How much should we offer??

jane528

Hi,
After a year of looking we've finally find a house that ticks all the boxes.
We've had our current house for 23 years and haven't got a clue about how to get the best price on the one we want to buy. It's on the market for £315000, but that seems way overprice, according to other houses in the area, size, condition etc.

We checked 'RightMove' and the house was sold 3 years ago for £225000 - an increase of £90K in 3 years seems a lot to me! of (one of the neighbours is a friend of mine and says there haven't been any changes other than decorating, indeed the paint work, windows etc. needs 'tidying up' if anything)

Anyone got any ideas on what we should offer? The house is just on the market and the vendors have got a house they want to buy. Would £260000 be ridiculous and insulting??!! We'd really like to buy this house.

silvercar

Have you found a buyer for your own home?

Personally I would be reluctant to put an offer in on a house that has just come on the market at a ridiculously high price. I would tell the estate agent you like the house but think it is so massively overpriced you would only offer if the price fell to a reasonable level.

hearts

Its certainly not an unusual increase in the 3 years. Depending on the Town/area probably in line or near about with house price inflation.

"Would £260000 be ridiculous and insulting??!!"

Probably Yes. I wouldn't imagine they will even consider it. Especially as its new on market. £285k would be a more realistic first offer.

Someone is going to come along now and say why not go in with your 260k Nothing ventured... but in my opinion you are just wasting folks time.

schneckster

Considering it's new to the market, the vendors will think they should get their asking price and anything under it will not get a look in.

One way to knock it down would be to offer the asking price and then hammer them after the survey... the survey usually tells you the value as well as what's wrong with it as a mortgage company will want to make sure the price is right, too.

Problem with this is if they hold out after the survey you could have lost your money.

As for overpricing... I've got the same problem, it seems. Estate agents seem to do it to entice you to use them... and then squeeze you on price by telling you any lower offer isn't actually a bad price! I'm about to sack my agent for exactly this sort of stunt. Other agents tried to underprice it... obviously to get commission quicker.

In a few weeks, the vendors will realise their price is a bit top heavy and be more persuadable to drop. Best thing to do is to find other equivalent houses and collate a few prices to show them justifying an offer lower than the asking price.

After that, let the agent negotiate. They'll squeeze the vendor so they get a sale, then commission.

Good luck,

Schneckster

kingkano

A more realistic price is 300k perhaps (10% per year). Perhaps they have been convinced to price it at 315 to acheive 300 (very usual for EAs to say this and people to believe it).

pcwilkins

jane528 wrote: »

Hi,
After a year of looking we've finally find a house that ticks all the boxes.
We've had our current house for 23 years and haven't got a clue about how to get the best price on the one we want to buy. It's on the market for £315000, but that seems way overprice, according to other houses in the area, size, condition etc.

So how much is this house worth to you? You obviously won't pay £315k --- what about £300k? At the end of the day it's a personal decision!!

We checked 'RightMove' and the house was sold 3 years ago for £225000 - an increase of £90K in 3 years seems a lot to me! of (one of the neighbours is a friend of mine and says there haven't been any changes other than decorating, indeed the paint work, windows etc. needs 'tidying up' if anything)

The house is worth whatever people think it is worth, just like anything else. If someone is willing to pay £315k then the house is worth £315k --- if no one is willing to pay more than £10 then the house is worth £10!!!

Anyone got any ideas on what we should offer?

Offer what the house is worth to you.

The house is just on the market and the vendors have got a house they want to buy. Would £260000 be ridiculous and insulting??!! We'd really like to buy this house.

You say you really want to buy it but you aren't willing to pay £315k. So to you, £315k is worth more than this house. There may be someone else who loves the house so much that they would pay £500k (ok, they'd be stupid but so what).

If the house is worth £260k to you, then offer £260k. If it's turned down, it's not the end of the world. It's just like buying anything --- it's you that decides how much the item is worth, not anyone else.

All valuations are just opinions. E.g. Mr. X thinks his dog is worth £1000, whereas Mr. Y thinks its worth £2.50. There is no "right answer".

Peter

telfordwhite

You could make the offer telling them that you know what it sold for previously and negotiate from there, but echoing previous posts it's unlikely they'll drop the price this soon into it's marketing.

wolvoman

Your first offer is only the opening gambit and you work from there, so offer whatever you want. After all imagine if you offered £280K as a first offer and then they accepted it - you'd be gutted that you hadn't gone in lower in the first place.

I don't get this argument that a low offer is wasting peoples' time. Surely a property that is on the market at an inflated price is also wasting time.

You have a gut feeling to start offers at £260K, then go for it - especially if you're chain free as well. Despite the moneysaving nature of this site, you'll mfind most posters on here seem to think moneysaving only applies to sellers and not buyers.

[Deleted User]

No one jokes with tommy tibbs and tommy tibbs jokes with no one, what if i were to say 200 grand, no 160. If I was to stick my finger under your chin, give it a little wriggly wig would you say yes?

Time2Go_25

Why not post the link to the house if it's on rightmove and we can take a look.

A lot of it is area dependant, we bought our current house in May 2005 for £260000 another similar one has just sold, but with only a single garage for £345000, thats 85K in two years

murrayd_2

You might want to try using a service like http://www.ourproperty.co.uk/ as they can tell you the actual prices properties have sold for in your area, or wherever you're looking to buy. May data has just been released, so allowing for an additional 1.1% increase (June data from Nationwide) as an average, you should be able to get some idea of what price the property is really going to command.

Finally, after you make any offer to the estate agent, I suggest you 'register' each offer at www.offerregister.co.uk to make sure your offers get to the seller without any risk of interference by the agent.

Hope this helps.