Bottom end of the property market - selling negotiation.

tc3team · 21 July 2015 at 4:12PM

Being new to selling (our first property to sell) Should we as sellers still be negotiating over 1 or 2k?

To cut a long story short, we were offered 2k below our ideal price and was told it was their only offer.

We have double bluffed them in the hope they will move at least 1k upwards by counter offering 2k over what they put in.

A lot of effort for a little money I know, but at the same time listening to someone's response from the ES who says it's their only offer is a bit too final for my liking.

Our property is refurbished, has a new lease, good maintenance costs and no problems with the neighbours.

Looking around, other properties in the area are either further out of town, have unusual floor plans, low amounts left on their lease, excessive maintenance charges or need modernising.

LeoTLion · 21 July 2015 at 4:30PM

I don't think there is a generic right or wrong answer when it comes to negotiating, it's all about what is right for you.

Does the offer cover the mortgage repayment?
Does it give you a sufficient amount of equity to buy your next house?
Can you negotiate hard and get the price down by that extra 2k to compensate?
How desperate are you to move?
How long might you have to wait for another offer?

tc3team · 21 July 2015 at 4:40PM

As we put a lot of the work into it ourselves, we have 115k tied up into the property in all. (purchased at 110k in 2009) windows replaced throughout a year later, kitchen and bathroom refitted, redecorated throughout, communal area, close to town.

It would be nice to break even, not unrealistic hopefully.

1) yes
2) yes and we have a deposit anyway
3) depends on where we move to, always an unknown
4) not very but it would be nice to.
5) As always -to some degree, an unknown. It was our first offer though.

Property was advertised at 120k if that makes any difference to peoples thoughts.

LeoTLion · 21 July 2015 at 4:50PM

The problem is, that when people invest time energy and money in a property they also become emotionally invested too. So say I bought a property for 100k and then spent 5k on replacing the windows, 5k putting in a new kitchen and 3k on a new bathroom, then I might, rightly or wrongly, expect to get that money back when I come to sell.

Other people viewing the property however might just think hmmmm, nice kitchen and bathroom, price is a bit steep though.

Now I'm not saying I wouldn't get any of the money back, and generally improvement works make the property more saleable, but if the kitchen and bathroom I took out was serviceable, just not to my taste or a bit long in the tooth, then I have effectively thrown a certain amount of value away when I replaced it.

If you're not in a desperate rush to move and as it was only your first offer then maybe you can afford to hold out for a better offer.

vuvuzela · 21 July 2015 at 4:51PM

tc3team wrote: »

As we put a lot of the work into it ourselves, we have 115k tied up into the property in all. (purchased at 110k in 2009) windows replaced throughout a year later, kitchen and bathroom refitted, redecorated throughout, communal area, close to town.

It would be nice to break even, not unrealistic hopefully.

1) yes
2) yes and we have a deposit anyway
3) depends on where we move to, always an unknown
4) not very but it would be nice to.
5) As always -to some degree, an unknown. It was our first offer though.

Property was advertised at 120k if that makes any difference to peoples thoughts.

You can negotiate as much as you like.
There are so many factors when it comes to buying / selling properties - quality, location, amenities, number of other properties on the market, length of time it has been on the market, etc etc.
You know how much you want from the house how long it's been on and how much it is realistically worth in your area. If it's been on for 5 months and this is the first offer, I'd probably seriously consider taking it. If it's been on a week, I'd probably hold out a bit longer or negotiate...

tc3team · 21 July 2015 at 4:52PM

Thank you for the replies so far

Would be interesting to hear of other peoples similar experiences at the lower end of the market as a seller or buyer to see how our story compares.

Is it considered normal not to negotiate the offer of a bottom end of the market property when it's close to what you want for an easy sell?

With a property for example with an asking price of twice that, say £250,000 it's "easier" to accept 5k less than your lowest price in most circumstances than when you're a first time seller at the bottom end of the market.

We are not emotionally attached to the property and if anything, it's nice that we have the luxury of a cheaper maintenance before upsizing.

Hoploz · 21 July 2015 at 5:00PM

How long has it been on the market? Many viewings? In other words, how likely is it that another offer will come in higher?

I'm not clear on tepee numbers here. You said its 2k less than your ideal figure, but is this different to the asking price? Perhaps someone else may have enough funds to go nearer to AP?

The odd thousand could possibly price an over-stretching FTB out, or an investor hoping to let it if the figures work out exactly where they want. But to me a thousand lower would be worthwhile accepting if it's an easy deal, ie no chain, large deposit.

LeoTLion · 21 July 2015 at 5:03PM

We had a house a while ago on for 99k and sold it to first time buyers for 92.5k, they said it was the maximum they could afford, we will never know if it was true or not and to be honest, it doesn't really matter. The house had been on the market for 4 months and they were the first and only people to make an offer.

My wife had moved areas to another job and I was starting mine 8 weeks after they submitted the offer, so for us, it suited to get rid as the alternative was leaving it empty and still paying a mortgage, or renting it out and having a load of hassle as unintentional landlords of a property 2 hours drive away.

Daerve · 21 July 2015 at 5:05PM

Our property was on at 95k which even though I considered it cheap when compared to other local properties, we had very few viewings. (3 in total over 2 months).

Our buyer offered 90k which we refused and countered with 92k. The buyer offered 91k which we then accepted.

91k was a stretch as we really needed another grand or two, however we ran the sums, had found a house we were really keen on (after our first sale fell through due to a snake pulling out) and accepted it.

I personally didn't think it was worth risking a firm offer over a couple of percent that I could afford to lose.

Our buyer has had a real bargain in my opinion, we have hopefully secured our forever home. It's not all about money.

LJS2014 · 21 July 2015 at 5:09PM

I advertised my property at 85k - I had 2 viewings within 3 days of each other. The first viewer offered 10k under the asking price which I thought was unrealistic and a cheeky offer so I politely declined. In total this viewer made me 9 offers - increasing his previous offer by £1,000 each time! :rotfl: The second viewer came along and offered me the asking price - deal done.

It's all down to how much you want to negotiate at the end of the day. I knew my asking price was fair based on other recent sales around me. If I had gotten an offer within 2k (straight off) to be honest I probably would have accepted it because I was keen to move but if you're in no rush and you strongly believe your asking price is achievable then it's your prerogative to hold out for the slightly higher offer/asking price.

Good Luck! :beer:

Addiscomber · 21 July 2015 at 5:11PM

As it doesn't sound as though you have found your next house yet, why don't you just hang fire for the moment and see if anyone else views and offers more?