Private buying - agreeing on a price

Vikaroo

Hi all, I wrote on here a few days ago,

We are going to view a property on Monday that the owner is considering selling privately to us following receiving a letter from us stating that we were looking to buy a property in the area. She has already advised us that she is looking for £135k for it. I have done my research on the property and found out that she bought it in 2009 for 127k after it was advertised for 135k. I was just wondering really what happens in terms of agreeing a price when carrying out a private sale? Does she still need to get a valuation done and do we too before making any suggestions of an offer? We are not yet buying either it will be in the next 9-12 months which she knows. Just want to make sure that she isn't over estimating the price and that we arn't overpaying either if we do decide we want to buy.

Thanks guys

jackyann

She can get a valuation done if she wants; it is more tricky for you.
However, you don't really need one to begin with - start by having a good look round to see if anything problematic jumps out at you. Ask her, in a chatty way why she is moving, and what the neighbours are like (she may not tell you the truth, but you will get an idea from her answer). Also ask if in the property needs any work doing (again, you'll pick up an idea)
If you can, take a friend / relative who knows about houses; or ask if you can return with one.
Ask if you can look under the stairs / in the attic etc.
Ask her about the energy bills and if she has an Energy Performance Certificate.
You can look at plenty of estate agents' websites to get an idea of house prices unless it is a very unusual house.
If you really want the house, make an offer subject to survey.
You could also suggest (I did this when selling a house privately) that as you are waiting, she will let you know if she gets a better offer in order to allow you to match it.

G_M

Itisentirely up to the two of you how you agree aprice!

By all means pay for a Valuation if you want.

Or don't, if you have a clear idea what it is worth to you.

(the price she paid in 2009 is really not relevant).

Vikaroo

Well we also know that a house of the same size in the same street went for 124k in February of this year but there are no other sold prices since 2009 to compare with.

Hermoine

I'm in the process of agreeing a private sale with the person who owns the property upstairs to mine, and I have agreed a price which is below what I would sell it for on the open market. Quite clearly I am not paying estate agent fees, so that has been taken into account when agreeing the price - but I agreed an additional discount based on the fact that we both know work needs doing on the property which I would have to pay 50% of the cost of, and now I don't have to. The buyer needed a vaulation for his mortgage and arranged for a very thorough survey, after which he wanted to negotiate the price down further. You ought to be aware that one of the slightly awkward things about a private sale is that you do the negotiation directly with each other, not the estate agent, so if you find that sort of thing awkward it might not be for you.

Vikaroo

We are just really aware of wanting to know a rough estimate of what the property is worth before we make any offers. Can you get valuations done for free with no obligations before buying/selling?

Obviously we would need to get one done when applying for the mortgage, but as this is not for 9-12 months we don't want to keep the seller waiting this long before we give an indication of the prices we would be offering. Hope this makes sense.

bryanb

Vikaroo wrote: »

. Can you get valuations done for free with no obligations before buying/selling?.

That would involve a valuer working for nothing. Do you?

Vikaroo

Well actually on Rightmove under house prices I found a page where you type in your postcode and above it it says

'Property Valuation
The easy way to invite agents to value your home
Find out the current value of your home and discover how to get the most value from it - with a free, no-obligation appraisal from expert agents in your area.'

bryanb

Vikaroo wrote: »

Well actually on Rightmove under house prices I found a page where you type in your postcode and above it it says

'Property Valuation
The easy way to invite agents to value your home
Find out the current value of your home and discover how to get the most value from it - with a free, no-obligation appraisal from expert agents in your area.'

Yes but agents are not valuers.

Vikaroo

As I said we just want an idea of what the house is currently worth so as to give an idea where we should start with offers if we do want to buy at this early stage, because, as the owner is privately selling and not through an estate agent we don't know where she has plucked 135k from. If she was selling through an estate agent there would be an advertised selling price which gives us an idea. This isn't the case as we approached the seller. She isn't advertising the property anywhere. We don't want a full inspection of the house at this stage, not until we put forward for our mortgage in 9-12 months time as we do not have the full deposit yet. We just want to ensure that the buyer and ourselves are singing off the same hymn sheet so we are not wasting anyone's time.

jackyann

Most estate agents will do a free valuation for an owner or beneficiary under a will, as they hope to get the custom.
An independent valuer will, of course, charge.
Unless it's fairly isolated, you don't have to look just at that road, but at other properties in the locality.
It sounds as if time is on your side, so just look in the local paper & in estate agents' windows to get an idea, then look on zoopla to see what properties are actually selling for. You could even look round any similar properties for sale, no reason not to register with local estate agents and begin looking around.