Should we imediately increase our offer?

Lovelyjoolz

Hi all
Would like to pick your brains on this, if you don't mind.

Went to view a house at the weekend and it was a bit of a 'Mystery House' i.e. totally different to what we have been looking at lately, and we only went to see it out of curiosity and, I admit it, sheer bloody nosiness!

Well, surprisingly, we loved it. EA told us that vendor is rarely at the house as they are relocating to another part of the country and spend all their time in the new area. 4 weeks ago they found their ideal new place and abruptly dropped their asking price from £230k to £199,950 in the hope of a quick sale.

This property is at the very top end of our budget and, because we are in such a good position (no chain) we made an offer of £189k.

The offer was declined and EA said that vendor wants the asking price, or very near, i.e. £198k.

I would be interested to know if you think my initial offer too low and if we were daft to undercut the asking price so much when they had already dropped the price? I can't believe that they wouldn't expect people to make below-asking-price offers, so are they just testing us to see how high we'll go??

DannyboyMidlands

With an asking price of £199k I think that your offer of £189k was a bit generous because it doesn't leave much room for negotiation (as you are finding). The reason that they dropped the price is because nobody thought it was worth the initial amount. It shouldn't really affect what you offer now.

Anyway I certainly wouldn't be increasing it. You're onlt 5% off asking price and they'd be mad not to accept. Stick to your guns for a while. The agent still has to play his "other interested buyer" card yet.

Whirlee

I think your offer was a reasonable opening offer, but you must have expected to be pushed from a first offer £10k under asking price when it has been dropped so much.

I agree that they must also expect to agree a price a little under asking, but given the huge reduction perhaps not much.

I think you need to be clear on what your top offer is before making the next move. If you can't go much higher, maybe make them wait a bit.

But if you can and are willing to go to asking price, and the property is worth it, you could go in quick and high and secure the house.

However, I'm no expert and its very difficult to negotiate with people you've never met. So ultimately its always a gamble.

Good luck.

Tixy

What is the maximum you'd be prepared to pay? How much do you want the property?

I wouldn't think your offer was too low to make. I wouldn't go back straight away, I'd wait a few days and then maybe increase it by £1k or £2k and ask them to remind the vendor that you are not in a chain and can progress quickly.

tyllwyd

You haven't said whether you think £199K is a high/medium/low price for a house of that type in your area?

If they've already dropped £30K they might well feel that they've already stated their minimum price and they don't want to go any lower.

richardw

They're just thinking your offer is £41k below the original asking price, that's one problem.

£189k looks much less than £199K, the second digit 8 mucks the figure low, whereas £191K doesn't look that much lower.

ash28

Lovelyjoolz wrote: »

Hi all
Would like to pick your brains on this, if you don't mind.

Went to view a house at the weekend and it was a bit of a 'Mystery House' i.e. totally different to what we have been looking at lately, and we only went to see it out of curiosity and, I admit it, sheer bloody nosiness!

Well, surprisingly, we loved it. EA told us that vendor is rarely at the house as they are relocating to another part of the country and spend all their time in the new area. 4 weeks ago they found their ideal new place and abruptly dropped their asking price from £230k to £199,950 in the hope of a quick sale.

This property is at the very top end of our budget and, because we are in such a good position (no chain) we made an offer of £189k.

The offer was declined and EA said that vendor wants the asking price, or very near, i.e. £198k.

I would be interested to know if you think my initial offer too low and if we were daft to undercut the asking price so much when they had already dropped the price? I can't believe that they wouldn't expect people to make below-asking-price offers, so are they just testing us to see how high we'll go??

Is there much interest in the house?

We bought recently and our the vendor had a sale fall through and property marketed at just shy of £250k - it went back on the market at £210k - there was a lot of interest but no one was in a position to proceed. We offered the asking price. We got the impression that was about as low as they would go.

The same type of property in the area is for sale at around £250k, smaller houses are advertised for more than we paid. To be honest it was a bargain - the family were relocating and just wanted a sale.

If there is no interest then put your best negotiating hat on.

Southend1

I just had an offer accepted on a house that was recently reduced from £180k to £160k. I went in at £155k, then up to £157,500 but had to concede they weren't going to go below £160 as they had already dropped the price for a quick sale. They had originally, so I am told, had a buyer at £170k who pulled out due to their own buyer pulling out and dropped to £160 to sell at that price.

But... I'm glad I tried going lower. Nothing to lose by taking a chance. Why not increase your offer by increments until you can agree a mutually acceptable price. Just set a maximum and be prepared to walk away if that isn't enough to secure the house.

nomoneytoday

If you want the property I would wait 24 hours, and then offer low 190s, and look to settle around 195-198k

(assuming it's reasonably priced at £200k, you can afford it etc etc)

Cash-Cow_3

Whirlee wrote: »

I think your offer was a reasonable opening offer, but you must have expected to be pushed from a first offer £10k under asking price when it has been dropped so much.

I agree that they must also expect to agree a price a little under asking, but given the huge reduction perhaps not much.

I think you need to be clear on what your top offer is before making the next move. If you can't go much higher, maybe make them wait a bit.

But if you can and are willing to go to asking price, and the property is worth it, you could go in quick and high and secure the house.

However, I'm no expert and its very difficult to negotiate with people you've never met. So ultimately its always a gamble.

Good luck.

How can you possibly know if it was a reasonable offer, have you seen the house? For all we know the house could be worth what it was dropped to.

This is why when I sell my house I'm going for 'offers over'. At least buyers know the score and I will know if it the price is too high or not when i don't get any offers.

ruggedtoast

Well don't pay more than you think its worth. The art of negotiating is to get it for less than that. Unfortunately if you leave it too long another punter might agree with your valuation and offer more.