Should we hold on or start looking elsewhere?

mabmabmab

Hi,

On Friday we put on offer down on a property. We believe it to be the right market value based on the following. Would you agree?

Vendor bought property for 275k in 2006 and spent 55-60k on decent internal refurbishment around 2008/2009, I believe this figure is accurate based on the work done.

Jan 2011 - property first listed at 327.5k
Mar 2012 - property relisted with new agent at 305k
Oct 2012 - property relisted with 3rd agent at 300k

No-one has made an offer previously (apparently). Vendor has just moved into another property.

Similar houses on same street sold for:

228k - 2011
248k - 2010
250k - 2008

We value the refurbishment as worth 30k over the condition of the other similar houses (it's most similar to the one that sold for 248k).

We are good buyers with no chain.

We offered 278. The vendor came back and advised 290 is their lowest price, so we said we'd have to leave it for now. We like the property, but we won't be broken hearted if we don't get it.

Do you think our offer was reasonable?

Any EA's out there know in their experience how long the vendor might take to go back on their word and accept a lower offer?

Should we give them a nudge of encouragement in a couple of weeks?

Fire_Fox

Welcome! You want 2011 and 2012 sold prices for the street, earlier is useless because the market has changed too much and you need more than three to get an reliable average. If you cannot get enough data, look at larger or smaller properties and the surrounding area. The cost of the work done and purchase price are irrelevant - some 'improvements' add value some actually detract from the value.

mabmabmab

Unfortunately there's no more recent sales on properties on the street.

Comparing vs recent sales of properties in the surrounding area our offer seems reasonable.

Is there anything we can do to help the vendor come to their senses and accept our offer?

It's only been a few days since we made the offer. Despite them saying that 290 is the lowest they'll go, if the viewings are slowing would the EA maybe urge them to reconsider?

If October is meant to be a busy month in property as people are back from holiday, when does it slow down?

Fire_Fox

Come to their senses? :rotfl: It's not for you to dictate what the vendor should or should not accept, you don't know their circumstances. Move on.

jbainbridge

Given the amount of time it has been on the market you're obviously not the only ones who think it isn't worth what they are asking.

There is little you can do - they _believe_ it is worth more than you do. If they are in no hurry they're waiting in the hope someone will stump up more money.

Winkle1908

Would you increase to meet in the middle to secure this property?
If the vendor needs 290k to sell then thats what they need, but they've already said that they could come down to that, your opening offer was 278k.

I'd leave it until friday and say that you are willing to increase your offer by X (if you are) but this is your best and final offer and it will be left on the table until X date but will continue to view properties with other agents in the mean time. Explain that if you have not had an answer back by this date you shall assume that the offer has not been accepted.

Ivana_Tinkle

There's nothing you can do to convince them. You might be right or they might be - there's not enough info here to decide.

We had someone offer us £100k under asking for our last place. They gave us chapter and verse on exactly how they'd come up with that amount; loads of "proof" of why that was how much our house was worth and how we were completely deluded. The next week, it sold for close to asking!

martinsurrey

Unfortunately this sounds like a case of an agent trying too hard to get business.

Agent 1 wanted the property on their books so said they could get vastly more than they realistically could, in the hope the owner would stay and then lower to a saleable value.

The owner is now chasing the agents to the bottom.

However they still want to believe the first agent (that their house is worth over £300k), and will probably end up with a very lucky sale or a property that sits on the market for 2 years then quietly comes off the market, or something comes to a head and a rushed semi forced sale happens and you just have to be in the right place at the right time..

Move on... (but keep the agent sweet and say you’re still interested if the sellers position changes)

shocky_2

Remember that the concept of "reasonableness" looks at other people. It is only about what you are prepared to pay and what the landlord is prepared to accept. If you really really like the property then it might be worth offering an extra 10k, it does not matter what a "reasonable" person would think.

On the other hand, if you can get something better for the same money then politely decline the landlord's offer and ask him to get in touch if he changes his mind. Nothing to be lost by chasing him in a few weeks.

Yorkie1

If you need a mortgage, bear in mind that the lender's valuer will have the final say on what the property is worth, loan-to-value - wise. If you offer to pay more than they value it at, and you're near a % boundary, you'll either need to find more funds to top up your deposit or to drop your offer.