Offers over...

Abbicathead

I am a FTB me and my partner have been to see houses that are all offers over x amount. As I am very new to this please can someone tell me their opinion on offering lower than the "offers over"?

One I like in particular is offers over £118k would I be cheeky offering say £108k and going from there or am I wasting my time?

Thanks

Excited13

I always ignore offers over or offer in excess on adverts and take the asking price as the figure quoted. I would go in under but not sure at £108k but it depends on the area, the market and recent sold prices.

Abbicathead

Excited13 wrote: »

I always ignore offers over or offer in excess on adverts and take the asking price as the figure quoted. I would go in under but not sure at £108k but it depends on the area, the market and recent sold prices.

Thanks, houses in the area sold at really different prices to be honest so it's really difficult to know where I stand. The vendor is lovely so I wouldn't want to offend her but it does seem she is looking to move out sharpish.

Excited13

Have you checked how long it has been on the market for? I use Propertybee to double check.

I know when I was selling last my house I was desperate to sell and as long as the amount covered the mortgage and they could move fast I didn't care.

There is no harm putting the offer in to test the water and good luck.

Abbicathead

Excited13 wrote: »

Have you checked how long it has been on the market for? I use Propertybee to double check.

I know when I was selling last my house I was desperate to sell and as long as the amount covered the mortgage and they could move fast I didn't care.

There is no harm putting the offer in to test the water and good luck.

I know it's been up since march this year but I'm not sure what is considered to be a long time in having it up for?

Thanks very much for your advice! I'm really new to this so just want to make sure I'm not going in too hard and going to rock the boat!

Better_Days

How long has it been offers over £118k for?

Did it start at a higher AP and has since been dropped and if so when? (Use property bee to find out)

Do you know if the vendor has to achieve the £118k to cover the mortgage? If I view a property and I think the AP is unrealistic I ask the EA who set the AP. It is usually the vendor.

I hate offers over, it usually means the vendor is inflexible/unrealistic about price. I think it only works when the AP is set low to garner interest and a quick sale.

mail2z

There is no exact science in making an offer, I was in similar situation recently, so the best would be to start making low offers (10- 15% less than asking price) on few of the houses that you will not regret having. If the EA laughs at you and never calls you back then you will know you have offered too little. This can be little shameful at first but you will get used to it pretty quickly :rotfl:. This actually tempers you to be a little emotionless during the negotiation process. Start increasing the offer price by few %'s on the same one (if on the same one then give it a few days before the next offer) or on the next one you offer until you are taken seriously. You will know that you are close to the acceptable limit when the EA's tone changes.

You might get better advice from other knowledge folks here but this is my experience and this is what I am doing at the moment.

Abbicathead

Better_Days wrote: »

How long has it been offers over £118k for?

Did it start at a higher AP and has since been dropped and if so when? (Use property bee to find out)

Do you know if the vendor has to achieve the £118k to cover the mortgage? If I view a property and I think the AP is unrealistic I ask the EA who set the AP. It is usually the vendor.

I hate offers over, it usually means the vendor is inflexible/unrealistic about price. I think it only works when the AP is set low to garner interest and a quick sale.

Apparently it was up at 126 and they reduced it in June to offers over 118, really I wouldn't want to go over 115 unless I was reallllly pushed.

Will ask about who set the price because it would be interesting to know. I didn't ask about the mortgage because I felt a little cheeky but I know the vendor is looking to move to a nicer area where prices will be 35-40% more than where they currently live.

Better_Days

Abbicathead wrote: »

Apparently it was up at 126 and they reduced it in June to offers over 118, really I wouldn't want to go over 115 unless I was reallllly pushed.

Will ask about who set the price because it would be interesting to know. I didn't ask about the mortgage because I felt a little cheeky but I know the vendor is looking to move to a nicer area where prices will be 35-40% more than where they currently live.

OK - so it has been at £118k for at least 3 weeks suggesting that £118k isn't a bargain price otherwise someone would have offered on it by now. A lot depends on the sold prices of similiar properties in the area - I know it can be difficult to compare - but maybe expand the area when looking at sold prices to see if you can get a feeling for values.

An offer of £10k less on a £118k AP is on the low side - but can you justify it by taking into account any work that needs to be done and your research into similar properties in the area? Are you offering £10k less because it is a round sum amount or is that £10k less a reflection on how much the property is worth to you? Also how much do you like the property and how long do you think you will stay there?

You have said you don't want to go over £115k, which indicates that is the max that the property is worth to you. I would start by offering a bit over £110k - providing this amount isn't contraindicated by local sold prices and/or a significant amount of repairs/updating. This gives you a bit under £5k of 'wiggle room' which is not unreasonable considering the AP of the property.

What is the vendor's position? Are they in a hurry to move, or are they going to hang on for what they think the house is worth?

Finally, when negotiating, think about how you would feel if you didn't get the property? Would you feel 'there are plenty more houses out there' or would you feel that 'this is the one'?

Riggster

Offer £108k and see what happens!

Duskylady

Offer whatever you like, the worst they can say is No. I would check property bee and also when that house last sold on zoopla I think these go back to 2001 ish. You can usually began idea of what amount people will be mortgaged too for this. For example we saw a house with an asking price of 219 but know that they had bought it for 215 3 years previously they therefore weren't likely to accept an offer.