Buying a house - prices?

moneysavermummy2014

Hiya,

We have seen a lovely house on for £535k. Our budget, max is £500k so we were nervous about seeing it and loving it, but after we viewed it we chatted to the EA who was a bit of an affable, lovely chap, who somewhat flippantly remarked 'Well, I wouldn't worry about that - they'll know they won't be getting over £500k anyway..... that's just the psychology of house pricing......'.

How reasonable is it therefore to a) listen to his words and b) make an offer a little under the £500k and any ideas where we should pitch??

Thanks,

Lou xx

cns06

They can only say no. I would low ball them to start with anyway! You will only end up meeting in the middle. Assuming you are serious.

RichardTheComic

hmm - do lots of research. Look on sold prices on rightmove to get a feel for what a realistic offer should be. There's no harm in going a little low, but bear in mind people can be emotional over their homes, and their perceived value. To be taken seriously come to a figure that makes sense, that you can justify and explain (more than just you're budget is only £500K) and you should do ok.

moneysavermummy2014

Thanks; yes, we are serious buyers, and similar properties do seem to have been going for the £480k mark in the last 6 months, although all very individual so the apples for apples comparison does make it trickier. There is definitely work to be done internally, so that will be our primary consideration when coming up with a number. Like you say Richard; people can be very emotional about it (understandably of course!) and I am a bit too frightened of 'confrontation' to want to offend!! I was just surprised by his frankness at the figure and I guess it implied they had set the price with an end figure in mind, which would be below the £500k........ I am rubbish at this stuff!

RichardTheComic

Hey MSM - if the £480K mark is what they're going for, then base your offer on this. Is the house perfect or is there any remedial work you'd need to do (i.e. the stuff thats more than just decoration?). If there is, then you could factor this into the offer - so something like 'Really like the house, more or less meets our needs. Based on what other houses have sold for, and the fact that I'd need to spend £x to replace the kitchen, I'd be looking to make a one and done offer of e.g. £485K.

moneysavermummy2014

Great - thank you; yes there is definite work we would need to do; not out of necessity as they are 'functional' but not exactly up to date (think at least one carpeted Delboy bathroom! ) - I shall get the calculator out and cost up some work and see what we come up with; just have to separate the heart from the head a little bit I think!

RichardTheComic

The delboy bathroom sounds like a definite 'no-no'! Hope you get the house you want, at the price you want too

moneysavermummy2014

Yes, it is something quite beautiful in it's own special way - it just needs a mirrored ceiling and the 'effect' would be complete I think Thank you! Much appreciated

phoebe1989seb

Assuming you are in a good position to offer - SSTC yourself/nothing to sell etc - there's nothing wrong in putting in a lowball offer as a starting point.

We did this with our current house - although admittedly it had been on the market for around two years and the vendor had already bought elsewhere and moved out - and were surprised when the low offer was accepted. Our house was SSTC, we were not getting a mortgage and were able to move pretty fast.

However, I wouldn't go making a low offer based upon not liking certain aspects of the house (eg, the kitchen) and wanting to change for changing sake. If the house needs work, I'd expect that to be reflected in the asking price, but that's just MHO