Offers over?

betsie

If a house is listed as "offers over £300,000" is it even worth making an offer below this amount - just an instant no should I assume? Has anyone offered on a house marketed like this?

Also the last two houses sold in the street (all the same design but this one is a corner plot so slightly wider to front but garden smaller than others as goes to a point) went for £250k in Oct 09 and £240k in Feb 09.

Ok inside perfectly liveable but nothing to wow about to justify being worth more. My other slight concern is that the garden backs onto a green with a small childrens playground - maybe a teenage hangout at night - how can I find out if it is a problem?

Thanks

pac-man

As far as your going in under £300,000 goes, you can offer what you want. The asking price is aspirational. They may not budge, but what have you got to lose? From your research it cetainly sounds like it's wishful thinking.

Regarding the park at night and it being a hoodie hangout - Just pop along in the evening and see for yourself. Nothing to stop you walking or driving past (Although probably best to take a mate or two along just in case;)) to do a bit of a rekkie. I've already decided the next time a buy a place I'm going to pop along to suss out the street at all times of the day and night.

Doesn't sound like you're that keen on it though, so as previous poster suggested, perhaps best to move on to something else?

G_M

If you like the property/location, make an offer.

Offer a) what you can afford and b) what you think it is worth.

Ignore what the owner/his agent want.

googler

Standard practice in Scotland, so yes - people are offering, and having offers accepted above and below the offers over price, every day.

Situation may be different in E&W though.

If it's any guidance to you, I reckon that a good number of the houses priced this way in my locale are selling for under the Offers Over price.....

brit1234

"offers over £300,000"

I would offer under or walk away. You know the 2009 sale prices and offer under if you want it.

MobileSaver

betsie wrote: »

If a house is listed as "offers over £300,000" is it even worth making an offer below this amount - just an instant no should I assume?

If we were in a booming housing market then I'd say that you were wasting your time offering under £300k.

However as we're clearly in a falling market then absolutely yes make an offer below that amount. The worst they can say is no and the more people who make lower offers the sooner the vendors will get the message that they're overpriced (assuming they are.)

I've been watching Rightmove for months and have seen properties change from "Offers Over £xxx" to "Guide Price £xxx" to tens of thousands under £xxx as their overpriced properties haven't sold.

GillsMan7

I worry about the world in which we live in when someone can contemplate spending a quarter of a million pounds on something which has "nothing to wow". NOT a criticism of the OP at all by the way, this is just the crazy state of the market at the moment!

I agree with others, in the OP's position, I would definitely make an offer, and the offer would be for what I thought the house was worth, even if that was under £300K. The vendor may have instructed the EA to automatically reject offers below £300K. You've certainly nothing to lose.

Good luck with it all!

whitesatin

GillsMan7 wrote: »

I worry about the world in which we live in when someone can contemplate spending a quarter of a million pounds on something which has "nothing to wow". NOT a criticism of the OP at all by the way, this is just the crazy state of the market at the moment!

I agree with others, in the OP's position, I would definitely make an offer, and the offer would be for what I thought the house was worth, even if that was under £300K. The vendor may have instructed the EA to automatically reject offers below £300K. You've certainly nothing to lose.

Good luck with it all!

Oh, I can understand where the OP is coming from. We are slowly but surely having to contemplate spending more than we intended in order to find anything acceptable in Hertfordshire, let alone have wow factor. We are now looking up to £350k but most properties are mundane. But, move we have to, so we will end up forking out for something we are not that happy with as we have to live in this area.

tawse57

Don't play the seller's game - only offer what you can afford and what you feel comfortable paying. If you first offer does not embarrass you then it is too high.

All these 'offers over X' and 'fixed price' are ludicrous when it comes to houses - a house is only worth what someone will pay for it. You are not buying a tin of baked beans.

How about viewing it and then when you speak to an EA casually mentioning "It is OK... sort of... and we might be interested but certainly not for 300K"... and then walk away, keep silent, keep a stone face and watch and wait for the EA reaction. The reaction might be "Well, how much would you offer?" and then you know that you have them on the hook and not they having you on the hook.

If they come back with that reaction you need to be prepared so have something like "I would have to discuss it with my husband/wife..." and leave it at that. Don't contact them for a week and see if they pursue you.

Then offer 15% below 300K as on average, apparently, houses are getting about 915 of asking price... so you only want to pay, at most, 91% of 300K.

Or you could ignore this entire message which may or may not be a dream.

treetrunks

to offer a sellers view, i sold a flat a few years ago and stated offers over a certain amount. I didnt have to sell the flat, didnt need the money so only wanted to sell if i could get an over and above price at the time. By saying i would only consider offers over a certain value it saved people who could not afford this from viewing the flat and me having to liaise with people who didnt meet what i would like.

I instructed my EA to reject any offers under this and to not even pass them on.

It maybe that the sellers have seen other houses selling well in this neighbourhood and while not really wanting to move, they would consider it for a good price.

If i saw a house inviting offers over, i wouldnt offer if i didnt think it was worth it, and couldnt afford it. Id simply move on.

Rainmaker_uk

To make you feel better...

It was suggested to us by an EA that we put our house on a with an 'offers over' as it sets the bar and means that you are more likely to get a good offer.

We thought this was tosh in the current market and would restrict viewings especially as we are happy to take an offer...

Just go with what you think it is worth and then possibly start with an offer below that - as after alll house prices are predicted to drop another 7 or 8% and you could use this as justification.