FTB - offers in excess of...?

lolypopcorn

I have just came across a house which I am interested in but just wanted to ask a few questions. A bit of background before my questions:

I am a FTB but do not yet have a mortgage in principle but I have £11000 in savings and could probably borrow up to £70k. Although I am currently on a fixed term contract which should become permanant soon, I imagine I would need to have a guarantor on the mortgage which won't be a problem.

The house first went up for sale in Jan 2012 for £70000 but is now up with an 'express sales' agent for Offers In Excess Of £49,950. The house has no chain and neither do I.

Looking at the land registry the last house sold in the street was 18 months ago for £80k and before that there was 7 sales between 2006-2009 for between 60 and 75k.

I am thinking about organising a viewing and also looking to see a mortgage advisor this week. However I have also been thinking about affordability and would ideally prefer to pay less than £50k so not all of my savings would be used on the deposit.

However, at the bottom of the listing it says: 'The price given is a marketing price and not an indication of the property's market value. The vendor like any seller is looking to achieve the maximum price possible. Hence, by making an enquiry on this property, you recognise and understand that this property is strictly offers in excess of the marketing price provided.'

Can you make an offer below the price if it asks for offers in excess of X? Reading the 'disclaimer' shown above has scared me into thinking I would be told off for making a lower offer. How much would your first offer be if you were me?

Thanks in advance

kloana

lolypopcorn wrote: »

Can you make an offer below the price if it asks for offers in excess of X? Reading the 'disclaimer' shown above has scared me into thinking I would be told off for making a lower offer.

You can be told yes or no. Don't worry about being 'told off', buying and selling property can be a pretty hard-nosed affair. If it's a yes, fantastic, if it's a no, work upwards from there. If the advert specifically calls for OIEO, the likely answer would probably be inclined towards 'no', though.

Just a note, I was recently looking for my first property. Hopefully found one, and am in the process of buying it (have cleared the offer and mortgage hurdle, and am now at the conveyancing stage). When browsing, I was hugely put off by express-style listings of very low priced properties that were asking for considerably less than market value. To me, there appeared to be a much bigger risk of gazumping, and of pressure being applied upon me, as a buyer, when trying to arrange a mortgage, as the seller is obviously extremely keen (even desperate) to sell ASAP. My main concern was that with properties priced so low, a cash buyer could swoop in at any minute.

However, I don't speak here from any kind of professional experience, just personal assumptions only, and somebody else might be able to think of some pros of a mortgage-needing FTB making offers on properties of this type.

go_cat

IIRC express sales advertise properties low but they only accept market price for the house. It looks like a bargain therefore gets more interest in theory.

lolypopcorn

kloana wrote: »

Just a note, I was recently looking for my first property. Hopefully found one, and am in the process of buying it (have cleared the offer and mortgage hurdle, and am now at the conveyancing stage). When browsing, I was hugely put off by express-style listings of very low priced properties that were asking for considerably less than market value.

Thanks for the reply I understand what you are saying. The thing is I am not actively looking to buy at the moment as I can only afford a rather small mortgage and houses rarely come up at the price I can currently afford. I was planning on saving up for another year or 2 and only became interested in this house due to the price.

I think I'm going to go ahead and view the property and take things from there. If they would accept an offer for around the 50k mark then great, if not I will continue saving until I can afford a more expensive house. I'm not particularly in a rush but I am fed up of living with the parents and the mortgage repayments on such a house would work out much much cheaper than renting!

lolypopcorn

go_cat wrote: »

IIRC express sales advertise properties low but they only accept market price for the house. It looks like a bargain therefore gets more interest in theory.

I can see how express agencies are a good marketing ploy and would gain a lot of interest but for some reason that doesn't seem to be the case for this house. After a bit more digging around the house has been with the express agency for around 5/6 months now and the price has been reduced 3 times. I'm not going to rush into anything but I will look into it. Around 50k is probably my max anyway so I won't be too bothered if it doesn't work out.

The_Earl_of_Streatham

If it's the "express" agency I think you're implying, they've been hauled before the advertising standards people more than once

http://www.estateagenttoday.co.uk/news_features/Uner-market-value-agent-home-reprimanded-by-advertising-watchdog.

Also they're one of the very few agents who don't list room dimensions, so lazy as well as "unhelpful" on price (a euphemism to keep m'learned friends at bay). Were I actually in the market I'd never sell with them and a place would have to be very special for me to consider buying through them.

lolypopcorn

The_Earl_of_Streatham wrote: »

If it's the "express" agency I think you're implying, they've been hauled before the advertising standards people more than once

Thanks for the advice, the agency is not that one but I understand they will all operate in a similar way. It's something I need to take into consideration.