Opening Offer Questions...

jahudson72

Hi, OK, we have a FTB for our place and have seen a house we like which is a tad outside what we really want to spend.

The house is up for 299,950 and my father in law (who's a structional engineer) says go in at 275K. I think this is well cheeky but he says you have to go with your head.. Any advice would be grateful!

hcb42

do what you think it is right.

No one, on a forum who has not seen the house or knows the area, can give you any more advice than what you know yourself...!

martinthebandit

Personally I would be looking to offer the asking price minus at least 10%, so that would be less than 270k in this case. Probably somewhere in the region of 260k would be my starting point.

But there are a lot of factors that you haven't given that would make me either increase or decrease the offer.

You can always go upwards, its a lot harder to come down

shisslemopp

I agree!

The house we're buying was on at 280,000, we went in with a cheeky offer of 262,500, it was rejected, we then offered 267,000, that too was rejected, so we then offered 270,000, this was accepted. I think it does pay sometimes to go in with a cheeky offer. After a few weeks though, when we finally went under offer ourselves, to get a quick sale all round, we took an offer on our house of 7,000 below our asking price, but then went back to the house we'd agreed a price on and told her that we were now in a great position and to get things moving and would she take a lower offer, she did! and so we ended up agreeing on 260,000! :j:j:j 20,000 under her asking price! :beer:

But who's to say the same thing would have happened if we'd offered on another house! probably not.

Good luck with whatever you do

hcb42

I personally do not get why the advice here is to go 10% under

If I put my house on the market tomorrow, at a sensible price, I do not expect to be undercut by nearly £40K because someone thinks that is the formula.

So OP YOU have to decide, we have not seen the house!

jahudson72

Thanks, for the replies so far. I bought my place we're in as a FTB and without an agent so it was very straightforward so my knowledge of buying and selling isn't that great. It's good advice is going up is easier that's for sure!

KateLiana27

All depends on what you think it is worth. If it's a £250K house priced at £295K because the sellers are optimistic/delusional, are in no rush to move, and are trying their chances at a naive buyer coming along and falling for it, your father-in-law's suggestion is too high. If it's a £350K house priced at £295K because the sellers want a quick sale, and aren't particularly bothered about getting top dollar (for example, wealthy children of a deceased owner who just want it out of the way but aren't relying on the money to fund their move), all you'll get for offering £270K is a refusal and a more savvy buyer will get a bargain.

Sit down and work out what it's worth to the best of your ability. How long has it been on the market? What have similar properties in similar locations sold for recently? What condition is it in? Have you seen lots of similar properties or if you lose this one are you unlikely to be able to afford anything like it?

Offer just below what you think it is WORTH, and ignore the asking price completely.

SG27

I spoke to a friends dad this weekend who is an estate agent and he said that buyers are putting in such low offers nowdays, 30% off not being uncommon apparently!!! So he advises sellers to price higher to compensate so they can still get near the price they are looking for! Personally that seems a bit silly to me because I wouldn't even bother looking at houses 30% over my budget!

So basically I'd say try to work out how competitively priced it is already but dont be afraid to make a cheeky offer.

martinthebandit

hcb42 wrote: »

I personally do not get why the advice here is to go 10% under

If I put my house on the market tomorrow, at a sensible price, I do not expect to be undercut by nearly £40K because someone thinks that is the formula.

So OP YOU have to decide, we have not seen the house!

The trouble is that todays sensible price may well be at least 10% over the market in 3 or 6 months time.

And the seller can always say 'no' to any offer.

But we are currently in a buyers market and any buyer would be a fool not to take advantage of that fact.

shisslemopp

Really though, the seller can always say no to your cheeky offer. Nobody is forcing them to accept it. If you want the house that much, then you'll be able to come to an agreeable price between you.

Good luck

hcb42

martinthebandit wrote: »

The trouble is that todays sensible price may well be at least 10% over the market in 3 or 6 months time.

And the seller can always say 'no' to any offer.

But we are currently in a buyers market and any buyer would be a fool not to take advantage of that fact.

I am not saying the house is overpriced or underpriced.

I am saying that a bunch of strangers on a website cannot possibly know. We dont even know what the house is or where it is!

I am also saying there is a tendency for people to give out meaningless advice, like "knock at least 10% off, and this is ludicrous advice for the reasons in the prev sentence.

I might as well tell the OP to offer £100K.