First House Price Negotiation

terry.h

I've been with my girlfriend today to look at a house today, which we've had our eye on for a while.

We really like the house, but in a couple of the bedrooms is wallpaper which has been painted over several times, obviously meaning there's quite a lot of work for us to do (possibly even re-plastering the walls).

The house is up for 125k, where do you think we should go for our first offer and should we mention the above to the estate agent? It's the only house we've seen which we've really liked, so don't want to miss out.

We're first time buyers and the house is chain free.

ray123

You could put an offer in at 112.5k (90% of asking price).

If you have not done so already, have a look at www.nethouseprices.co.uk, to see how much properties in the street have been sold for.

terry.h

Unfortunately the last house listed for the street on Nethouseprices.com was from August last year which was £105k.

Cannon_Fodder

It depends on your region whether prices are up, down or flat since August.

Tell us the first two digits of the postcode, we can give a rough -/+ % to adjust £105k by...

terry.h

First 2 digits are IP (IP27 if you want first 4).

Also, should I mention to the estate agent about the work that needs doing so they know the reason for the low offer?

ray123

There are a lot of things to take into consideration when making an offer (and I am certainly no expert), however, you could put an offer in for 112.5k on the basis that the last house on the street only sold for 105k.

Also mention that the house will require sufficient modifications in order to suit your taste, for example, you do not like wallpaper/walls may be in bad shape:

'a couple of the bedrooms is wallpaper which has been painted over several times, obviously meaning there's quite a lot of work for us to do (possibly even re-plastering the walls).'

Cannon_Fodder

Suffolk average is +4.5% since August.

Whether IP27, and the exact property within the locality, falls into the category of above, below or just plain average for Suffolk, we'll leave you to consider.

£105k plus 4.5% = £110k. Obviously try to identify any differences between the sold and unsold properties, for fine-tuning.

-10% under asking is a common first offer. Hence the £112.5k also suggested.

Somewhere around those two figures should be an ok start point.

"we've had our eye on for a while" - easier to play a little hardball with something that's not sold, compared to something new on the market.

ray123

Cannon_Fodder wrote: »

Suffolk average is +4.5% since August.
QUOTE]

Which website did you use to find this information out?

terry.h

When we put in an offer, do we need to state it's 'subject to survey' or is that standard anyway?

Cannon_Fodder

ray123 wrote: »

Which website did you use to find this information out?

Land Registry http://www1.landregistry.gov.uk/houseprices/housepriceindex/report/