reasonable offer? which way to play it?

confused!_13

They havent come back to me yet!!! arghhh!!!

I think they are going to accpet tho from what the EA was saying.

will update as i know!

MoneyLosingExpert_2

Hopefully someone can help me. I've found an apartment I desperately want and am going for a second viewing on Sunday. Its on offer at £135000, but my budget was £130000 (and that was hopefully including stamp duty). What's a reasonable first offer considering that I think the asking price is about right? My budget is quite flexible in that I have £4k for fees etc which I shouldn't need all of, so I could go up to £132000 at a push. I am a FTB and ready to go with mortgages/solicitors sorted etc. Any thoughts? I was thinking of either £130000 straight out and hope they just say yes, or £128500?

Doozergirl

Where is this apartment? Is it new build? If so, Brand New or second hand?

I'm asking because new build apartments are a bit of a risk. A lot of them aren't worth what people have paid. have you viewed lots of other properties in the area and are you confident that the asking price compares well to older style properties? eg. if an 2 bed apartment is £130k I would expect reasonable two bed terraces to sell for £155k, NOT the same price.

There are lots of people struggling to re-sell apartments at the moment - I would tread very carefully!

I would start with the £128,500 and keep you increments very small, if you are sure the property presents value for money.

cattie

Moneylosingexpert, Welcome to mse.it's always best if you start your own thread rather than tacking onto somebody elses, known as hijacking. You're likely to get more response starting a fresh thread under your own heading.

You'll soon be changing you name to savingexpert by joining these boards.

Doozergirl gives great advice if the apartment is a new build. They usually carry a premium so are not the best value as they often don't bring the price you paid for them if you sell in a reasonable space of time.

I'd be inclined to go in at £128,238 as often odd amount numbers rather than a rounded up number gives the impression that you've given good thought to what your maximum price is.

I'm considering a house at the mo & if I offer it will have an odd amount tagged onto the end so it seems as if I'm really squeezing the budget.

Good luck anyway.

telfordwhite

cattie wrote: »

I'd be inclined to go in at £128,238 as often odd amount numbers rather than a rounded up number gives the impression that you've given good thought to what your maximum price is.

Or that you're a tight so and so.

MoneyLosingExpert_2

Apologies everybody with regards to hijacking, I'm not very good with this internet ettiquette!

MoneyLosingExpert_2

Doozergirl wrote: »

Where is this apartment? Is it new build? If so, Brand New or second hand?

I'm asking because new build apartments are a bit of a risk. A lot of them aren't worth what people have paid. have you viewed lots of other properties in the area and are you confident that the asking price compares well to older style properties? eg. if an 2 bed apartment is £130k I would expect reasonable two bed terraces to sell for £155k, NOT the same price.

There are lots of people struggling to re-sell apartments at the moment - I would tread very carefully!

I would start with the £128,500 and keep you increments very small, if you are sure the property presents value for money.

I've been looking around for about 5 months now and nearly put an offer on an apartment in Sheffield until I realised they were losing money hand over fist and the market seems to be saturated. Its in Chesterfield and was built in 2002 and I even did a sneaky spreadsheet on all the apartments in the block since built and looked at the trend to see if anything didn't add up or showed a negative slope in what was a rising market. It all looks good, I do take on board what you said about terraced housing, the prices for 2 beds range from £90k to £139k so they are definitely cheaper. Unfortunately I am looking for somewhere all on one level so that my Mother can stay with me occasionally, so I'm reluctantly entering the apartment market.

Thank you all so much for your help though, it's a very nervous time for a FTB and thinking of all this money I might lose doesn't half make me sweat!

Doozergirl

I'm glad you've researched!

Just keep your offers low, keep your incremements very small and never offer in the same phonecall as an offer being rejected, in fact, if you can leave it days between offers, you should do so!

MoneyLosingExpert_2

Thank you all for your help, apologies to whose thread this is, I look forward to hearing whether you got the place you wanted.

STOTTYCAKE_2

I totally agree with all said here. My boyfriend has had his flat up for 3 months and only had 2 viewings, whereas my sis sold her 2 bed house immediately and had loads of viewings but it was cheaper than he's asking for the flat. Can't you put a bed downstairs for your mum. My sis's house has a downstairs bathroom and she has a sofa bed. Flats are harder to re-sell so think carefully.