How wide is your price range for viewings?

sirmosh

We looked at everything from £180-£250k because we had the budget to go up to £250k but we weren't sure if we really needed to spend that much to get a house we'd be happy with. In the end we went for a house up at £195k and got it for £181k.

BigAlC

We want to buy below the 250k mark, and so we are looking at properties up to ~270k as this seems like a dead mans zone in regard to SDLT limits.

I'm honestly not sure why EA/Vendors agree to put houses in this region, as people are always going to offer below the threshold. Then when you ask EA if the vendor will accept offers they generally say they want at least asking price. Seems bonkers to me, but then that's what a hugely inflated market costs when a crash comes around.

DRP

we're looking at ~250-290 houses and so would view anything up to 325.

2 reasons:
1) A lot of houses in that high bracket are coming down after a few weeks, especially ones that need work so were 'overpriced' at that price.
2) There's seemingly a scarcity of suitable houses on the market in my area so we are broadening our search parameters a bit more.

justjohn

We were looking to pay 110k max for a house. Looking at houses that were on the market 20% over budget.

Ended up paying 114k for a house initially marketed at 170k then finaly 135k fixed.(btw we offered 110k the first week it was placed on the market at 170k)

BigAlC

One thing I've taken to doing as well, is just putting in a region that we would be interested in, then using the property bee add on in firefox looking at how many weeks they have been on the market.

It's then quite easy to break down areas in to not so good and good. Also, if you find an ideal house that has been on for lets say 50+ weeks then it's logical to say that the vendor would have to listen to an offer.

However, the vendor could also be in a catch 22 where they cannot afford to sell for less. It's always worth asking the question though. There are some around us that have been on for 200+ weeks without a price drop. I would assume they are in this situation.

lowlitmemory

We had a budget of around £225000 (that was assuming the place needed no serious work, just redecorating) and looked at places up to £240k with a view to putting in an offer.

We have had an offer accepted on a place originally marketed at £259,000 (dream on), then lowered to a more reasonable £235,000. We negotiated as hard as we could (and we're not very good!) and got it accepted at £223,000. So personally I do think it's worth looking 'above' your max budget. We had also asked if the vendor was open to offers before we viewed. Unfortunately the survey has now shown some work needing doing including a rewire so we may have to renegotiate.

LandyAndy

Always worth looking at properties 10% over your budget. There are always bargains to be had. Too much more over, though, and you are in danger of finding everything in your range doesn't match up to the unaffordable stuff you've seen.

Last time we bought we were looking at £300-350K. The house we bought was on at £360k. We got it for £346.5k.

Panda78

I don't want to spend more than £230-235K, but i'm looking at properties up to £240k, in some instances £250k if i think they are overpriced and likely to come down.