opnions on offers on this house

VICSH

hi all
I hope some of you can help me. My DH and I really like this house it ticks all the boxes apart from price. It is listed on for £285k and so far has generated 60 views on zoopla since it came on the market which was last month. The Estate agents told me today that the vendors have made an offer on another house in the village which has been accept so just need to sell theirs.

Do you think they would accept under stamp duty threshold?
I have check on zoopla and nothing on this street had sold more than the stamp duty threshold ever (the last sales was in October 2012 for £249999) I think we would push ourselves to £260 maximum but if it got valued by our mortgage company would it be lower due to the street never selling above the SDL?

Our budget really is SDL what would your upper limit on house viewing be? Basically I dont want to fall in love wiht something we cant afford.
Also if I was to put in an offer where would your starting point be, I dont want to insult the vendors but equally I dont want to push the price higher.

Thanks all for your help in advance xxxx

BitterAndTwisted

If nothing in the village has ever sold above the stamp duty threshhold this one won't either.

If the vendors have made an offer and it's been accepted they they will want an offer theirs soon or they will lose it. They are already in a weak position with not having secured a buyer for theirs yet. They are just not proceedable and I wouldn't be taking their offer seriously if I was their vendor.

Don't appear too keen so don't get back to the agent for a day or two before you make a shamelessly and eyewateringly low offer..

VICSH

Bitter and twisted thank you, I will leave it for a few days, I want to second view anyway with my husband and then we can decide I think.

Where would your opening offer be, should I just go in at full and final offer straight away or under and move up?

more_money_for_me

I guess it will partly depend on your position too. If you are a cash buyer or first time buyer not involved in a chain this may hold some sway. As above, if they have already found somewhere they may be prepared to reduce the sale price if you can proceed quickly and easily. You can only give it a go. If someone else is proceedable and prepared to pay more you lose out, if yours is the only offer on the table, they are very likely to give it some serious thought. Nobody puts a house on the market for what they want to achieve.

Just seen your post above. No I wouldn't go straight in with my maximum. It is very rare first offers are accepted. The estate agent will want to feel they have taken you to your maximum, so will likely refuse your first offer, and ask you for your best price. How about £240 to start, its serious, but gives room before you reach your maximum.

Tancred

VICSH wrote: »

hi all
I hope some of you can help me. My DH and I really like this house it ticks all the boxes apart from price. It is listed on for £285k and so far has generated 60 views on zoopla since it came on the market which was last month. The Estate agents told me today that the vendors have made an offer on another house in the village which has been accept so just need to sell theirs.

Do you think they would accept under stamp duty threshold?
I have check on zoopla and nothing on this street had sold more than the stamp duty threshold ever (the last sales was in October 2012 for £249999) I think we would push ourselves to £260 maximum but if it got valued by our mortgage company would it be lower due to the street never selling above the SDL?

Our budget really is SDL what would your upper limit on house viewing be? Basically I dont want to fall in love wiht something we cant afford.
Also if I was to put in an offer where would your starting point be, I dont want to insult the vendors but equally I dont want to push the price higher.

Thanks all for your help in advance xxxx

If you budget is the stamp duty limit, why on earth are you looking at properties priced at £285k? I can't see a seller dropping £35k. Maybe if it was priced at £260-265k, but not that high. As for the last sale in the street that is only relevant if that house was very similar to the one in question, otherwise it's completely irrelevant. Don't fool yourself into thinking that your mortgage company would value it at £250k just because a sale last year - it's not that simple.

It's strange that the vendors have made an offer on another property without having accepted one on theirs. Seems over optimistic to put it mildly.

VICSH

Thank you all for your advice. We are 2nd in a chain a FTB buying our flat and the house that they have had the offer accepted on is the end of the chain i dont know if that makes a difference or not.

Tancred all the houses are exactly the same layout, design, shape all built by the same builders at the same time. The one that sold 3 months ago was the house next door so mirror of the one we are looking at. And the others I have seen the particulars of and are the same. Normally I wouldnt think about looking that high however this street we have been keeping an eye on and it came up, as I said we could go to 260 but ideally under SDL.
I will arrange a 2nd viewing and take it from there, I am not fooling myself it is a massive drop and maybe I am chancing my arm a bit but on the other side I do feel that nothing ventured nothing gained you never know.

I really do appreciate all your advice, thank you all it is good to get some independent advice.

Better_Days

Tancred wrote: »

If you budget is the stamp duty limit, why on earth are you looking at properties priced at £285k? I can't see a seller dropping £35k. Maybe if it was priced at £260-265k, but not that high.

Actually they do sometimes. EA's (and vendors) do, shock, horror :eek: over value. The bungalow opposite us was up on the market last year for £275k, yet the most any bungalow on that development went for was £229k (and a much better presented property too). It didn't sell. Last year I looked twice at bungalow up for £285k and the EA actually rang me and said he had spoken to the vendor and that they would accept £250k.

The main thing is that the OP has done their research re the selling price of similiar properties in the area. The thing against the OP in this situation is that the property has not been on the market for long and they are not chain free. I suspect the vendor will hang on for nearer to AP, but you never know.

GL OP.

hazyjo

^^of course they drop £35k - especially when they've obviously priced it at that as a first ditched attempt to get over the SD threshold.

Good luck. Let us know how you get on.

Personally, if others have sold at that £250k level and you're not prepared to go over it, and you really want the house, I'd offer higher. £246k or something. And it's not often I say that lol.

Jx

hamster2013

i recently lost on a house that was on the market for £450k
the sellers found their 'dream house' and I tried to bypass the estate agent and put in an offer of 380k, they were hesitant but since it fit their 'budget' and needed to move quick unless they risk losing their dream home, they were speculating, when the EA got an offer of £395k, which they took
i wonder how much commission he took, but if he took 2%, they just made 7k more than what i offered, i could have offered £390 or even £395, but i guess they didnt want to lose that buyer ...
anyways, the point im making is that a house is worth what the buyer is ready to pay and seller ready to take,..... if they need just 250k to move they will consider it, if it doesnt fit their financial needs, they can be as desperate as they want, they will not accept it!

make the offer if your second viewing goes as planned, and start at £240
if they have no exclusive contract with the EA, take their personal details and see if you can work something out between yourselves

phoebe1989seb

hamster2013 wrote: »

i recently lost on a house that was on the market for £450k
the sellers found their 'dream house' and I tried to bypass the estate agent and put in an offer of 380k, they were hesitant but since it fit their 'budget' and needed to move quick unless they risk losing their dream home, they were speculating, when the EA got an offer of £395k, which they took
i wonder how much commission he took, but if he took 2%, they just made 7k more than what i offered, i could have offered £390 or even £395, but i guess they didnt want to lose that buyer ...

I don't know the circumstances obviously, but chances are they would have had to pay the EA commission anyway as the EA would no doubt have attempted to prove you saw their ad for the house

hamster2013

phoebe1989seb wrote: »

I don't know the circumstances obviously, but chances are they would have had to pay the EA commission anyway as the EA would no doubt have attempted to prove you saw their ad for the house

obviously depends on your contract with the EA
if you are not on a exclusivity contract, then EA can not do anything
I got my house this way, and EA was bummed indeed, but he did not bother any further