First and Final Offer ?

thequant

I'm thinking of making an offer on a place later. To be honest I'm a little sick of the whole "negotiation" games that everyone plays, both sellers and buyers.

I have a price in mind that I want to pay and am not willing to pay a penny over it.

is it ok to state this in an offer, or is it expected that I should have some wriggle room to be negotiated up later?

Apologies if this has been posted before, I'm sure it has, but I couldnt find anything on the search function.

adamzetec

I'd suggest playing the game and giving yourself some "wiggle room". Offers are generally, but not always, played out over a number of offers. The vendors may think they can squeeze more out of you.

G_M

There is nothing to stop you saying that - whether the seller or his EA will believe you is another Q!

If they don't, (and reject the offer), you then have to decide if you meant it (and walk away), or whether to back down and make a new offer!

It is probobly better to make such an offer face to face with the seller. In a frank conversation, they will see your sincerity, and accept/reject your offer on the basis you made it, whereas if it's gone via an agent, the message will be watered down (if not lost)

dotdash79

Try and get it for less, I know we have paid less than we was willing to do and it's saved us a few grand.

Biggles

It might be better to offer, say, £5k or £10k below your price.

This gives you a) the possibility of being accepted at the lower figure and making you happy or b) 'giving way' gracefully and upping your offer, so making the vendor happy. It's a win-win!

DannyboyMidlands

I agree with the above. Why would you not want to get it for less than your top price?

Better_Days

The sucess of the tactic depends on lots of variables including:
1) How close your offer is to the AP
2) How realistic the AP is
3) Whether or not the vendor has a 'bottom line' which they must achieve
4) Whether or not the EA thinks they can get more out of you
5) How much you really want the house
6) Whether or not you are in a position to move quickly
7) The personalities involved
8) How quickly the vendor needs to move

I'm sure there are lots more. We accepted the first offer on our property, but it was a good offer within a few thousand of the AP. If we had been offered say £20k under AP as a first and only offer it is likely we would have said no as we were in no hurry to move and recent sold prices in the area indicated we could get more.

Like you I prefer to be 'straight up' with offers but the reality is that the vendors and EA's may well see the first offer just as a starting point. Some will have a 'squeeze until the pips squeek' mentality, others a 'bird in the hand' point of view. The combination of circumstances is likely to be different for each property you view.

Lokolo

I did this, I didn't take a lot off, but the vendor had bought it 13.9% above what I offered, 4 years before. They accepted after the weekend (I offered on Friday morning, got call Monday sometime).

pmlindyloo

The selling/buying game is, in some sense, psychological. The seller wants to think that he has got a good deal and so does the buyer!

Therefore, it is best to do a little bit of haggling so I agree go in under and negotiate up to your limit.

All very annoying but that's life!

Mr_Moo_2

This is a tricky one, we're just going through the buying process at the moment. Wih one place, we knew it was relatively well priced, that a few things did stop it from being the perfect place but that we liked it enough to offer. We were aware there was other interest so we went in with what we considered to be a fair "once and final" offer, with our ability to proceed the differentiator between us and other buyers.

As it happens another buyer offered more and we declined to beat their offer. Fair enough, that's the buyers call, and goven the house is now SSTC I'm fairly happy the other bidder did exist ). With other properties and especially where our starting point will be in the "decidedly cheeky" zone, we will start low with some wriggle room to move upwards if needed.

Regardless my thinking is that you always need to decide not just what you can afford, but what a house is actually worth to you, and not go beyond that point.

thequant

G_M wrote: »

It is probobly better to make such an offer face to face with the seller. In a frank conversation, they will see your sincerity, and accept/reject your offer on the basis you made it, whereas if it's gone via an agent, the message will be watered down (if not lost)

This is what I thought, my general negotiation technique in business is too make fair offers (rather than trying to offer the lowest I think I can get away with) and communicate this face to face. This works very well for me usually, as it allows me to take the position with the other party who attempts to negotiate up of taking the proverbials!

However as you said, the face to face element will be removed and as such they will more than likely attempt higher.

The problem is that the places is on for £265k, all the indications are that they are looking for £250k.

I personally don't value the property at a penny over £245k, I know whatever offer I make the vendor will reject as they will aim for £250k and use the usual "I'm giving you a substantial discount as it is, plus saving you stamp duty!"

What's the best way to communicate that I not willing to pay the £250k, but the figure I am willing to pay is not too far from this.

BTW, I'm FTB with everything in place, huge deposit, plus property is vacant possession (dead granny I think).