Now that Stamp Duty is back...

dotexe

What would your first offer be on a house on the market at OIRO £129,950?

Obviously we would hope they would come under the stamp duty threshold but it's already recently been reduced from £139,950.

c_denise

it's quite hard to say but do you know what the house prices on the same road ? Does it need work done ? you can try 124

dotexe

Well in this specific houses' case it's less than 4 years old so needs very little doing to it. It was bought new at 145k and Zoopla values it at 118k.

I guess I just wanted more of a general idea of how to approach properties that were obviously priced prior to the threshold being reduced.

carslet

dotexe wrote: »

Well in this specific houses' case it's less than 4 years old so needs very little doing to it. It was bought new at 145k and Zoopla values it at 118k.

I guess I just wanted more of a general idea of how to approach properties that were obviously priced prior to the threshold being reduced.

if zoopla values it at 118k, the bank might only value it at this, so i would be looking to offer 115k, harsh but reality, :T

and a 115k is only about 20% of the original price which was at the peak, so 115k is a really good offer.

carslet

I think it is the tim eto be cheeky with offers

dotexe

I'm looking on zoopla now at houses that have sold in the same road. Trouble is google maps is no help in finding out what type they are because the place is still a building site on their street view. :laugh:

The idea of putting in an offer is terribly daunting. I feel like they'd just dismiss us as silly FTB'ers. But I suppose the worst that can happen is a NO. Right?

sirmosh

Being a FTB is a huge bonus to them since it reduces the length of the chain or possibly even results in there being no chain at all, of course at that price a lot of people will be first time buyers so it may not be as strong an advantage as it might be on a house costing £200k+.

At that price there aren't going to be a huge amount of people offering more than £125k so I would give them an offer and if they refuse just leave it for a while until they realise that might be all they get. One thing to consider is the fact that you only need to knock a little bit off to make up for paying SDLT, at £127,500 you would be more than making up for the difference although you obviously need to have the money upfront to pay it.

jimpix12

Without knowing anything about house prices in your area it is hard for anyone to give solid advice on what to bid at - you need to factor in local prices, drops, desirability, sold prices, and consider the situation of the property also. Since this is a big purchase and you are not buying an iPod or pair of jeans but a £125k house, make sure you are happy with the price you pay, and what you can actually afford. These are sums only you can do and it is unwise to rely on others to do that for you.

1. OIRO says they will consider lower, otherwise if they were militant sellers they'd have asked the EA to put OIEO.

2. Start low, if they say no - which they probably will for the first bid anyway - then go back and increase it slightly.

3. Being an FTB is a bonus. Don't be intimidated, you are buying a house not doing them a favour.

sonastin

Just to be pedantic, the £125k stamp duty threshold was always there. By picking this price point, they were basically saying either they consider their property to be a first time buyer's house or they are willing to accept £125k for it.

If they have dropped the price so close to the FTB stamp duty holiday ending, either the latter probably applies or they are just ignorant of the effects of stamp duty on the price that they are asking. It is 99.9% certain that it won't sell for more than £125k now.

Forget Zoopla's estimate - any resemblance it bears to the real value of the property is purely coincidental. Look at what similar properties in the area are actually selling for, using zoopla's (or any other websites') sold prices function.

dotexe

Thanks for the replies.

From what I can gather the last sale of a house of this exact kind on the same road was for 115k 2 years ago. Is this too long ago to be a factor in putting in an offer/negotiating?

All of the other sales appear to be from when they were newly built or for bigger houses.