Asking prices and offers

Green3

Are all buyers these days paying above the asking price? Properties are showing up as Sold STC within a day and mostly within a week or two. Every time estate agents say that they have offers above the asking price which actually seems to be true these days. One of the properties I viewed sold £30,000/- above asking price!
Is there absolutely no bargaining power left now? Is no property being sold even a little below asking price? It is always Open House rushed viewings with loads of other buyers, cut-throat over priced competition, pushy estate agents and extremely over priced properties. Is this ever going to end because it is almost impossible to even put a step in. Why is everyone offering insane amounts above asking prices? What is the right way to buy these days, any advice from those who have bought recently? How did you manage to buy?

jacko74

I'm guessing you must be looking in London or the home counties, try looking in my part of Derbyshire where even sensibly priced houses hang around on the market for at least 12-18 months.
No market recovery here, I can tell you!

Davesnave

It would be helpful to have your general location.

The sort of situation you describe isn't universal, or even what the majority experience.

Green3

This is with reference to Middlesex, Surrey and London areas

Road_Hog

Green3 wrote: »

This is with reference to Middlesex, Surrey and London areas

Having just sold a property in Middlesex, I can confirm that there is no shortage of buyers, willing to pay the full price.

gemaface

I've been flat-hunting in South East London (zones 3-5) since July 2013 - there was still room to discuss price until the Government launched the Help to Buy scheme last October. Literally overnight things changed - flats that had been overpriced and had been languishing on the market since the beginning of 2013 sold at asking price and every flat I have viewed since (and I have viewed a lot!) have gone for way above asking price. Most places I have put offers on have sold for around 25-30k more than the asking price. The last place I looked at was viewed by 45 people, 11 people offered at over asking price and final sale was for £30k more than asking price (the estate agent told me this but I don't see why they would embellish the truth as it appears to be the same story everywhere at the minute). All my offers on various properties have been overbid by the dreaded 'cash buyer' and no one will take a property off the market if you offer asking price as there is so many people willing to pay over the odds.

It has all gone a bit mental!

My only advice is to try and get involved in a chain. Most properties I have seen are rented - buy-to-letter's are cashing in quick, selling off their properties and will go for the highest price/choose one of their own to sell on to. Your situation, deposit and and time-frame manageability will be more useful to someone who is also selling themselves.

movilogo

Is there absolutely no bargaining power left now?

I'm afraid this is sellers' market now. Especially in London and surrounding areas.

Far you move from London, you can still negotiate but even then some houses are going very quickly (in weeks if not days) near asking price.

If you can't offer at or over asking price, you have following options

1. Move to a less desirable location.
2. Wait for few months. While I don't believe in house price crash, I think the current madness of offering over asking price will fizzle out soon.

sartois

I had the exact same problem, also live and work in London. It seems like every investor on the planet is trying to snap up properties around here... and why wouldn't they when there is a very real prospect of 14% yearly rise in house prices. Add the increased number of people who want to buy a place to actually live in, and there is a property shortage, which makes the prices rise even higher.

In the end I had to buy a New Build apartment off plan and using the Help to Buy equity scheme. It made sense as a) You pay the asking price b) It's first come first served rather than a bidding war and c) the council will not let the Housing developers sell to overseas investors.

MattinLondon

We are looking in East London (zone 3-4) and everything I'm calling about is sold already, so not even able to see anything yet. I take it that it's common practice to leave all the old ads on the property sites to entice people to call the EAs? Certain EAs have several listed, but when you call they say they're all sold. Bit of a pain...

cattie

Green3 wrote: »

Is no property being sold even a little below asking price? It is always Open House rushed viewings with loads of other buyers, cut-throat over priced competition, pushy estate agents and extremely over priced properties.

Obviously the properties are not overpriced as you seem to think, seeing as they are not only selling so quickly, but for way over the asking price. The market drives the prices & at the moment, demand exceeds supply.

MGCP

I've seen a lot of evidence of places where I was buying (Zone 3 East London) going for around 10% over asking. There are some properties that are clearly overpriced and will languish on the market but in those cases I think the sellers are under no pressure to move so they stick to asking on the off chance they get lucky!

I try not to think about what we'd have been able to buy if we'd acted 12 or even 6 months earlier, it's just too depressing. I still love the place we got though and there is no point going through life wondering what could have been!