Is this house worth £143k?!

graemesmith88

Hello.

I'm conflicted on what my next offer should be for a property I'm interested in. I can't post the URL but you can find it on rightmove "2 bedroom terraced house for sale The Paddocks, Littlethorpe, Leicester, LE19". Priced at £150k, added 15 October 2016.

It's clearly not worth £150k - the house next door (virtually a mirror copy) sold for just over £135k in August. And it's been on the market since October last year; properties in that area are usually snapped up quickly.

I have already made 4 offers - starting at £136,500, up to my most recent of £141,500.

They've said they won't accept anything less than £143k but I begrudge another increase of one and a half grand. I get the feeling this is asking price has something to do with what they owe on their current property. I'm not wholly wedded to the property that I'd be devastated if I missed out but overall it does seem like a good fit for me so I'm definitely keen on it.

I guess I just think by paying £143k will be paying over the market value, which of course I want to avoid. Any advice on my next will be a massive help. Many thanks.

Mrs36

I can't comment on the price as I don't know the area, but a house is only worth what someone will pay. If the vendors won't budge leave your offer on the table for a specified timeand move on.

It is unlikely IMO that they aren't budging due to what they owe (I'm basing this on the previous sale price), and more likely what they need to make their onward move iyswim.

Rain_Shadow

This one?


http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-44914386.html

tykesi

Are there only kids living in the house? No adult beds that I can see.

booksurr

what someone paid for it x years ago has little bearing on what the next buyer is willing to pay now

what the market value is now has little bearing on what it will be when you come to sell it yourself as its then owner

a £1,500 difference could be irrelevant in 2 years time and you won't even recall your current angst over such a sum. I base that on the lesson I learned with my first house, on market for 75,950, my offer of 73 was soundly rejected. I offered 75 as take it or leave it and at the time felt i had been manipulated as I loved the house i bought and was very happy there.

if this is not "the one" for you then, as said above, make a final, time limited offer, and move on....

Yes next door (no 5) sold for £135,450 (the 450 is important on such a small number!) back in August but I'd bet the fact it was empty at the time meant they got a low offer as they may have needed to take anything they could get by then so play whatever guessing games you want as to why "yours" is now on for £150k

"Your" property (no3) was purchased by its current owners for £115,000 back in 2005, so them holding out for £143k is "cheeky" and is presumably related to how much they need for their next place, not what "yours" is "currently worth". Without wishing to insult you, that place is never going to be more than a short term step to somewhere better, so don't overpay on it as it is awful, but does appear to be in a location where prices have risen over the years!

ReadingTim

Well, I know November, December, January aren't the busiest house-buying months, but if properties in that area go quickly then they're clearly in no hurry to sell: in fact they've told you as much by saying they won't accept less than £143k.

You ask if it's worth £143k. As someone said, it's only worth what you're willing to pay, Thus far you think it's worth £141,500, which is 98.9% of what the vendors want, which is so close you're almost touching, but now your pride has got the better of you because they've blown you off a few times already.

You're 99% wedded to the place, so swallow your pride and find the extra fifteen hundred quid and be done with it. Or say to the agent you've scrimped and saved and can find another £1,437 (or some random number to make it look as if you've emptied every piggy bank and looked down the back of every sofa you own and that's as much as you've got in the world...) and would they accept?

You're not paying £143k, they think they've got the best price you can possibly offer, everyone's happy.... win-win situation etc. But walk if they want more. Otherwise, quit winging, man up in the face of rejection and unrealistic and intransigent vendors and move on.

StumpyPumpy

tykesi wrote: »

Are there only kids living in the house? No adult beds that I can see.

You can see one, you just don't recognise it. There is bedding stuffed behind the sofa bed in the front room.

SP

Cakeguts

It wouldn't be worth anything to me at all because the stairs are in the living room. It may look very nice but you will find that the heat will all go up the stairs. (Hot air rises.) The landing at the top of the stairs will always be nice and warm.

There are sellers who hold out for their asking price even if that asking price is more than anyone is prepared to pay for the property.

What you are saying is that this house is worth 141k to you. So that is what it is worth. It is perfectly possible that it isn't worth anymore to anyone else in which case it won't sell. So you have to decide if you want to offer anymore and if you don't have a look for something where the sellers are keen to sell.

moneyistooshorttomention

I would regard that house as too small for me personally - single childfree person.

Two (presumably) adults and 3 children in it - and that tiny garden too = yep...they really really intend to sell and arent going to be holding out for anything unrealistic as a price in all probability. But they can probably manage to hold on a bit longer if they have to - so looks like time to pay up that bit more as they'll be gasping (but holding on) until someone does.

Another vote for one cant necessarily tell by what a nearby house sold for. Come the time I sold my last house - a nearby house went for noticeably less than I expected for mine - but there was a reason = they were gasping to sell it and had done so at an auction (whereas I was prepared to wait it out the normal length of time until a buyer paid me a more reasonable amount for it).

graemesmith88

booksurr wrote: »

what someone paid for it x years ago has little bearing on what the next buyer is willing to pay now

what the market value is now has little bearing on what it will be when you come to sell it yourself as its then owner

a £1,500 difference could be irrelevant in 2 years time and you won't even recall your current angst over such a sum. I base that on the lesson I learned with my first house, on market for 75,950, my offer of 73 was soundly rejected. I offered 75 as take it or leave it and at the time felt i had been manipulated as I loved the house i bought and was very happy there.

if this is not "the one" for you then, as said above, make a final, time limited offer, and move on....

Yes next door (no 5) sold for £135,450 (the 450 is important on such a small number!) back in August but I'd bet the fact it was empty at the time meant they got a low offer as they may have needed to take anything they could get by then so play whatever guessing games you want as to why "yours" is now on for £150k

"Your" property (no3) was purchased by its current owners for £115,000 back in 2005, so them holding out for £143k is "cheeky" and is presumably related to how much they need for their next place, not what "yours" is "currently worth". Without wishing to insult you, that place is never going to be more than a short term step to somewhere better, so don't overpay on it as it is awful, but does appear to be in a location where prices have risen over the years!

Thanks for the replies all.

booksurr is right - it'll be a (relatively) short term thing for me, 3-4 years I suspect. I'm a first time buyer (single, no kids). I guess that's where my concern for the price they're asking for comes from; I don't want to curb the resale value too much by paying over the market value now.

Any expansion on the "awful" label? I understand it's small and the stair-in-lounge issue but so far otherwise I've not seen anything overtly horrifying.

FYI - parents sleep on floor mattress each night as far as I'm aware.

Thanks.

ReadingTim

graemesmith88 wrote: »

booksurr is right - it'll be a (relatively) short term thing for me, 3-4 years I suspect. I'm a first time buyer (single, no kids). I guess that's where my concern for the price they're asking for comes from; I don't want to curb the resale value too much by paying over the market value now.

It's a fair point, but it's only fifteen hundred quid. Over 4 years that's £31 per month, or one quiet night in the pub with a couple of mates, one takeaway meal for 2 etc. Would you walk away for what amounts to a quid a day?