Looking at buying flat I am renting - what's a fair offer?

WolfSong2000

Hi guys,

I rent a flat in Kent (Tonbridge). Owner has decided to sell, right after I moved in and I was initially informed by a number of brokers that I wouldn't be able to secure a mortgage as I have been working as a contractor for less than a year. Which? have since come back and said they feel confident they can get me a mortgage, but I need to confirm an offer first.

Flat is 2 bed, good location. Landlord wants £232-240k for it and has offered to sell it to me for £230...I've noticed another flat nearby (same size, also good location, but not quite as nice) is on market for offers over £210k.

Would it be cheeky of me to offer £215k, or is that so low it's likely to be perceived as offensive?

Prothet_of_Doom

Look at this http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?69425-New-money-maker-%E2%80%93-Tenants-blackmail-landlords-and-it%E2%80%99s-legal-%E2%80%93-beware!!

Basically, the landlord has 3 options. One is to evict you and THEN market the property, (as you could stay too long) 2) is to sell to another landlord, who might be happy to keep a decent tenant on,or 3) Sell to the current tenant.

Given that 1 will cost him in time and money and lost rent, and 2 will limit the number of buyers who are interested, 3 is good for the land lord.

I would treat the purchase of your next home as separate from the hassle of leaving the current home.
Research all the properties you can afford, look at right move and zooopla sold prices, talk to agents.
How much is the maintenance charges, what's the length of the lease, are there any big bills for the block looming? Why is he selling now? Does he need to sell ?
Decide what it's worth to you. Take off 3 months rent, and make a fair offer.
No offer is too cheeky. Imagine you are a private buyer, who wants Vacant Possession. How much would you offer given that the current tenant is preventing viewings, and it may have to go through the courts to get possession.
In our case,
My wife doesn't like to justify her offers, but I like to explain, exactly why clinically I'm prepared to offer X instead of Y.
Apparently my approach is wrong.

G_M

WolfSong2000 wrote: »

Hi guys,

Flat is 2 bed, good location. Landlord wants £232-240k for it and has offered to sell it to me for £230...I've noticed another flat nearby (same size, also good location, but not quite as nice) is on market for offers over £210k.

Would it be cheeky of me to offer £215k, or is that so low it's likely to be perceived as offensive?

1) invite an estate agent or 3 round and ask for a valuation - preferbly not one the LL is using or who he has already invited round for valuation. Act like potential seller. Compare the Valuations (ask for realistic sale price, as well as price they recommend marketing it at)

2) search online for recent sale prices in the area, focussing on similar properties (not prices agents are marketing at)

3) Look at local adverts and compare asking prices bearing in mind differences in size, location, condition etc

JammiRao

A well-known rule of thumb - based on cash flows is that a propert is worth at least 20 times the annual rental income, net of expenses, but not taking acct of any tax that the landlord may be liable.

so assume rental income (for the landlord) is 1000 a month. thats 12,000 a year. so the flat could be worth around 240,000

very crude formula