Advice of making a second offer

cattie

I have sold quite a few times over the years and have to say I would never dream of giving a counter offer to a prospective buyer who has offered low.

My usual opinion is that my house is on the market at a stated price and of course there is a figure I'd be happy to accept at, but it is for the prospective buyer to offer me a price I would be happy to accept for the property, and not for me to tell him what my lowest acceptable figure is.

Ciderarmy1987

cattie wrote: »

I have sold quite a few times over the years and have to say I would never dream of giving a counter offer to a prospective buyer who has offered low.

Yes but when was the last time that you sold your house? in the last 5 years? you were probably selling at a time when it was a sellers market and you were getting offers left, right and center and could afford to sit and wait it out.

We know from the agent there has been no offer on this house since October time, this is a very different climate to be selling than it was 10 years ago

addyboy1982

I bought my house (FTB) 2 years ago. I offered low as the house needed a lot of work. First offer was rejected, as I expected, and the agent said if you could get nearer to £xxxxx they may well accept it. I got slightly nearer to £xxxxx and it was accepted.

It all depends how motivated your seller is - if they're not in a rush they won't counter offer. My sellers were two brothers selling their deceased Dad's house which had been rented for a few years; they knew work needed doing and wanted rid, hence the lively negotiations.

Mobeer

Depends upon how much you want this property, how much they want to sell, and how much other interest there is. Given it's been on the market 6 months and no other recent offers, if you are not desperate for this property, then wait a while. Give the seller a chance to reflect that they have turned down your offer, and are not getting offers from anyone else.

I would then in a couple of days offer something like 148k as a final offer. I don't see any point in any more offers; they buyer will get the idea they can say no and you will come back with more.

At least that's my opinion; your plans may vary.

zappahey

When we bought this place last year, we offered a little under the price but around the going rate for the street. When the EA came back with "not enough", I made it quite clear that I was not going to make blind offers until we reached a number they liked.

They could come back and tell us what they wanted to achieve and we could deal from there, otherwise we were gone.

To be fair, we were in quite a strong position being in rented and only needing a 40% mortgage, so the EA knew there was a potential quick sale there.

cattie

Ciderarmy1987 wrote: »

Yes but when was the last time that you sold your house? in the last 5 years? you were probably selling at a time when it was a sellers market and you were getting offers left, right and center and could afford to sit and wait it out.

I actually sold my last house in August 2012, so very recent I think you have to agree. My house was on the market just short of 5 weeks in total. Ok, it is in a London suburb, so the market not quite as dead as some areas of the UK.

kidmugsy

Do you know what the vendors plan to do next? Will they have any fear of a chain collapsing, for instance? Do they plan to buy in a country where fannying about in house purchasing is frowned on (Scotland, for instance)? If so they may be keen to get a sale completed. Or is it one of those cases where they don't really want to sell (as sometimes arises with divorce)?

I suggest that you say that you'd like to do another inspection, and then sniff the wind as you walk around muttering critically while privately persuading yourselves of how much you're really prepared to pay, whether the house is uniquely suitable, and so on.

Ciderarmy1987

we know that they need to sell by the end of feb, but that they will look into renting if they dont get a sale by then

Ciderarmy1987

Thanks for all of the advice so far has given us plenty to think about

Excited13

Ciderarmy1987 wrote: »

we know that they need to sell by the end of feb, but that they will look into renting if they dont get a sale by then

In that case could they need a certain amount to clear the mortgage as they may have bought at the height of the market.