How much to offer?? Is 10% under normal?

BeansOnToast_2

Pennywise wrote: »

I'd say that they put it on at £275 in the expectation of offers of £249 due to the stamp duty hike at £250. They surely couldn't expect anyone to offer £250-£260 and then have the extra stamp duty on top? Stick with your offer.

My partner's house was put on at £270k and she got £260k.

By the way, £250000 does not take you into the next stamp duty band. £250001 does. In the same way, the house we bought for exactly £500000 was just below another stamp duty hike.

Kynthia

By marketing at £275k they clearly want more than the £250k stamp duty threshold. Whether the property deserves more is not something we can tell without a link as some people ask for a realistic value and some people are ambitious or ill-informed.

chopsyash

hcb42 wrote: »

I bought a house in 2006 for £270K (was on for OIRO £275K), I had tried to keep under £250K and could not get anything like what we wanted, massive compromise on space etc, location etc, making the decision to spend that extra £5K on stamp duty (I just factored it in as part of the price of the deal) was the best thing I ever did.

(Note I have sold, relocated and downsized since! The first one is worth the thick end of £400K now)

So it depends on whether it is worth it for you (OP) and indeed whether the vendor can afford to lower their price and achieve their goals (or how desperate or not they are to sell)

What do you mean by Factoring in to the deal?? Did the vendor contribute to the stamp duty??

chopsyash

Pennywise wrote: »

I'd say that they put it on at £275 in the expectation of offers of £249 due to the stamp duty hike at £250. They surely couldn't expect anyone to offer £250-£260 and then have the extra stamp duty on top? Stick with your offer.

This was my logic completely...I was fully aware of the big £25k drop but the stamp duty threshold is a big drain on the next deposit.
I did ask about whether the vendor would like to contribute towards the stamp duty if we paid say £265 but the EA sounded like I'd asked him to commit a deadly sin.

woodworm001

10% under is a fair first offer. You should suggest to the estate agent they do their job and put it forward to their vendor.

We had an offer of £318k accepted on a £350k house earlier this year.

Seller is entitled to turn it down of course.

libellule69

It's a good idea before making an offer to find out why they want to sell. If in a hurry, then go for the lowest you think they can drop to. If no hurry, they they won't drop so much

TrixA

Kynthia wrote: »

By marketing at £275k they clearly want more than the £250k stamp duty threshold. Whether the property deserves more is not something we can tell without a link as some people ask for a realistic value and some people are ambitious or ill-informed.

Agree with this. In my experience a property marketed at £25k over stamp duty threshold is a signal that they are interested in offers over the threshold only.

If the property is listed on Zoopla it will tell you how long it's been on the market for. If it's less than 2-3 months chances are they're still hoping for the full asking price.

TheCyclingProgrammer

woodworm001 wrote: »

10% under is a fair first offer. You should suggest to the estate agent they do their job and put it forward to their vendor.

The vendor may have already told the EA not to bother them with offers under a certain amount, in which case they aren't obliged to pass the offer on.

twuble

I'd say that's fine if not even lower now.. all depends, in London at the moment prices are coming down, well for vendors who want to sell
One place I looked at was marketed at 375k, the vendors want to move out quick and a week and a half later it's now priced at 325k
Though in London a lot of agents seem to be pricing about 30/40k above actual value so that when they drop it seems like you're getting a "deal"

bigchris33

Where I'm based in Suffolk, houses are sitting on the market, volumes of houses on the market are creeping up, and price reductions are becoming the norm rather than the exception. Whether this is due to seasonal factors alone remains to be seen, but my hunch is that it has more to do with stretched affordability and tighter mortgage lending criteria. I'll be starting with an offer of 10 percent below asking price when I find the right house for us.