Buying a house - what prices should I search for?

Hutch100uk

Probably a stupid question but. I've worked out that I can afford to buy a house at a maximum of £175k. When searching for houses online, what is the maximum house price I should search for?

I don't want to miss out on a house that may be priced at £185K because sellers might accept less.

I understand all sellers circumstances will be different. I've been searching for houses up to £180k but have no idea if I should be looking a little higher?

First time I have bought a house, as you can probably tell.

marksoton

Hutch100uk wrote: »

Probably a stupid question but. I've worked out that I can afford to buy a house at a maximum of £175k.

Not a stupid question. But how have you come to this conclusion? Broker? Online calculators? An agent?

Davesnave

Hutch100uk wrote: »

I understand all sellers circumstances will be different. I've been searching for houses up to £180k but have no idea if I should be looking a little higher?

This partly depends on your location.

In London and the SE, property is in high demand, so houses often go for more than the asking price. On the other hand, in Wales.....lots of redundancies in Port Talbot, for example.

Not considering area, but just speaking generally, people who've marketed for a while without finding a buyer may be inclined to accept a decent reduction. They might also just be playing the market to see if they get lucky.

However, also bear in mind that houses which hang around, always do so for a reason. The reason might not worry you: for example, a house may just need cosmetic TLC, but there could be another more worrying cause for the lack of interest, like a dodgy location or a structural issue.

Hutch100uk

marksoton wrote: »

Not a stupid question. But how have you come to this conclusion? Broker? Online calculators? An agent?

I have used a broker who says I could borrow more. However, this is the maximum in terms of my deposit at 10% and what I think I can afford in monthly payments.

PasturesNew

I'd look at £190k and lower. I'd expect to be able to get a £180-182k one for £175k if it's been on the market for long enough .... however, every house and every seller's different...and, well, who knows how lucky you might be.

Hutch100uk

Davesnave wrote: »

This partly depends on your location.

In London and the SE, property is in high demand, so houses often go for more than the asking price. On the other hand, in Wales.....lots of redundancies in Port Talbot, for example.

Not considering area, but just speaking generally, people who've marketed for a while without finding a buyer may be inclined to accept a decent reduction. They might also just be playing the market to see if they get lucky.

However, also bear in mind that houses which hang around, always do so for a reason. The reason might not worry you: for example, a house may just need cosmetic TLC, but there could be another more worrying cause for the lack of interest, like a dodgy location or a structural issue.

Yes this all makes perfect sense. I live in the North East of England. Not sure what the housing market is like here but won't be anything like London.

Davesnave

Hutch100uk wrote: »

Yes this all makes perfect sense. I live in the North East of England. Not sure what the housing market is like here but won't be anything like London.

I don't know the area, but I have seen people struggling to sell decent property in parts of the NE in recent times. They've come to the Forum for advice.

Prices there are 'reasonable' relative to what has happened down south, though as you can see from the current board here, what's affordable is a matter of debate. Generally speaking again, wages are considerably lower where you and I live. I'm in an less fashionable part of the West Country.

I agree with Pastures; it's worth looking up to £190k. The gap between that and £175K with a lot of work to improve, isn't so great.

elverson

As a first time buyer you may be able to offer a bit less, as you don't come with a chain which will make the sale easier.

firebird082

Round our way, the estate agents always show you houses up to 15% over the budget you give them, presumably on the assumption that some of those can be negotiated down to for your budget. So I'd be looking slightly above - maybe to £185k.

agrinnall

I was looking for houses around the £170K mark and set my searches for between £140K (in case a place that needed work to make it worth a higher value came up) and £200K, but I'd usually discount anything over £190K. The house that I did buy was on originally at £180K then reduced to £170K and I bought for £167.5K.

GoldenShadow

Our budget was 210 and I was looking at up to about 220 but as we were looking we quickly realised no one would accept such discounts round our way. We set our budget at 210, we could have afforded 220 so we weren't wasting people's time, I just didn't want to spend that. You'll get a sense of how much people are willing to flex in your area as you look, but I'd be looking no more than 190K.