How Much to Offer?

AnotherJoe

Offer £210, if they reject go up to £220 in a couple of stages but when you get to your max of 220 make it clear its your final offer. (which IMO is more believable if you've been nudged up there)

I think if you straight out offered £220k and said you couldn't offer more, they might think they were being railroaded, and might feel better about it if they had the feeling they squeezed £10k more out of you rather than you gave them an ultimatum, even though its all the same.

armchaireconomist

As soon as I hear "offers over..." my interest usually ends. Given that it's 25k (minimum) over anything in surrounding areas sold in last 12 month they're obviously in no rush to sell and just chancing it. Offer your top price and make it absolutely clear that it isn't open for negotiation, they'll probably reject it and you move on... Don't let your heart rule your head.

Alias_Omega

I paid £124,000 in 2014 for a house that the vendor purchased for £155,000 in 2006.

Appears that either the seller does not want to sell, or the seller has taken advise from a EA, and advertised it too high. If it was priced correctly, it would have sold. I would offer what you think its worth. Look at the previous sales for the area, add up what schools it has (we have a Grammar School that we did not know about ) then go from there.

There is nothing worse that paying far too much, then regretting it as you come across problems. So far we have paid for -

New Garage Roof (£1500)
New Boiler (£2400)
Insulation (£700)
New Windows (£5000)

Next on the list is a new bathroom (£1500), then a new kitchen (£XXX?). Were probably going to be 15k into the house by the time its good to go. Should we have paid £139,000? for a house? The recently valuation came back at £145,000 without bathroom & kitchen work completed..

harrys_dad

armchaireconomist wrote: »

As soon as I hear "offers over..." my interest usually ends. Given that it's 25k (minimum) over anything in surrounding areas sold in last 12 month they're obviously in no rush to sell and just chancing it. Offer your top price and make it absolutely clear that it isn't open for negotiation, they'll probably reject it and you move on... Don't let your heart rule your head.

But it is his wife's heart not his Had a similar problem when I bought my current house and on first viewing I had to tell my wife to stop saying "oh isn't this lovely I must have it".

ReadingTim

Alias_Omega wrote: »

There is nothing worse that paying far too much, then regretting it as you come across problems. So far we have paid for -

New Garage Roof (£1500)
New Boiler (£2400)
Insulation (£700)
New Windows (£5000)

Next on the list is a new bathroom (£1500), then a new kitchen (£XXX?). Were probably going to be 15k into the house by the time its good to go. Should we have paid £139,000? for a house? The recently valuation came back at £145,000 without bathroom & kitchen work completed..

With the exception of the insulation and possibly the boiler, I don't know why any of the rest should have been a 'discovery' / a problem you "came across" - they all should have been pretty self-evident when you viewed the place. Or maybe you didn't visit the kitchen. Or the bathroom. Or look out of the windows...

But back to the OP's dilemma, I'd steer clear of a 'take it or leave it' approach, as nearly everyone expects some negotiation, even if they profess not to play games, and even if you end up at the figure you had in mind as the take it or leave it number - it's just a bit of social lubricant, and like the meaningless small talk before one gets down to business. Finally, whilst I'm glad you realise the difference between things needing to be done, and things you'd want to be done, you can't expect the vendor to foot the bill for making their house suit your taste.

househunter7

armchaireconomist wrote: »

As soon as I hear "offers over..." my interest usually ends. Given that it's 25k (minimum) over anything in surrounding areas sold in last 12 month they're obviously in no rush to sell and just chancing it. Offer your top price and make it absolutely clear that it isn't open for negotiation, they'll probably reject it and you move on... Don't let your heart rule your head.

Our House was listed as "Offers Over", as we had already reduced our house price, and the EA advised this would limit the offers received under the revised price, we certainly did not expect any offers over the Listed Price.

househunter7

harrys_dad wrote: »

But it is his wife's heart not his Had a similar problem when I bought my current house and on first viewing I had to tell my wife to stop saying "oh isn't this lovely I must have it".

Fortunately, I'd already had that conversation with her before viewing the house. Although she was extremely positive about the house, the "I love it!" and "Must have it!" were after we left :rotfl:

househunter7

Thanks to all for the advice. I guess it is all up to the Seller, which we knew anyway. Their situation will dictate what they can, or are able, to take.

We will start lower than our Maximum, but if we get up to our Max, we will leave it there.

While we appreciate the work does not need to be done, this limits it in our (or maybe just mine), idea of what it is worth.

There is very limited houses in this particular area that have been up for sale, which makes it difficult to gauge the exact value, so we have to decide what it is worth to us, and hope the seller agrees.

Thanks