'Did you pay asking price for your pad?' poll discussion

Plumjam

Paid £10,000 less than the asking price in 2002 (about 3.5%). Was I glad? (I'd have paid the asking price if necessary). The 'renovations' that the previous owner had only just had done were done on the cheap and we've been paying for it ever since. We had to pay to have the plumbing, gas and electrics put right before anyone would give us any maintenance cover. We had to replace all the double glazing and the roller door on the double garage. Big lesson in house buying - try everything in the house (taps, lights etc.) and get an expert to check all the utilities.

dawsar

We paid asking price as we were moving back from the USA to England and didn't have the time to start haggling. The first house that we had an offer accepted on decided that they didn't want to move after all, so time was of the essence. I don't regret it as it is a good house in a nice area. The guy left it fully furnished so it helped us out, however, all the stuff was crap and/or broken. It did tide us over for a few months though. I gave what I could to charity and the rest went to the tip.

chog24

My house-buying experience was a bit fraught... the place was on for £225,000, I put in an offer of £221,000 which was accepted, but was gazumped by a property developer who could complete more quickly than I could. I consequently got in touch with the developer and made an offer of £221,000 which he rejected and then upped it until eventually he accepted my offer of the £225,000 that was the original asking price. The developer consequently made a tidy profit in the 6 weeks he owned the place, since I believe he bought for around £200,000. On the up-side it's a wonderful house and I'm very happy (plus, since my neighbour bought his virtually identical house a month or so later for £250,000, I do feel I got a bit of a bargain).

npw32jnw

I paid asking price in 2002 but bore in mind that house prices were still on the up, and that because it was a developer still working on the property when we saw it, once completed it would be worth much more than that. 8 yrs later, and now worth nearly double, even given what has happened in recent years.
However, next door they bought 4 yrs later, haggled the price down 20k and will still make a loss on it now they have to move due to divorce. Its not all about what you get knocked off, its about the deal you get.

gravitytolls

We paid £% less than the asking price in 2007. Our offer was initially rejected over an offer that matced ours, but they had no chain. We were the end of a chain, but needed no mortgage.

Anyhoo, while we frantically looked for another suitable home, the accepted offer fell through as they couldn't get a mortgage for what they wanted to do (it was a work in progress and they wanted to convert the unfinished extension into a second property, let one and live in one, but they needed 100% mortgage to do it).

The EA came back to us, he told us he'd recommended doing so to the seller in the hope that we hadn't found anything and were still interested. IMO we should've gone a little less than our original offer, but DH remained firm and we got it for the price we wanted to pay.

The unfinished extension is still unfinished, but closer to completion than ever before, as DH has a spinal injury and can only do a little at a time, and we have to pay the eldest and their friends to do the heavy work.

stingyscot

As these comments indicate, the date of the offer/purchase is also very relevant. The market now is very different from 4 years ago when I bought my current home.

JodyBPM

We paid "asking price" in 2002 for ours, but the asking price was around 5% less than originally advertised for, as vendors had had someone pull out at the last minute. We had also had an offer of 5% more on next door but one accepted, but they pulled out (decided not to sell!), and when our house came on at the reduced price, we pounced. It was a good match - they wanted to sell and had been let down, we wanted to buy and had been let down. The whole process was pleasant, we were both serious parties, having been let down in the past, no-one messed anyone around, all above board and decent. Maybe we could have haggled over a £K or two, but frankly, it was well priced as they had reduced due to being let down and wanting a quick sale, and we wanted this road (only half a dozen houses in a private road, so not like another was likely to come on soon!).

All in all, a good thing for us all I think. I don't regret it, but think I would have regretted missing out on the house for a sake of a £k or two. And given that it was 2002, we've made plenty on this place despite recent falls, and have pretty much paid off the mortgage, so worrying about a few quid nearly ten years ago isn't for me:)

JodyBPM

stingyscot wrote: »

As these comments indicate, the date of the offer/purchase is also very relevant. The market now is very different from 4 years ago when I bought my current home.

I agree - in today's market I would expect to secure a house for 5-10% below asking, and would expect to get 5-10% below asking for mine.

Different scenario when we bought, as house prices were still on the up!

ann.chil

Bought a new house in 1988 and paid the asking price. Had a few "quality" issues and negotiate free bricks for conservatory and porch building plus other bits.

seven-day-weekend

luxor4t wrote: »

I had to rack my brains to remember - it was almost 21 years ago.

Our main house we bought 34 years ago! Paid asking price as there was another offer in.

Our Spanish house we bought in 2003 - paid asking price as the Spaniard we bought it from would not accept a lower offer.

Both these houses were priced reasonably.

Investment property we bought in the mid-90s, we paid asking price as again there was another offer in. When we sold it in 2005 we accepted 2% less than the asking price for a quick sale.