When Negotiating, how much can we expect to get off a £180K property?

master_ian

My sister and I will be buying in early 2007 (March or so).

We're looking for a 2-bedroom flat in East London and putting down 10% deposit. Our budget is £160, no more than £165K and I'm wondering what the average discount is on flats within this price range...

We're not in a rush to buy and will look thoroughly and am interested to know what the 'common negotiation tactics' are to bring down the price of a listed £180K OR £190K to our budget of £160K...

Cheers all!

ginger_nuts

Dont assume it wont reach the asking price .You are not the only buyers out there .

different area and price but i seen an ex council house yesterday .There was an offer on the house for £30,500 over the asking price .

Get you finances in place ,are you chain free ,how quickly can you move .

terrierlady

in simple terms how long is a piece of string the vendors would already have a base price in mind and are unlikely to fall below that so do your homework use the INTERNET sites to view the prices of comparable property and go in with a sensible offer, just underneath your max in case its too low and if its rejected move on there are plenty more properties for sale.

mi-key

We have been putting offers in on properties over the past few weeks - what I would say is - view the property, work out what it is worth to YOU - i.e. take into account the cost of any work that would need doing for repairs, modernising, decorating etc... Ask yourself 'is this flat worth X amount more than another one we've seen'.

Once you know this figure stick to it and dont go over. Dont be afraid to walk away if the seller wont come down to the price you want to pay.

Part of the problem is EA overvalue properties as a matter of course now - get three agents in to value , and a difference of 5-10% isnt uncommon - of course most sellers go for the highest price, and believe they will sell for close to that. This is why now the market has cooled in a lot of areas, properties are sitting on the market for months, often with no serious offers even if they get lots of viewings, whereas in the boom they would sell in a week.

We just walked away from a bungalow we really liked, it was on for £197K, which was overpriced by about £7K - we started the offers at £180K, with a maximum of £187,500 - the seller is convinced they will get £195K, so wasnt interested in negotiating anywhere near the price we felt it was worth, so we left it. They had had 20 viewings in the same week we looked at, and none of these people even put an offer in !

If we havent found anywhere in a month or two, and its still on the market, we may ask the seller if they fancy reconsidering our offer then, but if they say no and dont sell, its no skin off our nose.

Personally, I'd say if you arent thinking of buying until early next year, the flats currently on at £180K will have come down to within your budget by then, especially if there is another interest rate rise before Xmas.

master_ian

Cheers for the tips...

We're first-time buyers, so chain-free, will have our 10% deposit ready and (by then) the mortgage agreed in principle.

Are there any other ways to strengthen our case to Sellers?

Jorgan_2

Let them know that you are flexible (within reason) on completion. Not everyone wants to move ASAP, for various reasons some may want to complete for a while. If this suits your circumstances, let the seller know, they may accept your offer over that of a buyer that may be pushing to get in. Likewise if a seller may want a quick sale, if it suits you let them know.

Make sure any prices you get from websites etc are for comparable properties, I have seen a number of buyers loose face with sellers when they try & tell the seller that the property over the road sold for £x less than sellers asking price, only for the seller point out they have an extra bedroom/extension etc.

Be careful what you say on viewings if the seller is present. One buyer I dealt with recently had a habit of speaking his mind & making off the cuff remarks about properties. One seller, took exception to this, the buyer put in various offers, ending £500 of the asking price. The seller accepted another offer £2000 less than the asking price 'on principle'.

polarbearit

A house is worth what someone is prepared to pay for it... So houses on the market longer often have a greater chance of taking a lower offer, estate agents may be suggesting that owners drop prices anyway. Another thing to do is try contacting owners directly (thus avoiding EA fees), so sticking notes through the door/knocking on doors may get some interest too!

MissMotivation

polarbearit wrote:

A house is worth what someone is prepared to pay for it... So houses on the market longer often have a greater chance of taking a lower offer, estate agents may be suggesting that owners drop prices anyway. Another thing to do is try contacting owners directly (thus avoiding EA fees), so sticking notes through the door/knocking on doors may get some interest too!

And this is going to help them get a lower offer accepted how??

kit

It really does depend on the seller.
I just completed on one that was marketed for £135,000 and I got it for £130,000 (and I still think that was too much but i really wanted it!!).

However we had a property at work that were marketed at the £190,000 mark and they wouldnt accept an offer of £187,000.

Depends if they are in a rush or not.... if they have found the house of their dreams then they may be willing to accept a lower offer so they dont lose it. If it is vacant and they are already living somewhere else, they may hold out for asking price (we have had one like this on our books for MONTHS!) or they may accept a lower offer to get rid.

Get chatting with the agents - the more you get them to open up, the more info you can drag out of them without them realising it!

hethmar

Sorry, but I think if your budget is £165k then you are getting to get well choked if you start looking at houses £20k or more above that price. Possibly £5k above but dont set your sights too high.