Negotiating house price around the £125k stamp duty mark

Amba_Gambla

braun wrote: »

If I found a house I really liked for 130,000 I wouldn't really be bothered about an extra 1% on stamp duty.

If your budget was £120-£125k you might be

braun_2

Amba_Gambla wrote: »

If your budget was £120-£125k you might be

I know where you are coming from but you can either afford it or you can't. You either like/love the house enough to spend £120-£125k or you don't

I personally am renting at the moment but will be lookign to buy within the next 6 to 12 months... my budget will be up to 130 and if I find a house i'm in love with and that I want to live in for the next 50 years then whats an extra £1300?

Yorkie1

braun wrote: »

If the stamp duty bothers you ask them to pay it?

This is a vendor gifted deposit and lenders won't lend in this situation. So it's a non-starter.

braun wrote: »

I know where you are coming from but you can either afford it or you can't. You either like/love the house enough to spend £120-£125k or you don't

I personally am renting at the moment but will be lookign to buy within the next 6 to 12 months... my budget will be up to 130 and if I find a house i'm in love with and that I want to live in for the next 50 years then whats an extra £1300?

If your budget is £125K, then at £130K you are paying an additional £6300.

A seller who expects to get £130K when the stamp duty threshold is only £5K lower is, in my view, being wholly unrealistic.

scottishgirl87

We paid £128k for our flat which we bought at the end of January. Had originally been listed at offers over £140k before being reduced a couple of times and was advertised at offers over £125k by the time we came to view it. Originally offered £125k which was rejected and we were told they wanted £130k so we went in at £128k and they accepted.

Granted we didn't really want to go over £125k as we hadn't budgeted for stamp duty but we wanted the flat. Luckily, being in Scotland, we already had the details of what it's valued at which is alot more than we paid for it.

Mowie

The other thing to look at is that some lenders are offering to pay 1% stamp duty at the moment.

My best advice though is if you are looking to spend £120-125k then only look within that range. If a house is worth more then the vendor is not likely to sell for less.

addyboy1982

Round my way, houses go for between £100k and £140k on this estate dependent on number of bedrooms and condition. When mine is finished, and if I've found somewhere, it will be worth approx £125k. It will be on the market for £130k though as I'd expect most offers to be around £123-£125k mark.

[Deleted User]

Calleja wrote: »

Also, this area MAY have been in the 'disadvantaged' area that allowed relief of stamp duty up to £150k. This is was abolished this weekend! So the playing field has changed which makes comparisons tricky.

Glad I saw this as I'm in the process of buying a property for £145k in an area which was eligible for the Disadvantaged Areas Relief. I had no idea the rules had just changed. That's another £1450 to fork out then...

neverdespairgirl

I;d assume that a house / flat on the market for £130k was aiming at as high as possible under the £125k SDT.

MacMickster

OP.

You say that the house is marketed "just above £130K", so maybe a bit further over the Stamp Duty threshold.

If you were considering offering £130K, but would then struggle to pay the Stamp Duty, instead offer £128,500 leaving you with the funds for the duty. There is no reason to increase your offer by £5K.

Calleja

MacMickster wrote: »

OP.

You say that the house is marketed "just above £130K", so maybe a bit further over the Stamp Duty threshold.

If you were considering offering £130K, but would then struggle to pay the Stamp Duty, instead offer £128,500 leaving you with the funds for the duty. There is no reason to increase your offer by £5K.

I agree with this in principle. However, when buying a house, a lot of the time its the upfront cost that is the issue. If you haven't added the SD to your original budget, then an extra £1300, or whatever, is a substantial amount. I know I'm certainly not in a position to just magic that money up from somewhere!

So in the long term, 128,500 vs 130k is actually a better deal - but doesn't help being able to pay the SD now.