Help me buy this house, please

azkaban420

Hi Catatonia,

I am in a very similar situation and ended up having to contact the seller directly as the EAs weren't helping at all and were putting me off. The seller gave me their email so I've just asked them if they are willing to negotiate from the price they are expecting (which is too high for me) to let me know. If not they have my details and can let me know if they change their minds in the future.

They told me they'd get back to me by Friday so I'm still waiting for a response. If the seller shows willingness to negotiate and comes down a bit, we hope we can meet somewhere in the middle. If they dig their heels in at the higher price and won't drop, we will walk away.

Have you thought about contacting the seller directly?

Az

sonastin

How about trying to force the counter offer now that a bit more time has passed? You could try going back now with "I've been looking but haven't seen anything else that I like. I can't afford to pay the asking price. Are you willing to negotiate at all? I need to know what target I'm aiming for so I can try to raise the finances to come to a deal with you."

If you still get nothing back you could tell them that negitiation is a dialogue and you're not willing to continue a monologue. The best offer you can make is £270k and if they aren't prepared to even talk to you then there is nothing more you can do...

And keep your fingers crossed that that gets their attention!

Catatonia

Sonastin, that's kind of the conversation I had with the new EA, but they just said they wouldn't reveal their bottom price. It seems that nothing will get their attention except a high offer! I'm thinking now that I will just wait to see if something better turns up. The decor isn't great and it has no period features so I'm sure any other similar house would be the same or better condition.

I hadn't thought about that, Az. I might try it if nothing better turns up in the next few months.

Catatonia

It's just been reduced by another £5k, which suggests they ARE fairly keen to sell. I just wish they'd negotiate with me!

azkaban420

Ok, so your last offer was £266k and they've now got it up for £290k? I'd either give the EAs your last figure and be prepared to walk, or contact the seller directly and explain that you are interested but would rather deal with them directly and see if you can gauge what they want/will take?

Good luck,

Az

Catatonia

I'm thinking that I might go back to the EA with a final figure (which won't be much higher than £266k, if at all).

I might have a look at some more houses this weekend as well. There's a more modern and uglier house which is the same size up for £70k less. The location's slightly worse (but not much, I think) but I think it's worth seeing because of the huge price difference.

Jowo_2

Catatonia wrote: »

I'm thinking that I might go back to the EA with a final figure (which won't be much higher than £266k, if at all).

Even though they probably believe that they were right to reject your 3 previous offers because a similar property in the street recently flew off the books around 285k?

That recent sale has set the baseline.

papalimabravo

Jowo wrote: »

That recent sale has set the baseline.

I find it seems to set the baseline for sellers on the way up and for buyers on the way down.



It should work both ways though, I agree.

Jowo_2

papalimabravo wrote: »

I find it seems to set the baseline for sellers on the way up and for buyers on the way down.

.

Yeah, good observation! It's just that the OP aimed really low perhaps because there weren't any recent sales to provide guidance on prices actually paid.

I think that as the sellers who haven't shifted their property (and aren't apparently in no rush to do) will find more comfort in the 285k recent sale than the OP.

Even if that property was of a lower standard, the sellers will probably be unconvinced the other property was actually that bad, and will simply argue that their property is better, hence the slightly higher asking price.

Catatonia

Jowo wrote: »

Even though they probably believe that they were right to reject your 3 previous offers because a similar property in the street recently flew off the books around 285k?

That recent sale has set the baseline.

The £285k one was similarly sized. But it was much, much nicer in terms of character, period features, decor. And it's not in the same street, but a few streets away in a better location. I don't think it's set the baseline, but rather the top price.

Similarly, the one which is the same size but on for £220k is not as nice as the one I'm talking about, and not as good location (again, a few streets away).

So, surely the value of the one I'm talking about is somewhere in between £285k and £220k, rather than £285k?