sold, to a first time buyer: what should I offer?

HouseHunter_2

well, we finally sold our house, using the original agent and to someone they introduced prior to the joint agency agreement, so didn't have to pay an increased commission. Our buyer is a FTB and we are interested in a property which has been on the market for 4 months with no interest. I get the impression no-one else is interested in the house, mainly I think because it is absolutely filthy and very cluttered as well. the agent has suggested I will be able to make an offer because the family are extremely motivated to sell and will go into rented if they haven't found.

The house is on at £250k and the agent has hinted that the vendor would really love to get £240k although it is my view that the agent thinks this is ambitious. My absolute maximum is £235k. Where would YOU start the bidding? £220k? £215k? Lower/higher? it's no point looking on the house price website, nothing has sold locally for a couple of years and all the houses are different anyway.

hethmar

I should think you could go in with a silly price to start - you have a short chain and they are desperate. HOWEVER, what worries me everso slightly is why nothing has sold in the street for years and why this house is in the condition it is. I mean, is it an area where you want to live, or is it just the prospect of a bargain that grabs you? Houses in "good" areas will normally sell however dirty they are.

If you think it is a good area and that it is a good buy go ahead, but be aware if its not a good area to live and sell in it may not be the bargain it appears to be.

Very best luck.

PS They may SAY they will get out when you want, but if you go ahead make sure thats in the contract - that time is of the essence - it would be a real pain if they decided to sit it out after the contracts were exchanged.

PoorDave

HouseHunter wrote:

well, we finally sold our house, using the original agent and to someone they introduced prior to the joint agency agreement, so didn't have to pay an increased commission. Our buyer is a FTB and we are interested in a property which has been on the market for 4 months with no interest. I get the impression no-one else is interested in the house, mainly I think because it is absolutely filthy and very cluttered as well. the agent has suggested I will be able to make an offer because the family are extremely motivated to sell and will go into rented if they haven't found.

The house is on at £250k and the agent has hinted that the vendor would really love to get £240k although it is my view that the agent thinks this is ambitious. My absolute maximum is £235k. Where would YOU start the bidding? £220k? £215k? Lower/higher? it's no point looking on the house price website, nothing has sold locally for a couple of years and all the houses are different anyway.

220k for me.

But offer as low as you like! They're not going to refuse when you get to the right amount just because you started low - they want to sell the house, remember, and haven't had much interest. Could try 200k just for a laugh

HouseHunter_2

the reason nothing has sold in the street is because it's really nice there so houses don't come up very often. in fact there was one sale in october of last year at £265k, but I THINK the house is a little bigger. It is my opinion that people are simply being put off by the state of the property when in reality it just nees a full redecoration and CLEAN. I'm presuming that the stamp duty threshold means that a developer couldn't add much value to it even if they did the work but we are looking for a long term home, so that's not really a concern for us.