Help with making an offer?

blackdogonline

Hi,
We've seen a house we really like and are keen to make an offer. It's on the market for £220K and has been on for about 6 months and has recently been reduced (from £230K as far as we can gather).

It is in need of major renovation but structurally sound (apart from needing damp proofing and new wall ties) but we're happy to take our time and do this over time as we save up.

The absolute maximum we will go to is £200K but don't want to offer this to begin with but not sure where is start. Would £180K be too low? No other houses have sold on the street in recent years so it's hard to make a comparison on house values but similar properties in the area in better condition have gone for £230-£250K.

We have no chain and a mortgage agreement in principle so are ready to go. Just after some advice really as will feel much more confident speaking to the EA if we have a plan of action.

Thanks x

cattie

Well as some people on here say, no offer is too low. But it's very unlikely that a house that has just been reduced by £10k is going to put a smile on the vendors face when an offer at £40k under asking price comes in. Especially on just a mid price range house.

Some owners get irritated by low offers that then just want to inch up to a more acceptable price (I know I would be one of these if ever it happened to me!). But then I tend to tell ea not to even bother passing on offers below a certain price. Whereas other vendors don't have any real problem with it, and then others will just state what their minimum price is if they receive an offer lower than what they want, so you know straight away at what level you need to get to.

Oh and are you sure there will be no retention on the mortgage for the work that needs doing?

Good luck anyway and let us know how you get on.

societys_child

You can always try, who knows, maybe the vendor wont mind giving you 40k.

blackdogonline

Putting it like that it does seem a bit cheeky but other houses in this area sell really quickly and this has been on the market for months so I do think it's overpriced. I think we might try £190K and see what the reaction is

societys_child

It is quite a drop but if the vendor is desperate.

Then again, I'd get nervous about why he was so desperate?

Go for it, you've nothing to lose.

jozbo

if i was in your position i think i'd try and do a breakdown of all the anticipated costs of renovation (be generous)....then add 20%... deduct this from a price I'd be happy to pay for it in good condition..

Those that you say have sold at 230-250k - where do you know that from? EA? Sold prices from a while ago? If these are older sales try and compare with the general trends in prices for the area - use one of the recommended online house price calculators for this.

If it's a property that you are really keen on and vendor may be desperate, i don't see why you wouln't just calculate a reasonable offer (say £192k) and put it to the EA as though it's what you've scraped together and calculated based on your conversations with builders etc, and best and final offer- £192, 455 for example.

We just did this on a property originally up for 30k more than our agreed offer. Our position is similar to yours, vendors were desperate due to personal issues... you just never know

Best of luck