Is it worth aiming for an "offers over" house £10k over budget?

JustAnotherSaver

Sorry for the mass of questions lately.

We saw an IFA & came to a budget of £150k. He told us not to discount houses over £150k as you can knock them down (or at least try to).

As said earlier, we're after a specific area & there's only really 3 houses we've found that may be ok in our budget in this area.

There is a house listed up as "offers over £160k" though that is really nice. It's been up since late May 2013 when it was at £175k. It got dropped 1 month later to offers over £170k. It got dropped 2.5 weeks later to offers over £160k. This is a bit annoying as they've dropped £15k, yet at £170k, they're essentially saying they wont entertain anything less, but they are - £10k less!! Sounds like a big mess about to me.

Anyway, it's been a month now with no change.

With a bit of number crunching we could probably stretch to £160k, but not OVER it.

We're unsure if it's worth it though (pursuing that is). It clearly says offers over. One thing sticking in our mind is friends of ours are selling their property & they've recently complained on the good old social media about how people don't seem to understand what "offers over" means, as their viewer has offered £5k less.

I told them don't get offended - you don't get if you don't ask. Asking is free & you can always say no. They seemed to take great offence to the offer though, calling them time wasters & the like.

ValHaller

JustAnotherSaver wrote: »

One thing sticking in our mind is friends of ours are selling their property & they've recently complained on the good old social media about how people don't seem to understand what "offers over" means, as their viewer has offered £5k less.

I think many people understand full well that 'offers over' is an ineffective form of bullying and deal with it accordingly. Which is what seems to have happened here.

SG27

Ignore what it says. I've seen houses sell well below offers over prices. Just offer what you can afford (if you think it's worth that and it's not still over priced) if they so no then move on. But you might be lucky.

JournalGirl

I would make them an offer on this. Just explain that you love the house, but you cannot stretch to the asking price - no offence if they don't want to (or can't) consider your offer - but at least they have the choice.

WellKnownSid

So many terms, all with the same meaning:

Offers over = make an offer
Offers in excess of = make an offer
Offers in the region of = make an offer
Fixed price = make an offer
Guide price = make an offer

Estate agents have to pass offers on to the vendor. Make them an offer - you agreed a sensible budget with your IFA, stop trying to talk yourselves up by another £10k.

The vendors can only say no - and the only time-wasters will be the vendors not wishing to do a deal. £175k to £150k is just over a 14% drop - not unreasonable if they want to sell.

moneyistooshorttomention

Personally, I wouldn't.

We rarely have this sort of pricing put on houses in my area. Probably because of the number of people who don't seem to understand that "offers over" means exactly that, ie "offers OVER". I expect that our local EA's got too fed-up with irate vendors saying "I said 'over'...are you sure you put the word 'over' on all websites, as they don't seem to have seen it?"

J_i_m

Yes, there is that.

However it's ultimately rather pointless being too inflexibly pedantic about isn't it? It's probably common knowledge that the majority of people buying are going to simply automatically ignore that and offer what it is worth to them irrespective of what nonsense the EA has written in the advert.

If a vendor is really going to be so strict over the defininition of "offers over" then they risk no offers coming forward at all, especially if the asking price is on the higher side of realistic to begin with. By retaining a little open mindedness they might just find a buyer who is prepared to stretch their budget a bit to secure the house.

It seems to me that people forget that there are at least two sides to a deal, too many people seem to think they can have it their own way, but these people risk not having anything their way at all if they are too inflexible.

xyellowx

make a offer they can only say yes or no

i went to view first 2 houses weekend 1st property 200k about correct price for road but was in very poor condition inside 20k spent easy to get it up to scratch so should be 180k thereabouts e/a said 190k refused i was shocked couldnt beleive it

2nd house 209k (was 216k) this fair price for both buyer and seller mentioned 200k would be max budget was told thats ok put a offer in this property would be a bargain for 200k or less

i asked e/a how many 210k-215k houses would they expect to sell for
200k offers they said half of them

Lokolo

Offer £159k as your one only final offer as it is your maximum affordability, after viewing 2 or 3 times to make sure it's right.

If they say no, move on. All can be done on 2-3 Saturday mornings.

(I only say £159k as it sounds a more realistic maximum than a whole 10... but that's just me)

fart

JournalGirl wrote: »

I would make them an offer on this. Just explain that you love the house, but you cannot stretch to the asking price - no offence if they don't want to (or can't) consider your offer - but at least they have the choice.

Don't explain anything to them. The less they know about your personal circumstances the better.

Just offer £160k and let them consider it.

mummyroysof3

There is no harm in trying but you risk falling in love with it then being upset when they say no but only you know what the situation is.