First time buyer, got some questions

marok11

Im about to make an offer on my first home (a nice small semi, garden, parking etc.) on the market for £100,000 and I've just got some quick questions....

For a start the house is listed as a guide price of £100,000. So what's the deal with guide prices and does that give me a bit of flexibility with my offer.

Secondly I was thinking of placing a bit of a low offer of approx. £92,000 as a start point and then working towards the guide price (£94,000 then £96,000 etc), do you think that too low as a first offer or could I afford to go lower.

Any other golden nuggets of advice for a first timer would also be really appreciated.

Thanks

p00hsticks

are you in England or Scotland ?

FlyingPasty

Unless it states offers over £100k then i'd definitely start at low to mid 90's.

marok11

p00hsticks wrote: »

are you in England or Scotland ?

England. House is in the west midland region

martin.cat

No harm trying

I would start at 88 or 89 then come to low 90s
At low 90s they will expect you to come to high 90s

You do have to be weary of other offers though. If you want the house and are prepared to pay full price you are more likely to avoid disappointment. 5k is about £30 a month so think about it

kinger101

£92k sounds fine as an opening offer. They might pretend to be offended, even if they are not.

"What, £92K. Sir, you insult me. I have three wives, eight children and three camels to feed. And my poor mother to look after as well. Do you want the shirt off my back too!"

marok11

kinger101 wrote: »

£92k sounds fine as an opening offer. They might pretend to be offended, even if they are not.

"What, £92K. Sir, you insult me. I have three wives, eight children and three camels to feed. And my poor mother to look after as well. Do you want the shirt off my back too!"

That made me laugh way too much :rotfl:

Loopy28

Have a look at sold prices on the street on rightmove or zoopla to see if there are any recent sales, it might give you an idea of what properties are going for.

Guide price means they are looking for around that figure, each vendor is different, some may accept substantially less, some might want more.

The fact you are a FTB puts you in a good position as you come without a chain.

I am in the southwest and my experience of offering was that most people are looking for 2-3k less than asking price. Most of the houses I looked at were realistically priced though. I did see one that was about 10k overpriced and didn't even look at it but did see that it ended up selling for 9k below asking price so different vendors use different tactics. Some add on 10%, others price realistically in the first place.

If you know what similar properties are going for, it will give you an idea. You have nothing to lose by offering low, keep in mind the maximum you want to pay and negotiate from there. Occasionally you do get the odd seller who will be offended by a low offer and not want to sell to you, I have heard of it happening although I think this is rare.