Negotiating with Estate Agent

movinghelp

So called to put in offer today, agent said he's been instructed not to take any offer under 260 and they have lots of viewings booked this weekend etc. etc. So have put in 260 but if rejected will reiterate this is final offer and leave it on the table but ultimately happy to walk away.

Have seen another property at 285k reduced from 325 to 300 and now 285. Have offered at 275k as there are tenants in there on a rolling contract so may take 2 months to remove them.

TrickyDicky101

movinghelp wrote: »

Have seen another property at 285k reduced from 325 to 300 and now 285. Have offered at 275k as there are tenants in there on a rolling contract so may take 2 months to remove them.

Depending on how cooperative (or not) tenants are, it may take much, much, much longer.

ian103

and then theres the condition the tenant leaves the property in as we are in the process of finding out. Dirty / rubbish everywhere and I suspect were lucky to what others have encountered.

phoebe1989seb

ian103 wrote: »

and then theres the condition the tenant leaves the property in as we are in the process of finding out. Dirty / rubbish everywhere and I suspect were lucky to what others have encountered.

This ^^^^^

We bought a house (four flats actually, but originally a large Victorian house) that was tenanted when we viewed. Two of the tenants (DSS) refused to leave, had to be both bribed and evicted, by which time we'd sold our house, put the contents of a four bed house into storage and moved in with my parents for several months. When we eventually got vacant possession, we found a total tip - admittedly we intended to gut the place and restore it to a single dwelling so were prepared for mess - with food literally splattered all over the walls, loo (and bath?) plastered with *number 2s* :eek:, one room covered in polystyrene/black tape and 50-odd items of furniture plus assorted personal items.......

'Twas not a walk in the park and definitely not for the faint-hearted

movinghelp

Thanks for all the comments. I am aware of the problems, my sister bought a 2 bed in Stockwell 3 years ago with tenants in and it took at least 4 months to get them out.. It was also a complete state when she moved in and took 10k to fix up.

BUT it's a great size, fantastic view, split level and top floor in our perfect area so really want to give it a go.

martinsurrey

movinghelp wrote: »

Thanks for all the comments. I am aware of the problems, my sister bought a 2 bed in Stockwell 3 years ago with tenants in and it took at least 4 months to get them out.. It was also a complete state when she moved in and took 10k to fix up.

BUT it's a great size, fantastic view, split level and top floor in our perfect area so really want to give it a go.

There are always a lot of bad news stories on here (and rightly so, people need to beaware of potential problems) but they don’t always go sour.

I completed on a house 2 months ago, tenants moved out on the day they were askedt o (without any financial inducement), took all their junk, cleaned the floors, no problem, in fact, I’ve made the house a state since then! (floors up and windows out, at the moment).

as long as you go in knowing what can go wrong, in most cases it doesnt, as you know what to look out for.

benson1980

olias wrote: »

No vendor other than a deluded one will expect a house to sell at just over the stamp duty threshold in this market. They will be hoping for more from a gullible or desperate buyer, but I guarantee they are only expecting £250k. Don't offer more than that.

Olias

This is a bit of a sweeping statement- We offered on a house at 265k a few weeks ago. Two offers of 250k had already been rejected; if we were selling the house we would have done the same as it was clearly worth more than other houses on the same road that had sold for just below the stamp duty threshold.

We found so much less competition with properties in the 250-280k price range that we could actually bargain much harder. We were looking in popular areas and people just won't sell their houses to you if you don't offer what its worth- sold prices show that there are plenty of houses selling around the 260 to 270k mark

movinghelp

Thanks for the continued support. So just heard from the property at 285k they think 275k is too low.

Not sure how to proceed now.. I do think it's worth 285 but don't want to just go up for the sake of it especially if it does take a while to shift tenants.

Also even though they've only recently dropped the price it has been on the market since the start of the year.

TrickyDicky101

movinghelp wrote: »

Thanks for the continued support. So just heard from the property at 285k they think 275k is too low.

Not sure how to proceed now.. I do think it's worth 285 but don't want to just go up for the sake of it especially if it does take a while to shift tenants.

Also even though they've only recently dropped the price it has been on the market since the start of the year.

Why not leave the offer on the table for a period of time, but make it clear that you feel your offer is reasonable and you will be looking at other properties in the meantime. Places the onus squarely on the sellers.

Having been in your position before I know how traumatic it can be (even for buyers) but it is infinitely worse for the seller!

movinghelp

So as I expected our first option has just gone for asking price 275k and now I'm just anxiously waiting for a response on the other property for our 280k offer (we upped from 275k on an asking price of 285..)