First Time Buyer Needing Advice

j070782

Hey everyone,

First post on this site as I reckon this is the best place to get money-saving advice and, after reclaiming £600 in credit card fees, I feel indepted to Martin :money:& co so all advice is greatly appreciated.

A little about the property; it's a semi detached house with front and rear gardens that is currently on the market for the stupidly low price of £49,950! It was put on the market in December for £65k by the company that owns it. It would need some cosmetic work (tiling, painting) and white goods to be bought plus a new carpets, flooring, shower, oven, etc, so I'd say about 3k+ for that.

I am a first time buyer and phoned the estate agent earlier to arrange a viewing for Friday. They asked me various questions including 'what was my maximum price?' and I stupidly told them we could go up to 50k (I only realised this was a faux pas after reading another thread on this site). There is already an offer in from another buyer at 45k but as I doubt we'll ever find a place of this calibre, in this location at this price ever again I'm fairly keen to snap it up. I told the estate agent we were looking at other places but didn't register a huge amount of interest to any more of her questions other than to ask why the price had dropped so much. She said the company that owns it like to get rid of properties quickly (it's been on for 3 months though so reckon that could work in my favour?).

I've two days before the viewing and can't really get involved in a bidding war so any advice on how to play the game is very much appreciated.

Thanks in advance

sonastin

If you like it when you see it, decide what YOU are willing to pay for it. Don't be pressured or swayed by the EA into raising your offer just because there may be another interested party and/or they know you can afford more. Its worth remembering that EAs do sometimes tell you about makebelieve offers to try and get you to increase yours, but also that sometimes other offers do really exist.

If you really like it and are willing to go to £50k, make an offer somewhere between £45k and £50k. If it is rejected, make a best and final offer of £50k. Don't flinch any further. The EA might think you were playing them and there is more budget tucked away. Don't let them manipulate you into finding more money than you've really got to spend.

If you sort of like it but are prepared to walk away, test the waters with an offer of £45k - or say you would have made an offer of (for example) £43k but as there is already an offer, etc. If the other doesn't exist, they might come back to you to try and draw you into a bidding war. At this point, give 'em the "best and final" figure that you would be prepared to pay. If it is less than £50k, don't let them push you into increasing to your max. Remember you can walk away. They might just come running after you to snatch your hand off...