How much should we offer?

arabe11a

The house has been on the market for 2 months, priced at £199,950. There have been no offers during this time. It is very dated but otherwise in good condition. We would need to completely redecorate and put in a new kitchen and bathroom although not necessarily immediately. There is carpet in the kitchen and bathroom which we would want to rip up.

The house is Victorian and spread over 3 storeys (lower ground, ground and first). The bathroom is on the ground floor, which might put some people off. It's in a nice area but a lot of the nearby streets are a lot nicer with pricier homes. The house was recently re-roofed and re-rendered as part of a regeneration scheme. We understand that the seller is moving to look after elderly relatives in another part of the country and that the seller has moved out already (although their belongings are still at the house).

The last houses on the road sold for £167,000 and £200,000 in 2012 and 2013. There are a mix of 3 bedroom, 3 storey homes on the road and 2 bedroom, 2 storey homes so it's hard to know what either of these last houses were.

There are 2 other houses for sale on the same street -- one is very similar but more polished/finished and is on for £205,000. We've spoken to the estate agent and they all have genuine reasons for sale so there's nothing wrong with the street.

The house next door is also for sale for £150,000 but it is currently mixed office/residential use and so would need converting back into a proper family home and planning permission, which might be quite a bit of work.

We are first time buyers with an agreement in principle in place. We have a deposit saved and are good to go. The only problem is that we are tied into a 6-month tenancy at the moment so while we're prepared to exchange now, we don't want to complete and begin making mortgage repayments for another 8 weeks as paying rent and a mortgage for any longer would be a big stretch.

We're going to book a second viewing this week but all being well, how much should we offer? We are hoping to get it for around £185-£190k as that's what it is worth to us but would it be too cheeky to go in with an offer of £170k? We don't want to offend the vendor but it does need a fair bit of modernisation and there are plenty of other houses on the street we could buy...

Thanks for your help -- we're still figuring this house buying business out!

spender717

Have you checked right-move sold list to see if the other houses were 2 or 3 beds?

Nothing wrong with offering 170k and see what response you get from the vendors. Just be confident when you offer and explain your reasons for offering so low. Have you pressed the agent for what the vendor is ideally looking for offer wise? As most agents tend to let slip how accommodating to lower offers vendors might be...

Good luck

arabe11a

spender717 wrote: »

Have you checked right-move sold list to see if the other houses were 2 or 3 beds?

Nothing wrong with offering 170k and see what response you get from the vendors. Just be confident when you offer and explain your reasons for offering so low. Have you pressed the agent for what the vendor is ideally looking for offer wise? As most agents tend to let slip how accommodating to lower offers vendors might be...

Good luck

No, we saw three properties with the estate agent this morning but didn't ask many questions about this one, as it was the first one and we wanted to see what else was on offer. We will be pressing the agent during our second viewing, which I'm hoping to book on Monday; I didn't want to seem too keen by booking it today...

The agent wasn't very estate agenty, to be honest! He was friendly but didn't really seem to be trying to sell any of the three properties to us, which is what I had expected. I'm worried the fact we look quite young makes us not seem like serious buyers...

Old_Git

arabe11a wrote: »

We are first time buyers with an agreement in principle in place. We have a deposit saved and are good to go. The only problem is that we are tied into a 6-month tenancy at the moment so while we're prepared to exchange now, we don't want to complete and begin making mortgage repayments for another 8 weeks as paying rent and a mortgage for any longer would be a big stretch.

We're going to book a second viewing this week but all being well, how much should we offer? We are hoping to get it for around £185-£190k as that's what it is worth to us but would it be too cheeky to go in with an offer of £170k? We don't want to offend the vendor but it does need a fair bit of modernisation and there are plenty of other houses on the street we could buy...

Thanks for your help -- we're still figuring this house buying business out!

Nothing wrong with offering £170,000 ,don't worry about offending the vendor .When/if you agree a price the sale will take at least 6 weeks and possibly longer .It can seem to a FTB to be moving slowly but its how the legal process works.Don't tell the agent off your 8 week tied tenancy thats info for the solicitor . Dont give your notice on the tenancy until you have everything signed.

Kynthia

As above, do not give notice on your rental until you've actually exchanged. There's been many tenants on here worried about being made homeless because of this when there's delays in their property purchase and I personally know someone who had to pull out of a purchase because they did this and had to sign up elsewhere for 6 months.

Many EAs don't start their selling techniques until you have a second viewing or make an offer as it's a waste until them. We often see multiple properties before one interests us buyers. So don't take that personally or read more into it.