Buying a house - offers and tactics advise

mogadon

We are looking to buy a house in an area that we know pretty well. The area is a series of small cul-de-sacs set back off a busy main round and for the most part the houses are all virtually identical 3 bed semis. At the moment there are about 7 up for sale, all at the same price, £140k give or take £1k either way. Houses normally sell fairly steadily round there, but it's been very slow lately, and most of those have either been on the market 6+ months or are back on the market again, having been taken off for a while. Others have sold recently though.

There are 3 houses that we are particularly interested in, with no real preference between them.

1 is empty and the price has been drastically reduced in the last month, BUT only because it was ridiculously over priced before and it is now inline with everything else.

1 has no chain

1 is in a chain of 1

For logisitical reasons we would prefer them in that order, but we can be pretty flexible about it, so it's not a big issue. We are in a fairly strong position with nothing to sell, a decent deposit and a mortgage agreed in principle.

So what's the best way to proceed? We were thinking of starting with a lowish offer of £130k, with a view to ending up paying £135k. Is that reasonable in the current market? Is it better to pick one house and offer on that and see what happens, and then approach the others if we don't get a good response, or put the same offer in on all of them at once? They are all on with the same agent.

Any advice would be gratefully received :-)

fraser

try this thread

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1907059

mogadon

Thanks fraser, chickmug's thread is brilliant, and we've been using that advice and watching the market over the last 6 months or so. But I am particularly interested in how to take advantage of the situation when there are several very similar properties available, which isn't covered.

Sammy85_2

Your post seems to suggest you are considering based on price and chains, rather than the houses themselves as they are almost identical. Im sure you have considered everything but i would consider them in terms of:

*decor, whether you'll need to do anything now or in the future
*any alterations done/certificates/permissions
*opportunity to make alterations in the future
*garden/plot sizes
*garden aspect (ie. South facing if you want sun through the day)

I only mention this because we live on a cul-de-sac with houses that are all near identical, but 50% of the houses have gardens pointing the "wrong" way, some have larger plots, some have been modified internally and some were hideously decorated and the thought of having to decorate immediately put me off.

I would also have to ask myself why so many were coming up for sale on that street? It could be pure coincidence, but i wouldnt want to leave it to chance and find out there was some problem after moving in.

mogadon

Sorry, I wasn't very clear, it's not one street, it's 8 streets next to each other, but they are all the same. The all run North/South so the (small) gardens are either East or West facing. We ruled the others out because either they were right at the entrance so too near the main road, or at the very end, where there is a cut through that leads through to other roads. I don't want to be next to a cut through. 1 we ruled out because the decor was awful, the 3 still in the running are all neutral decor, and pretty much ready to move into. So the only thing left to distinguish them is the chain situation, and who will take the lowest offer.

Fire_Fox

What are land registry sold prices like for those eight streets? I don't think £130K for an opening offer is nearly low enough, it's not even 10% off! If you are in a strong position I would submit your offer in writing detailing that (also include your MIP and solicitors contact details). I would be inclined to ensure that the estate agent is under no illusions that there are seven identical houses and you would buy any one of three. As Chickmug says "Always go in low. Experience shows me those that start low end up paying less than those who try and make a fairer offer."

If it were me, I'd offer £126K on house one, first offer always refused. Then I'd offer £126K on house two, probably refused again. Then I would leave it for a couple of days and come back with £130K on house one, if necessary £130K on house two.

This is repeatedly telling the estate agent you are willing to take either of these houses and what your ballpark is to pay. Hopefully they will be conveying to the vendors that you won't go higher and you might buy another house. Someone is surely going to be desperate to sell and will jump at you as you are in a strong position.