What's a polite offer to make?

tabby_cats_mum

Found a house, it's empty but it's £200K, over priced for area, needs new windows and has been on the market for 3 years.
I'm reliably informed that the owner does desperately want to sell (via a secret source of info) and has been unhappy with the lack of viewings plus no one has ever even made an offer. Also it was rented out for a year so I guess that's put people off.
I'm wondering why it's been on the market for so long as I really can't see any major problems with it (other than windows). I'm really keen on this house and I'm wondering what would be a low enough offer to not be insulting but high enough to find out if they really want to sell. I'm thinking of starting at £160K, is that a ridiculous offer?
Have lived in my current house for years and I've forgotten how to do this house negotiation thing!!
Thanks in advance.

misswadey

Bid at 160K. The worst they will say is no, plus you can only only keep upping your bid if you really want the house, you can't go down.

GillsMan7

Don't worry about politeness - it's a business transaction with a stranger. Tbh, I'd consider going in at £140-150K. Then negotiate. Have a higher rate in mind that you're not prepared to go over so you have a final offer.

Eric1

Why do you think it is overpriced?
If they've been ignoring the market competition for 3 years, I'm afraid it doesn't matter what you offer.

beccad

I'd go in at £150k if it's been on for 3 years. Have you looked to see what other properties in the area have sold for?

firstaspect

Yeah go in at £150k but probably expect a no. You can then start negotiating towards are more realistic figure of maybe £170-£180k. 3 years on the market has to help your cause.

tabby_cats_mum

Eric1 wrote: »

Why do you think it is overpriced?
If they've been ignoring the market competition for 3 years, I'm afraid it doesn't matter what you offer.

Other houses in the street have been for sale and sold for less and haven't needed new windows! The decor is different (polite way of saying it) so I suppose that's put people off. Have spoken to the estate agent today and the buyer is desperate but people are just not viewing it so no one has made an offer to determine if they are open to negotiation, bit chicken and egg really, do they reduce the selling price or negotiate with a buyer making an offer?
Well here goes nothing, going to start at £155K and take it from there. Thanks for everyones help and advice.

Hammyman

THe one we looked at had been on market for over 2 years. We gave them a kick in the nuts offer but was prepared for it to be rejected. As has been mentioned, this is a business transaction and politeness costs you money.

mostlycheerful

I don’t know if they’re true but for comparison recently a couple of other posters on this forum said that they got the following :

A property originally marketed for £385k, reduced to £350k then the poster got it for £171k (yeah, £171k).

A commercial property marketed at £110k and recently bought for £30k and the same poster a few years ago a £39k residential property bought for £14.5k.

So if these are true then it would appear that it is sometimes possible to get massive reductions. If you don’t ask you won’t get.

And as other people suggest, what you offer isn’t really to do with politeness, it’s merely business. If they’re desperate and still haven’t had any offers at all despite trying for three years then they may prefer to take a very low offer rather than continue with nothing. So perhaps start at a mere £80k and then leave them to stew for a while. If they refuse or ignore you then perhaps try £100k and again leave it a while and make it look like you’ve walked away. If they come back saying £180k or something then you know you’ve probably got the poor sods hooked and they may end up accepting the £100k or maybe £120k or £140k. Or they may cling on in the hope of getting you to up your offer. So it may be a game of bluff and counter bluff, a game of tennis, batting the ball to and fro. Yeah, tedious, but a lot of haggling and business is tedious. And it’s irrelevant if they accuse you of being a timewaster, an idiot, a loony etc, business is business so don’t worry about any negative reactions from them, yes, of course very low offers would be likely to be annoying and irritating and exasperating, even infuriating and maddening, but, so what, that’s business and business is often a pain in the neck.

And don't feel guilty about negotiating hard, it's your money and it's not your fault that they can't sell and it's not your fault that property is mostly knackered in UK at the moment.

Go for it. Good luck.

Eric1

mostlycheerful wrote: »

And as other people suggest, what you offer isn’t really to do with politeness, it’s merely business. If they’re desperate and still haven’t had any offers at all despite trying for three years then they may prefer to take a very low offer rather than continue with nothing. So perhaps start at a mere £80k and then leave them to stew for a while. If they refuse or ignore you then perhaps try £100k and again leave it a while and make it look like you’ve walked away.

IMHO, unrealistic.
Not dropping the price for three years usually means that the sellers are heavily mortgaged/indebted. Offering £80k when their total debt is £180k is a waste of time.
If they are really desperate, they will drop the price.

mostlycheerful

“Not dropping the price for three years usually means that the sellers are heavily mortgaged/indebted.”

Could be. Yes indeed, a lot of people are in a desperate precarious position. Absolutely knackered, high and dry with unsaleable property but still with big overheads to try to service and maintain. Terrible.

But maybe not. Alternatively this could just be their second or third property, all paid up with no mortgage, could have received it via an inheritance, or as a divorce settlement or for various other reasons. So they may have the luxury of waiting 3 years and it doesn’t matter at all. And they’ll happily wait another 3 years or till kingdom come. And, no, they’re not going to let it go for less than £200k.

Just cos the estate agent says they’re desperate doesn’t mean that that’s actually true as estate agents are notorious for saying any old cack. And even if the vendor has said that you still can’t believe anything that the vendor is saying either.

Yes, of course, you may not be successful making low offers but that doesn’t mean that it’s not worth a try, on the contrary, always start with a very low offer and be serious about it, it’s the only valid technique when doing a big purchase in any field of business. If you don’t try then you won’t even know.

“If they are really desperate, they will drop the price.”

No, often they won’t. Often they cling on to their preconceptions. A lot of people selling houses are not business people at all and haven’t got a clue about business let alone haggling. Often they’ll carry on with their head in the sand ignorance. And may only respond to the current market conditions when the market eventually touches them by someone finally at last making the first offer. A lot of people only finally wake up to the current failure of the UK market when it is finally rammed in their faces. Until then they’ll carry on fantasising with wishful thinking about absurd out of date July 2007 prices.

“Offering £80k when their total debt is £180k is a waste of time.”

No it’s not, it would be great to get it for that price, that would be a fantastic score. On the contrary, it’s well worth making very very low offers for your opening gambit. You can always come up later, it’s much harder to then go down. This is just basic haggling, if you’ve never haggled before then listen and learn, it often works and if you do it right then often you can get a spectacular bargain. Not always, of course not, but it’s always worth a shot. When you’re doing business always adopt a business mentality. Otherwise you may pay top dollar when if you’d just used your noddle a bit you could have got it for half or quarter price. Elementary, should be taught in schools to all kids.