FTB - FINALLY time to make an offer! Advice please

betmunch

I think you need to know where the Vendors head is. Everyone seems to think that by being a FTB you will get a huge sum of money off. This isnt the case at all.

Dont judge your success on getting 10% off asking price because thats standard, or a rule, or whatever you want to call it. Judge your success on how much you are getting under your maximum price like DVardy said.

Based on what you have posted, if I was the vendor and you offered 138K I would laugh at it, then tell my EA to explain to the nieve little FTB that you only want serious offers. If you then come back with 140K I tell the EA to mark you down as a timewaster and not a serious buyer. However that is my mindset, not the real vendors. Thats why you need to know where the real Vendors head is.

Whats your next move going to be?

Eton_Rifle

MajicMOLE wrote: »

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%?

You can't just walk around like a robot saying "Here is my offer for asking price less 10 percent ... compute ... compute ... exterminate ... (no wait, thats's something else!)

What if the house is undervalued or overvalued? You'd have no idea if you were getting a bargain or paying a mug's price.

You have to look at it from the seller's side - he's only just reduced the price, he's not in a chain so there's no urgency and the 150K mark is a big pyschological barrier. Maybe he'll come around to offers below it but it might take a while especially since he though the house was worth 180K at one point.
Also, although you are not in a chain, FTBs are not the most desirable of chain-free buyers.

Now let's take your side

Eton_Rifle

Oops ... forgot you can't scroll properly on an iPad ...

On your side - do your homework, look at sold property prices in the area and then you'll know how much is a good offer rather than robotically deducting some average percentage.

Then you'll have your offer price and you have to find a compromise with the seller or walk away.

seema_1001

Honestly put a stupid price on (if you haven't done so already)... 130k sounds about right, then work your way up. For a 340k property, I put my first offer as 310k and got it at 317500.. big difference..

It's a stronger buyers market so go for it. Don't assume too much if the property has only been on the market for 5 weeks. Worry if it's been on for 2 months+

MajicMOLE

I feel the price is overvalued. Im not expert, thus why i took my dad on a viewing! He has said he doesnt think it is worth the asking price too. That is why i set my max, and what i think its worth, at 150k. A fair price would proberbly be in around the 145k mark, as the bathroom needs modernising (lime green IS NOT my colour!) and the upstairs need decorating.

How do you tell where the buyers head is at? He is living in a different property, so he obvusly doesnt need the money, however with the EA saying this has already been on the market with another EA, it seems as though he hasnt been able to get rid. Im under the impression he wants to get rid. He isnt living in it, came down for my viewings and he said "to check on the place every so often". He has said he is still paying council tax on the property, and bills, so surely it would be in his interest to move this property on sooner rather than later.

I asked him during a viewing if he wanted a quick sale, and when i told him we were 1st time buyers, his face lit up :-) and he said "if the opertunity for a quick sale came up then yea"

betmunch

You have information on the vendor already then, you have more than a lot of people get. In fact I would like to play this guy at poker!

You know that he wants a quick sale, so the longer the house stays on the market the more frustrated he will become. Hes also complained about paying the council tax, so he doesnt like paying bills on the property. You are under the impression he wants rid of it.
All thesee things are good signs he will take an offer, just not as much as you have currently offered.

I would suggest that you check what other houses have sold for, tell the EA you have done this and that you feel £1xx,xxx is fair, then stress how quickly you will move and what that means to the vendor (no more bills, no more house round his neck!)

If that gets refused I would leave the offer on the table, and continue looking, as someone else said, let them stew! Book a viewing on a similar property with the same EA (only if the offer is refused!) and be quite upbeat about it.

After a while I would call up the EA and say you have found a place and just wanted to know if the vendor of the one you want would like to reconsider your offer again, if it is refused again then ask the EA to ask the Vendor what his minimum price is, stating if its very close to what you have offered then you wont bother going to this other house.

This is proper mind game stuff, so be prepared for it to all go wrong. If you are not prepared for it to go wrong then you should just offer the max you are prepared to or walk away!

MajicMOLE

Cheers for that :-)

He hasnt complained about the council tax - when I asked what council tax band he was on, he didnt know, so he said he has just had a statment and would tell me how much it is.

I can look at similar properties, but is their any way to view details about the property, or images, online? I feel this isnt a massive 3 bed semi, and most others in the area tend to be bigger. I can see house nearby selling on nethouseprices, but dont know if they are bigger than this one?

betmunch

No, you miss understand the reason to view other propertys. This isnt to find something else for you, its part of the head games to show the EA your not that bothered about the original house.

Just ask the EA what they have thats similar and say you would like to view it.

Doshwaster

betmunch wrote: »

No, you miss understand the reason to view other propertys. This isnt to find something else for you, its part of the head games to show the EA your not that bothered about the original house.

Just ask the EA what they have thats similar and say you would like to view it.

Yes, it's a huge came of poker. They will play mind games on you ("there's a couple coming around tomorrow for a second viewing", "I'm sure another two grand will seal the deal") so you have to play them back.

Remember the EA is working for the seller - not for you. Some are more honest than others but at the end of the day s/he wants a sale to go through so they can get their commission.

betmunch

Doshwaster wrote: »

Remember the EA is working for the seller - not for you. Some are more honest than others but at the end of the day s/he wants a sale to go through so they can get their commission.

EVERYONE wants the sale to go through!!!