Buying a house - what prices should I search for?

Samsonite1

I would look a fair bit higher, at least £200k. I looked at houses up to £100k more than I could afford because many sellers are chancing their arm. As long as you are strict about your maximum offer, you can play the same game - you can offer £175k on a house advertised at £200k.

Make a note of all the data available - rightmove tells you when it was put on the market, or when it was last reduced - that can be useful.

Also, talk to the estate agents - I always tell estate agents that "I like the house, but I feel it is a bit overpriced". I would say that 75% of the time, they respond with "to be honest, the seller will accept an offer".

People may disagree with looking at higher prices, but you have nothing to lose and you may find some really good properties with right circumstances to allow a much lower offer. The house I just sold was bought for £25k under the asking price, for example. I wanted to spend well under £400k, but viewed houses up to £410k, even though I would only offer under £400k. The worst that can happen is that offers are rejected - no loss if the house would otherwise be passed by - on the other hand you may bag a bargain.

I tend to view a lot of houses and have a short list of ones that I would be happy buying and the maximum prices I would be willing to pay. This is just to buy a single property. Also, I have found that having a mortgage in principle and even a solicitor in mind helps when making an offer as the seller will sometimes be interested in how serious you are and the estate agent can help sell you as a buyer.