House Offer?

TastyTeeth

In people's experience, what's the etiquette when making an offer on a property through an estate agent?

I'd like to make an offer on a property that's under the asking price and I'm contemplating a 10% reduction on that as my first offer. I think the house is overvalued looking at previous sale prices in the local area.

Taking the mick or realistic?

picklepick

Forget etiquette, offer what you think it's worth.

R_P_W

Offer what ever you like....treat it is a business transaction and not a personal one.

Personally if you thinks it over valued why dont you put in an offer lower than the 10% under? They can only say no!

Jimbo1976

I think its impossible to generalise and have a standard one size fits alll figure. Ulimately you need to do your research.

Ie has the property been on the market for long? Do other properties like it come on the market regularly. You've already identified that you think its overpriced based on recent sale values

Is there anything about your situation which would make you appealing to the seller, ie are you a cash buyer? are you chain free and renting etc. These will all impact on whether or not your offer is accepted.

However whatever you do start low with your offer rather than high

DannyboyMidlands

So you think it's overvalued but are only going to offer 10% under asking price? What kind of madness is that?

How overvalued is it? How long on the market?

No offer is ever taking the mick. You offer what you want to and they accept or decline. No big deal.

DRP

there is no right way because whatever you do a vendor may not be interested/unable to accept an offer below a certain level.

The grey area between the offer price and asking price where an agreement is made is defined by their relative motivations and financial circumstances.

One thing I would say is to set a limit and be prepared to walk away (otherwise it isn;t really a limit!).

Also if you think they are motivated to sell, then try an offer below 10%.

Mr_Moo_2

What everyone else has already said above.... remember it's a bit tricky to reduce an offer once you've made one at this stage so go in lower rather at than at 10% off if that is your eventual acceptable price to pay. Emphasis your attractions as a buyer if you're being a bit cheeky.

pinky83

Have a look on sites such as Rightmove to get an idea of recent sold prices on the street/area and make an offer that you think is reasonable in comparison to this. As Jimbo1976 says above, could you make your situation appealing to the seller? We recently put in an offer of 190000 on a house that was up for 230000 as we thought it was over priced. That was rejected so we upped to 195000 then finally to 200000 (which was the top end of our budget). They initially turned this offer down too but we stuck to our guns and made it clear that we wouldn't go a penny higher despite the agent calling us back 4 times to see if we would reconsider. They eventually called back a 5th time and said the seller would accept 200000.

Don't forget that the agent you deal with is working for the seller, not you, so wants to get the highest price they can. Stick to what you think is a fair price and be clear and firm.

Good luck!!!

TastyTeeth

Jimbo1976 wrote: »

I think its impossible to generalise and have a standard one size fits alll figure. Ulimately you need to do your research.

Ie has the property been on the market for long? Do other properties like it come on the market regularly. You've already identified that you think its overpriced based on recent sale values

Is there anything about your situation which would make you appealing to the seller, ie are you a cash buyer? are you chain free and renting etc. These will all impact on whether or not your offer is accepted.

However whatever you do start low with your offer rather than high

Currently chain free and renting. The property has been on for a while and recently reduced. However, looking at equivalent selling prices for similar houses its still overpriced.

The way I look at it is I've got nothing to lose going in lower, but don't want to upset either the agent or vendor with my offer not seeming serious.

pinky83

You seem to be in a very attractive position so play that to your advantage. Get the words "chain free" into the conversation with the agent as many times as you can!!

TastyTeeth

DannyboyMidlands wrote: »

So you think it's overvalued but are only going to offer 10% under asking price? What kind of madness is that?

How overvalued is it? How long on the market?

No offer is ever taking the mick. You offer what you want to and they accept or decline. No big deal.

I'd say it's between 5-7.5% overvalued (even after being recently reduced) looking at the recent selling prices. The house is empty now as I understand the vendors have separated. I'd say they need to sell sooner rather than later. Think its been on the market a while, although not entirely sure.