FTB - FINALLY time to make an offer! Advice please

twokcc

You need to think about you tactics, hard to say what house is worth without local knowledge of area or house. But say if you think that you would be happy to buy at £145/6 offer say £140k. Will probably be rejected but if you are in a strong position but the vendor will still be in mood that he can sell at the higher price. He will get fewer (maybe none) viewers over the next 4/5 weeks and will get more realistic. Hopefully will then ask EA to contact you again, you could then decide what offer to make- but would suggest that this is your best and final offer. Make this clear to EA he will hopefully advise vendor to accept(he gets his sale fee) and vendor is now had a reality check. Make the offer subject to survey this means that you will still have time to renegotiate if any horrors turn up.
You don't mention if you have a mortgage in place, if not I would suggest you start making enquirers with lenders to get a mortgage in principal. This will give you even more leverage and weight to your offer (even if it is not on tis property)
Hope it works out for you.

tim_n

We ended up with 10% off the asking price which had already been dropped 20% a few weeks earlier.

Our offer on a £250k house was £220k. We put the offer on the table, told the agent we were viewing other properties and after a week or so rang up and asked if there had been any movement. There wasn't, so we offered £5k more as a final offer and left it again for another week. The agent called us, we offered £2,500 more, there was a lot of talk, vendor was obviously interested. Eventually have settled at £229,300 (after a survey)

I have a bargain and the seller gets to move in a very slow market. No chain to speak of (he's got a repossession)

Doshwaster

Oh and a couple of other things as a FTB.

1) Make sure the seller knows that you are a FTB with no chain behind you and that you are in a position to move quickly. This could easily be worth a few thousand pounds to the seller and makes your offer more attractive than a one of the same amount from someone at the end of a long chain.

2) Don't wait until an offer is accepted before look for a solicitor. Do it now. In the offer letter state who your solicitor is and that they are awaiting instructions. This makes you look like a serious bidder, well prepared and ready to proceed as soon as the offer is accepted.

MajicMOLE

This is all great stuff, thanks for all your help!

I have a mortgage agreed in principle from a broker, and also have a solicitor all sorted :-)

People are talking about offer letters? Is making an offer not just making a phone call?

Doshwaster

MajicMOLE wrote: »

This is all great stuff, thanks for all your help!

I have a mortgage agreed in principle from a broker, and also have a solicitor all sorted :-)

People are talking about offer letters? Is making an offer not just making a phone call?

Making an offer by phone is fine I would recommend that you always confirm in writing - either letter, fax or email - so that way the is an actual record of exactly what has been offered. Always put "Subject to contract and survey" in big bold letters at the top of any written communication.

MajicMOLE

Just put the offer in over the phone and explained my reasons.

Offer was £138,500

Just as I was typing the e-mail to confirm my offer, I had a phonecall back from the EA saying the seller laughed at the offer. He is open to offers, but this was too low.

However, the EA told me the price has already been reduced. I said its only been on the market for 5 weeks hasnt it, which she replied - it has with us, but was originally on with another EA at £179,000!!!

Good news, as by the sounds of it he hasnt been able to sell it and has obvusly reduced it by a hell of a lot to get it sold (currently up for OIRO £162,750)

My planned next step was to wait till Monday, and then offer £142,000? Does this sound about right?

Eton_Rifle

I think any offer below £150K will be a complete waste of your time.

MajicMOLE

Eton_Rifle wrote: »

I think any offer below £150K will be a complete waste of your time.

I thought the majority of houses in the current market sell for around 10% off the asking price? Coming in at an offer of 150k is well above 10%?

BitterAndTwisted

It's all a game of poker, so the rules are to never show your hand to anyone and make what bids you think are appropriate. Never, ever let anyone know how keen you are or what your upper limit is.

I'd leave the vendor to stew in his own juice until at least Wednesday and then grudgingly up my offer to £140k.

Softly, softly catchee monkey and all that

Hailstorm

I don't think you can set a general rule of trying to get x% off the asking price. When I bought last year I saw places where the asking price would have been a fair price to pay. I also saw places which I thought were overvalued by over 30%.

What you need to do is work out what you think is a fair price to pay. Look at what similar places in the area have sold for and what the local housing market is currently doing.

You also need to factor in your current position. As a FTB with no chain you are in a strong negotiating position. You also need to consider how long it would take or how difficult it would be for you to find another house if you do not get this one. If you have a very specific set of requirements and this one ticks the boxes then you are in a weaker position to negotiate as walking away may involve making compromises. If on the other hand it would be easy to find another house that suits your needs you are in a much better position to play hard ball.

What do you know about the vendor's position? If they need to sell (or would be disadvantaged by not selling) they would be more likely to accept a cheeky offer even if they do initially appear to be hard-nosed. If they do not need to move they may not be so open to negotiating.

In deciding your next move you need to answer the following two questions.
1) What do you think it is really worth?
2) If you were not to get this house, how difficult would it be for you to find something else?

Some other negotiating tips.

- At some point you will have to say an offer is your final offer (either your 2nd or 3rd offer). If you do not do this the vendor's will think if they keep saying no you will keep coming up until they get the price they want.

- When you state your final offer you have to be 100% sure that if you do not get it for that price you will walk away. If your final offer is rejected and you come back again you will look like a weak negotiator.

- In order to get the best price you have to risk losing out on the property. That is why you need to consider how difficult it would be to find something else that is comparable.

- No matter what your situation is, be hard-nosed about the place. Never give the estate agent or the vendor an indication that you have fallen in love with the place, or that it is the only one that ticks your boxes.