Is my offer reasonable?

sn1987a

My partner and I are FTB and very nervous! We are ready to make an offer for a flat we like. It is priced £400k and it's in the market for 7 months. After one month in the market the price dropped from £425 to £400k. However, looking at prices of twin houses in the area, £400k is a lot. The flat needs new carpets/flooring, new wallpapers and a new bathroom. There was no work done the last years. We saw also a sagging ceiling on the stairs landing under the roof (second floor of a maisonette) that we need to see what the survey will reveal. The EA said that would send us a document with details about the building.

We have estimated that the cost of repairs (if the ceiling is not a major thing) is around £30 000.We think that the real value of the flat is £380k at its current state. Does it make sense to offer £360k on the grounds of the repairs and our budget?
If the offer is rejected, can we ask the EA to contact us if there is another offer but for the moment we want to look at other properties? What's the best way to negotiate?

According to property bee the flat was marked as sold stc. Do I have any right finding out about this offer and why the flat wasn't sold at the end? The EA has made it clear that he can't give me any details of other offers because he works for the vendors, he claims there was only one offer before but it was too low. He didn't mention that a sale was agreed. Is there any chance that the property bee info is not correct?

kinger101

The only person who can tell you whether your offer is acceptable is the vendor. Then you can always negotiate downwards if the survey throws up something horrible.

Before commissioning my own survey, I might ask the vendor (via their solicitor) to confirm whether any previous sale had fallen through due to defects highlighted in a structural survey. Perhaps mentioning the publicly available data suggest an aborted sale.

Rambosmum

Put the offer in. Only way to know if it's acceptable.

If it isn't, decide if you are happy to offer more or walk away.

But as Kinga says, I'd ask once the offer has been accepted why a previous sale fell through before sorting my own survey.

Crashy_Time

Walk away, come back later when they are dropping the price a bit more.

TBagpuss

Youdecide what you think the property is worth and don't offer more than taht.

Do be realistic through - unless they are very badly damaged it is unlikely that the property "needs" new carpets, wallpaper etc - those are personal choices which most people expect to change when they move into a property. having an old or outdated bathroom may lower the prove slightly but again, changes to decor are not normally a big factor in price.

it is reasonable to look at sold prices for other, simialr properties in the area. Consider whether there are other factos which make a diference to the price - for instance, things such as parking, closeness to rail or other transport links.

If you thinkthe£380 is a realistic price and one you would be willing to pay, then offering £360K probably isn't a bad starting spoint - it is 10% below the asking price. You then have a bit of room for negotiation.

That said, the sellers may feel the property is worth £400K and be unwilling to accept anything less.

You can't require any information about the previous sale - if you have an offer accepted thren make sure that you get a proper seurvey done - if that exposes any major problems then you can renegotiate on price on that basis.

societys_child

How did you estimate the cost of "repairs" at £30k? (not inc the saggy ceiling)

Are carpets and wallpaper normally classed as repairs?

sn1987a

Thank you for your replies!
I class carpets and wallpaper as repairs if they are in a very bad condition, e.g. wallpaper coming off the wall or carpet heavily stained,which is the case in this flat. The bathroom has been also adapted for the owner's special needs. But this is my opinion. The flats I have been looking are exactly the same as they are all part of an estate. If a fully refurbished flat,exactly the same, is sold for 410k, then I think that the difference of 10k is small. The EA said that there was another offer, we'll email him with ours today and we'll see!

societys_child

I class carpets and wallpaper as repairs

Maybe carpeted and decorated new builds would be a better alternative?

Still wondering how you calculate repair costs at £30k?