How much to offer?

learningaboutmoney3

Our landlord is selling the house we have rented for the past 4 years. he would like £149000 for it.

He is the partner of a relative and said we could rent this house until we could afford to buy. Stupidly I thought that as we were family he would honour this but I realise people's situations change.

We have done some improvements to the property ie, decorated, new carpets, put up a fence and improved the garden. However there are other improvements that need to be made which would cost him.

Also he will make £49000 on this property so will be liable for capital gains tax I think.

Overall I think the amount he would save by a) selling to us and b). lowering his asking price may help us persuade him.
I have no idea what to offer though! The estate agent I had round valued it at around £144K but said the lowest to accept would be £135K.

Oh and the guy that valued it for him is his friend.

Barricade

When making offers for houses, I generally started at 10% less than the asking price. £135k would be around that 10%, but you've got on your side the improvements you've made.

Throwing it out as a punt here, but offer £124,999 to avoid stamp duty, with a 5k lump sum for 'fixtures and furnishings' ?

Whats the worst that could happen? He could say no, in which case you then need to decide whether to up the offer. Dont forget, an estate agent valuation and an actual house survey for the lender may result in two different figures!

learningaboutmoney3

Thanks, that's a really good idea! I'm going to at least give it a go.