Buying first house - aiming too high?

seabass90

Hi all,

I've done a lot of number crunching and finally decided that my perfect property price would be around £130k, but I could stretch to £138k absolute max if the property needed pretty much next to no work whatsoever.

Last week I viewed a house in my ideal location for £145k. Its new to the market as has only been on for around a month. It's a 2 bed terraced house, 10 years old, bought for £141k in 2006 by an investor to let out. The investor owns the property next door too and I am told (by the tenant, not the EA!) that the seller plans on selling that one, too which is identical.

The property hasn't been kept in the best state by the tenants. The carpets are wrinkly and will need replacing. The fireplace is looking dated and so I would want to place the surround, and the kitchen is looking dated too so would want to change the kitchen cabinet doors at least. The main bathroom has a low shower head over the bath (attached to the main taps) and so I would probably want to fit an electric shower in. The whole house needs re painting, some of the light fixtures need changing, and there are also two (old) water stains on the ceiling living room that I need to check out with the EA. the window in the main bedroom needs fixing as the vents at the top are completely exposed at the moment for the same time.

The other terraced house next door (identical) sold for £136k in September 2015. The end terraced house sold in October 2015 for £137,000. This suggests to me that it isn't worth £145,000, but with the work it needs doing I wouldn't be able to budge above £135,000. A similar 2 bed house in the area sold last week although I'm not sure how much for.. But there seems to be quite a few 2 bed houses popping up for sale in this estate.

I'm thinking about putting an offer in for £130,000. Is this reasonable? I'm completely new to this and don't want the seller to think I'm not being serious! Thank you in advance

walwyn1978

How long has it been on the market for? 15k off is slightly over 10% so it's not a totally outrageous first offer but it's on the low side. That said, what have you got to lose? If it's turned down, either bid up or walk away. The length of time it's been on may mean he deals that low or he may not. You can but try.

seabass90

walwyn1978 wrote: »

How long has it been on the market for? 15k off is slightly over 10% so it's not a totally outrageous first offer but it's on the low side. That said, what have you got to lose? If it's turned down, either bid up or walk away. The length of time it's been on may mean he deals that low or he may not. You can but try.

Sorry, forgot to include that! It's only been on for about a month. According to the EA, it had some offers rejected early on. Thank you

walwyn1978

You obviously don't know what those offers are, but I'm assuming that from that 130 will be turned down. Still, offer and see. If turned down, up your offer or move on to the next one on the wish list.

csgohan4

put what you think the house is worth, if they reject leave it on the table and move on

Cakeguts

Is it being sold with vacant possession or is the landlord hoping to sell it to another landlord?

seabass90

Cakeguts wrote: »

Is it being sold with vacant possession or is the landlord hoping to sell it to another landlord?

With vacant possession. The tenants are searching for somewhere else to rent at present.

csgohan4

Generally don't buy it unless the tenants have physically gone, a section 21 doesn't mean they leave the house immediately.

-taff

It doesn't matter what he seller think of you because of your offer, it only matters whether they accept or not. Offer it and see what they say. It will probably be rejected and you'd best star looking elsewhere. Or it'll be accepted and then you'll start having kittens

TBagpuss

As others have said, make the offer if you want the houe. If it is rejected you can wait a bit an ofer a little more.

Most of the things you mention as being work that 'needs' doing are cosmetic, so you could decide to spend a little more on the hosue ( if youthink it is worth it) and then saving up to have the work done- it doesn't all ned doing the moment you walk in.

You say that £130K is the perfect price for you - have you lloked at listing s for your area to see what type of properties there are in that price range? That will help give you some idea of whethr £130K (or even £135-£138K) are at all realistic for the house you have seen.

It may well be that the house has ben priced realistically taking into account the condition it is in, in which case the seller is unlikelyto accept 15% less than asking price. What have house prices been doing in your area in the past 6 months? If the last two similar properties sold for £136K and £137K 6 months ago then I would be surprised if the seller is going to accept £130K, and £140-£145 may not be unrealistic depending on what property prices are doing in the area, and what the condition of the other properties was.

But at the end of the day, you should not offer more than you persoanlly think the house is worth.

ReadingTim

From what you've said, the house doesn't need any work being done to it - it's perfectly rent-worthy at present, and will probably continue to be in the future. Just because you want some cosmetic modernisation to happen doesn't mean the vendor should foot the bill (in terms of a price drop) to pay for your taste of fireplace, kitchen, bathroom, or paintwork.

You don't say what the decorative state of the comparable places which sold last summer/autumn was, but assuming they weren't significantly better or worse, late £130k's is probably a reason offer, and considering the asking price, I suspect the vendor may have a mental block at going below £140-141k - the first being a nice round number, the 2nd being what they paid for it 10 years ago.

But you can only offer what you think it's worth, and what you're willing and able to pay. £130k is pretty low - prepare to go up from there, but they might write you off as a timewasting dreamer unless your 2nd offer is more meaningful. I guess the question is whether you could live there assuming you maxed out on your offer and didn't have much left for all these jobs you claim it needs/you want doing...?