Making an offer conditional on exchange/completion dates - Can I do it? Does it work?

hazyjo

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

You simply don't have the slightest need to have a car here - everything is somewhere between very easy walking distance and walking distance and that does appeal to a lot of people.

And when it comes to seeing friends and family? Getting to an airport? Buying heavy items? Going away for a weekend?

Agree - avoid fixed price.

Florence - I wouldn't want to go over that £125k offer. It's your gamble though at the end of the day... Push the positives - good buyer, etc, and let them believe it's your final offer (even if you change your mind).

Good luck!

Jx

DaftyDuck

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Dafty

I'll take your advice then - to keep the price put in a standard sorta way.

We all have our particular quirks as to what we personally want in a house I know. I don't really follow this thing about "bathrooms mustn't be downstairs" that most people go by. !!!!!!? As long as there is a bathroom - then so what in my view personally. But I have carefully made it plain that my bathroom is upstairs and the EA has been told exactly how I put walls up/took them down and it would be easy/cheap work for anyone wanting to reverse what I did. Definitely taking the view "Once you've paid for it - then knock it to smithereens if you want....".:rotfl:

The convenience of my house is THE big selling point of my house - even over and above the amount of space. You simply don't have the slightest need to have a car here - everything is somewhere between very easy walking distance and walking distance and that does appeal to a lot of people. I know the houses are likely to go first that have a similar location but fashionable kitchens and bathrooms and no woodchip to take off some of the walls and do understand the logic behind this - but those factors can always be changed (unlike the location - which is what it is and a wantable one in this case).

I shall bear in mind too your comments re a pamper weekend - I've certainly got something similar lined-up already:D

View your property from the buyer's point of view, not yours. You don't want this property any more - it's not in walking distance of where you want to be now.... so don't assume it would suit any of your viewers the way it once did you.

Every house is individual, every buyer is individual in their wants. Don't take offence if someone doesn't love it, don't assume because someone loves it that they would pay a price you'd accept.

Better_Days

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

I don't really follow this thing about "bathrooms mustn't be downstairs" that most people go by. !!!!!!?

Because for some people a bathroom downstairs is very inconvenient. As the years go on you may need to visit the bathroom more often at night and it is a pain to go trundling up and down the stairs. When you are sleepy you are more likely to stumble or fall. Falling down a flight of stairs is no joke. And for those with mobility problems it becomes more of an issue.

For the 'hale and hearty' it is very easy to underestimate the impact of disabilities on day to day living.

And some people simply do not like bathrooms downstairs when bedrooms are upstairs.

Kastanie

I am currently tossing the idea round in my head as to whether to amend the price of my house down by £2,000 and put "Fixed price" on it as a way to make my asking price that bit lower still, but in the process tell people "Don't even try and make an offer - that IS the price - take it or leave it".

Good luck with that. Where I live, that signifies something very wrong with the property or the vendor's finances; FTBs and mover-uppers get scared off and do decide to "leave it"; the vendor then gets screwed into the ground on price by a builder or an investor who takes no heed of the mythical "fixed" price.

I suspect the answer is they would totally ignore the word "fixed" and still make an offer - so it would be best for me to forget that idea ...as they would try and use it against me. They would just come onto MSE and ask "Shall I try an offer anyway?" and other FTB'ers would pile in and tell them to do so...

Are we reading the same board? From what I've read, FTBs who ask about putting offers in receive lots of excellent solid and sensible advice from EXPERIENCED buyers and sellers (not other FTBs) about researching sold prices, deciding what the house is worth to them, working out what they can afford etc etc before putting in an offer. All perfectly reasonable.

View your property from the buyer's point of view, not yours. You don't want this property any more - it's not in walking distance of where you want to be now.... so don't assume it would suit any of your viewers the way it once did you. Every house is individual, every buyer is individual in their wants. Don't take offence if someone doesn't love it, don't assume because someone loves it that they would pay a price you'd accept.

This.

Anyway, the thread has become rather hi-jacked from the OP's original issue and perhaps should have been started as a separate thread. OP, I would not go over your offer, remain open and honest about what you'd prefer. Agree with hazyjo - push the positives. I'd be interested to know how it pans out.

florence4

Thanks everyone

DaftyDuck wrote: »

florence; your problem is that the owner isn't in a hurry to move, but would for the "right price". I'm sure if you offered a real premium price, you'd be able to dictate the likely exchange and completion dates, but you'd effectively be paying her to move out in a hurry. So, asking price plus £2000, to be reduced to asking price if exchange not made by XX of Y might work. It's still open to one party getting cold feet, though. You'd be better off not trying to force the issue. It's rather different if you find a seller who's enthusiastic to move.

Dafty, you're exactly right. She's already lowered her asking price £2.5K, so as far as she's concerned, she's been completely (or even more than) reasonable. Unfortunately, from my point of view, it's still too expensive... Of course I don't know what a valuation survey would actually say, but what I do know is that houses round here are generally selling after 9+ months on the market, and at 10-25% less than the original asking price.

I'm in an unusual (though I suspect not unique) position - taking on a BTL mortgage on my current house to release capital to trade up, and going from no mortgage to two mortgages in the process :eek: So I'm particularly afraid of creating negative equity for myself, if I pay over the odds...