I need advice pls! Putting offer in tomorrow...

klmwong

Hiya,

We have decided to put an offer in for a house tomorrow morning. The estate agent is advertised on the internet as opening 9am-5pm. However, I have gone to see them on a Monday morning around 9.30am twice recently and they weren't open. No signs when they were going to open. Bit annoying but can't do anything about that.

Anyway, tomorrow, does it matter whether I phone in or visit the estate agent in person? If I do go in and tell them I would like to place an offer, will they phone the sellers straightaway? I probably will ask them to. That's Ok isn't it?

The house is advertised as offers around £259 950. We are going to offer £249 950. Last Thursday when I went in for a second visit we briefly discussed the stamp duty threshold and they said that there are ways of paying a little more than £250 000 but keeping under the stamp duty threshold. We didn't go into the details but that would be fine. I am hoping that we will be able to meet in the middle at £255 000 but that will need some discussion between us and the seller.

Should I go entirely through the estate agent or put the original offer on the table. OR should I put the original offer in and say to the estate agent that I would be happy to meet them in the middle (or is that giving them too much info) OR should I just call in to the house on my way to the estate agent and tell them an offer is going in below the stamp duty threshold. If they aren't happy then we can talk about it there and then.

Not sure if I'm going to get much sleep tonight....

ian103

I wouldn't go over 250k due to stamp duty, not sure of the pitfalls of what the agent is suggesting but I wouldn't leave myself open to the risk of someone suggesting I had paid more than the 250k threshold and looking for the additional duty.

Gut feeling is at 259k they are expecting just under 250k so perhaps a starting offer less than 250k so you can negotiate up.

I would definitely say nothing to the estate agent about more money being on the table as they will try for the highest figure as thats what dictates the fee. remember estate agents work for the vendor and only have their (and sometimes the vendors) interests at heart.

grifferz

You're over-thinking things. Just phone.

Most likely the agent will have been given (or suggested) a level of offer that they need to achieve before they need to bother passing it on.

Whatever you say they aren't going to go "yeah, you got a deal!" right there and then. They are always going to try to bid you up.

Give up any ideas of paying more than the stamp duty limit but not paying any stamp duty. HMRC will scrutinise any transaction that is around the limit, there is no way to get around it by paying over the top for fixtures and fittings, and if they decide you're liable then they will pursue it forever. Do not take advice on what amounts to fraud from an estate agent. They will not be the ones who pay the price. If you insist on doing this, ask your solicitor, and then be prepared for them to tell you that it's not going to work.

In my view they are trying to get you to offer more than £250k and then find out you do have to pay stamp duty, but you by then love the property so much that you won't back out.

With that in mind I am not sure that the vendors should really expect to get to £250k for this, so your initial offer of £249,950 may be too high.

mrginge

If your max is (and should be) 250k, i would start at 240k

ejmolly

Hi

I had an offer accepted on a house with exactly the same asking price a few weeks back. We made it clear to the ea on viewing that we wouldn't be going above stamp duty threshold. Our initial offer was 240 then 245. They came back and said they would accept 247. We were more than happy with that!

Best of luck. Agree with others that best to go in a bit lower to start with.

DRP

Clearly, it's priced to get as close to 250k as possible.

Maybe offer 240 over the phone aiming to finish up as much beneath 250k as they will accept.

Remember that as the buyer, it is you have everything to lose if/when the HMRC come a-knocking and the stamp duty avoidance ruse goes t*ts-up

ps. make sure you do your research of sold property prices in the area/street before you decide your upper limit

hazyjo

Don't let the EA bully you into paying over £250k - an extra £5k for 'chattels' is not acceptable. You'll only get away with around £1-2k (but they would need to justify that - hard when things are only worth second-hand value). Really not worth upping your offer to bid against yourself! Unless people are crawling all over it, stick to £250k or under.

Anything priced at £260k is, as above, looking for as close to £250k as poss.

Please don't forget just how much you can buy with even £500! I would be looking to get it for under £250k - even if it was a thousand under that!

Jx

klmwong

Thank you everyone for your advice and tips.

Would you like an update? I went to see the estate agent at 9.30am and made an offer of £249 950. The estate agent said he had an appointment but would phone the sellers and then phone me afterwards.

At 11.40am he got back in touch (email rather than phone as I already said I was out 11-12 and wouldn't be answering my phone) and said that the offer was accepted and that the sellers wanted to negotiate regarding fixtures and fittings.

I am pleased with this so please no harsh messages saying I was silly not to try £245 000 first. I don't know how much fixtures and fittings are meant to be, maybe a few thousand? Obviously we will try to bring negotiations down as much as we can.

Anyway, thanks for your help, I'm sure I will be posting further into the house buying process with another query.

While I am here, can someone tell me what I am meant to do next? I have asked the hubby to contact the mortgage man. Do I need to find a solicitor to do searches and things now?

Thanks,

Dan-Dan

klmwong wrote: »

At 11.40am he got back in touch (email rather than phone as I already said I was out 11-12 and wouldn't be answering my phone) and said that the offer was accepted and that the sellers wanted to negotiate regarding fixtures and fittings.

Be very careful here , someone more experienced than me will be along to advise `im sure...

Mobeer

Definitely find a solicitor, and look around for a mortgage.

But I'd play dumb on fixtures and only be willing to offer £50 max, to keep the total at £250,000 or below.

DRP

Dan-Dan wrote: »

Be very careful here , someone more experienced than me will be along to advise `im sure...

^yes this

As i understand it, you can only offer 2nd hand value and only certain items count as chattels.

Here is a starting point:

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/sdltmanual/SDLTM04010.htm