Questions to ask at a viewing...

pigeonpie

You could praise the house if you like it and then wistfully say you think it may be a little over your budget and see what they say.
Personally I've never seen a house where there's anyone but the agent present; little point in asking them other than is it 'negotiable'.
Not a question but I try to go back at night to see just how noisy it is and how safe or unsafe I feel (but am in London) as it's always quiet in the daytime.

council can be helpful re open areas nearby and whether they are green or to be built on.

shelly

Red_Rocket wrote:

With regard to asking the Vendor what the lowest price they would accept...

Surely they wouldn't actually tell you their real lowest price? How can you trust what they tell you not to be 5k, 10k or even more than what they would sell for?

Don't get me wrong, I'm very grateful for all suggestions, but I'm just a bit confused over this point.

I wouldn't directly ask a vendor what the lowest they are willing to accept is but you might get the answer by asking in a round-a-bout way.
For example, hubby and I had a second viewing last week on a house we really like. Hubby asked if there had been alot of interest in the property and the vendor told us himself that an offer had been made which he has kind of accepted. The house is still on the market though as the person who made the offer has yet to sell their house. Hubby (rather cheekily I thought) asked what the offer was and the vendor told him!

Sallys_Savings

I think its worth asking the vendor.
When we had our house on the market someone asked me and I automatically answered with the lowest price we would of accepted, before I realised what I'd said lol (I know not very money saving but I was caught out on the hop and was nervous enough about showing people around the house) So perhaps that would go in your favour too

sportbeth

When we went round looking we would ask the vendor what the neighbourhood was like, neighbours, kids, crime etc. Then if we were interested we walked back round the development at different times of the day to see for ourselves. 2pm on a Saturday seems to be a dead giveaway of a bad neighbourhood by my reckoning!!

clairehi

F_T_Buyer wrote:

Ask the vendor, not the EA "What is the lowest offer you would accept?" Then do not say anything, not a peep, until the vendor says something.

What ever the response, it will give you a good indication how serious the seller is.

I would say that it depends on the position of the buyer and how quickly they were able to move.

aakayb

why you moving?

how long has the property been for sale?

F_T_Buyer

Red_Rocket wrote:

With regard to asking the Vendor what the lowest price they would accept...

Surely they wouldn't actually tell you their real lowest price? How can you trust what they tell you not to be 5k, 10k or even more than what they would sell for?

Don't get me wrong, I'm very grateful for all suggestions, but I'm just a bit confused over this point.

The reason I say this is the vendor doesn't expect it to be asked.

Any smart !!!!!! will say the asking price, but alot of people will get unstuck and answer "well, I wouldn't want to accept less than..." It gives you an idea to what they would accept, but doesn't always work. If the answers too high, suck lots of air through your teeth...

An example is when buying a car, I always decide what car I want then ring up and say "i've got x to spend, would you accept that?"

It's all about appearing that you are doing the vendor a favour, rather than the other way round. A lot of people are far too enthusiastic and make themseleves appear that they *need* that house, then the vendor/EA will play that against you...

I'll like the question about the neighbour's names... A good idea...