Simple question...

nobblyned

Why not think of the offer you would have made if the stamp duty threshold didn't exist, and then decrease it by the extra stamp duty that this would incur. If this takes you back below the threshold then offer 249999.

AndrewSmith

I agree, having been in property professionally for over 13 years, that an offer is not just about price but lets get real for a minute. Its ok for people to say an offer of £20,000 below asking price is reasonable when they are the buyer, become the seller and the whole perspective changes.

Over recent years we have not seen the type of property value increases across the board (yes I know about the boom in London etc before all you smart alecs think it's clever to try and prove me wrong) to give the seller the kind of margins necessary to allow them to accept offers of such an ilk.

After all, if they cannot raise enough to make the onward purchase possible taking into account paying off their mortgage and having sufficient equity to afford the fees, deposit etc then they will not sell. Over the last 3 years or so people have not generally seen large increases in property value thus do not have the manouverability on the sale price. Most people selling in this price band will have purchased the property within the last 3-5 years and thus fallen victim to the slowing of the housing market as a result concentrated into a short timescale.

This is why you will generally find these days that a seller is holding out for close to the asking price in the majority of cases.

cattie

My property recently went on the market at around that price & I told ea that they were not to pass on stupid offers of the 250k stamp duty threshold. I said I was happy to negotiate up to 5K less than asking price.

I sold at asking price within 2 days with 2 other interested parties who viewed same day.

It probably depends on the area you are in. In London the market is very bouyant & in my particular area there is a lack of decent property so most of it is going at asking price or just under.

kodokan

AndrewSmith wrote: »

Its ok for people to say an offer of £20,000 below asking price is reasonable when they are the buyer, become the seller and the whole perspective changes.

Apparently so, as this is the recommendation you made on the 'Housebuying - MoneySaving Tips Thread', in the sticky at the top of this board:

"...As for how much you should offer? Well that is up to you but I always think that you should begin around 90% of the asking price, which represents a reduction of £10,000 per £100,000 asking price. You would be unlikely to get any more than that off bearing in mind that property prices have not rocketed of late and the vendor will have a certainlevel to achieve to make the move possible.

Hope this helps

Andy..."

As you say, though, one year and one change in perspective later:)

(Please take this as just a good-natured dig; I found the Sticky thread very interesting and you certainly had a lot of good advice to offer there.)

Moving on...

I found your comment about having to achieve the asking price to move up interesting, though. Do you think we could soon see an alternative approach where, for example, a £20k price cut is just passed up the chain ("I didn't get asking for mine, so I've got less to offer on yours, it's my best final offer, etc etc") - sure, the person at the top then takes the £20k hit, but in all likelihood has had years if not decades to see the appreciation on that property?

I could see the market grinding to a short term halt in that situation, but in the long run the few sales from motivated sellers would re-set the 'price sold' data to lower levels. And apart from the bod at the top (who's selling out at a level undreamed of 5 years ago), everyone else benefits from £20k less mortgage in a low inflation environment.

What do you think?

kodokan

PS: Just for the record, we're renting at the moment, but certainly expect to get the £20k back that we knocked off our house when we eventually choose to buy again, as chain-free buyers at this level of purchase will be rare, and we won't be in a hurry.

nelly_2

AndrewSmith wrote: »

My house is on the market for £270,000. We received an offer of £249,500 and, after we had finished laughing, told them to !!!!!! off and get real.

Have you sold it yet then?

AndrewSmith

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

Nenen

Just to add another perspective.... the house we recently sold was well below the SD threshold as it was on at 195K and yet we still had 'cheeky' offers of around 165K (over 15% less than asking price). So even without SD being an issue people still make 'cheeky' offers!

We didn't tell any of them to !!!! off as I admired their cheek for trying! We simply gave them the 'minimum' price we'd accept (said 190K knowing that this actually wasn't our minimum but another bargaining step). One couple then offered 180 and we said, 'final offer 185' (5 % drop and this was our actually agreed minimum right from the beginning). They thought they'd got a bargain and we were pleased too ... everyone happy:D

I must say I read Andrew's very helpful sticky when we first started over a year ago and it helped us sell. I'm also using it to make offers around 90% of the asking price but so far no luck with that! I guess a lot of it does depend upon the high prices and buoyancy of the market in our new area.:eek:

Are you really changing your advice now Andrew? What would you now consider would be a 'sensible' offer?

Gorgeous_George

No harm in making an offer. I'm big enough to take a 'No, thank you' regardless of how well-spoken the rebuff comes across.

My current home was up for £175K. I offered £150K initially but rose my offer to £154K - a 'saving' of 12%.



GG

mr.broderick

Bid em in the balls i say..

dsp_3

most agents under 400k seam to add 5 -15k on to the house and tell the seller to expect that at 270 i imagine the sellers are looking at at least 265000

just my opinion