: »

Also we checked our mortgage advisor with the estate agents a while ago - should we go to a broker or stick with the estate agents for the mortgage?

Never ever as buyer take services from the Estate Agent. They cannot put your interests first.

Doodlebug1

Thanks for the speedy replies! Been checking every 3 mins!!

I checked for houses that have recently been sold in the same area but we can't be sure as the house we are looking at has an extended kitchen, na dtheres so many different houses on the same street ncluded detached and those with larger smaller gardens - the most recent was in june and was sold for 117K but don't know what the condition of that house may have been to be sold that cheap!

I also thought a survey is done once the offer is accepted, can you go back after the survey is completed? we want to get the most thorough survey done but does the survey tell you how much the property is worth based on the area and house? and if they say the property is worth less than what we offered should we go back and reoffer like you did pramsay? what was the end result for your house?

Thanks in advance!

Doodlebug1

Thanks shadow, I will defo be going with a broker for mortgage advice rather than sticking with the estate agents.

Milliewilly

Doodlebug1 wrote: »

Thanks for the speedy replies! Been checking every 3 mins!!

I checked for houses that have recently been sold in the same area but we can't be sure as the house we are looking at has an extended kitchen, na dtheres so many different houses on the same street ncluded detached and those with larger smaller gardens - the most recent was in june and was sold for 117K but don't know what the condition of that house may have been to be sold that cheap!

I also thought a survey is done once the offer is accepted, can you go back after the survey is completed? we want to get the most thorough survey done but does the survey tell you how much the property is worth based on the area and house? and if they say the property is worth less than what we offered should we go back and reoffer like you did pramsay? what was the end result for your house?

Thanks in advance!

Yes the survey is done once an offer has been made and accepted. You should state to the Agent that your offer is made subject to survey. The mortgage company will put a value on the house for their loan and this may be the same or less than the offer you have made. If its the latter then you can renegotiate with the seller as you made your offer subject to survey and use the survey results as a negotiating tool.

The figures for renegotiating will depend on the value given and any recommendations for additional works to the property - roof repairs etc.

If you are inexperienced in property you should have a full survey carried out for peace of mind. The valuation surveyor can do this for you at the same time he does the valuation survey if you want him to.

PasturesNew

State that your offer is "subject to survey", setting their expectations that should you find any unexpected nasties (more than the usual stuff you'd expect to find in a house of that age/type), then you've left the door open to potentially renegotiate the price. The survey WILL find stuff "wrong", it'd be a rare house that had nothing to mention, so renegotiation would have to be on serious things that the estate agent wouldn't have anticipated when the initial guesstimate was done to put it on the market.

tessa0032

yes sellers always expect you to lower the offer after the survey. They will know what the hidden problems of the house are and will expect you to take all the costs of putting them right, off your offer. My instinct says keep your current offer on the table and say you're very keen. But keep looking - you'll find the perfect place out there somewhere!

Milliewilly

tessa0032 wrote: »

yes sellers always expect you to lower the offer after the survey. They will know what the hidden problems of the house are and will expect you to take all the costs of putting them right, off your offer. My instinct says keep your current offer on the table and say you're very keen. But keep looking - you'll find the perfect place out there somewhere!

Errrr why should they it depends on what the offer was in the first place - if a low offer has been made then I wouldnt negotiate down as a seler after survey regardless of what came up.