Offer tactics?

kilby_007

We've put an offer in this morning on a really nice house. They're asking for 225k which is about 10k above what we think the house is worth.

We went in with an offer of 205k. The EA came back to us about an hour later and said that the seller is looking for offers no less than 225k (the advert wording is "offers over 225k"). I started to say that ruled us out then but she said "will you be willing to move closer to 225k at all" so I think they are probably willing to neogtiate.

We will up our offer but I don't want to go straight in with our maximum of 215k because they might think we'd be willing to move further and we're not. I was thinking of putting another offer in at 210k but I think they'll come back with the same response.

Anybody speaking from experience give us any clues on what our next offer should be?

Dan-Dan

Personally , i wouldnt increase just yet ,it sends all the wrong signals (as in the EA will try and ramp you up and up) plus it shows if you increase this quickly that you are well under your budget...

If it were me , i`d leave £205 on the table and book another viewing somewhere else with the same EA

martinsurrey

Dan-Dan wrote: »

Personally , i wouldnt increase just yet ,it sends all the wrong signals (as in the EA will try and ramp you up and up) plus it shows if you increase this quickly that you are well under your budget...

If it were me , i`d leave £205 on the table and book another viewing somewhere else with the same EA

While this might work with a house that’s been on the market for months, if the house is realistically priced and new to market, sitting around could lead to the OP missing out.

OP, how long has the house been listed for? what have similar houses sold for recently, and how busy is the local market?

ValHaller

I think in this situation I would say something like "I would offer 210, but your client must understand that if this is not acceptable, then they must move substantially towards this price if they want a deal"

Dan-Dan

Maybe Martin , but then increasing by 5 k in the same day smacks of too eager and the EA will surley smell blood

kilby_007

martinsurrey wrote: »

While this might work with a house that’s been on the market for months, if the house is realistically priced and new to market, sitting around could lead to the OP missing out.

OP, how long has the house been listed for? what have similar houses sold for recently, and how busy is the local market?

The area is East Yorkshire.
The property has been on the market for a year. They started out at 240K, then dropped down to 225k in Jan this year.
The local market was very slow but is picking up I think. Houses nearby at similar prices aren't selling but there has been a lot of interest on a house on the next street which is very reasonably priced at 200k (it is a little smaller but has huge grounds. I'd say it's worth the same as the one we're offering on).

martinsurrey

Dan-Dan wrote: »

Maybe Martin , but then increasing by 5 k in the same day smacks of too eager and the EA will surley smell blood

or if there is another couple in the wings on a popular property he might smell time wasters if they don’t participate in timely negotiations and not come back to them at all.

All I'm saying is that the negotiation tactics have to reflect the property, and its market position, and as we know neither YET anything we suggest could be fatally wrong.

martinsurrey

kilby_007 wrote: »

The area is East Yorkshire.
The property has been on the market for a year. They started out at 240K, then dropped down to 225k in Jan this year.
The local market was very slow but is picking up I think. Houses nearby at similar prices aren't selling but there has been a lot of interest on a house on the next street which is very reasonably priced at 200k (it is a little smaller but has huge grounds. I'd say it's worth the same as the one we're offering on).

Thanks for the extra info.

In that case definetly play it cool (IMO) as suggested by dan-dan (you got it right through luck not judgement )

Perelandra

If I was offering on this house, I would do something similar to what Dan-Dan has suggested, based on what you've said.

Additionally, when I have bought my second offer was also not a round figure- the offer ended in £250. This was added with a "this is as far as I can go" message to the EA, as I had tried really hard to scrape together every £ I could to make the offer.

Dan-Dan

lol , story of my life Martin

pops5588

I think you can afford to leave it for a day or so. Really let them sweat it out. Our vendors were holding out for the asking price even though we were in a perfect situation for them. They didn't accept our first offer and we left them stewing for 3 days. When we came back to negotiating they were much more reasonable and I think they didn't want to risk scaring us off. Ended up getting the property 9 grand under asking price and a couple of grand less than we would have been prepared to pay.

I think it's worth going up to 210 at some point, but don't be in a hurry about it...