House price offer..how much? 31 March 2017 at 7:30AM in House buying, renting & selling 10 replies 1.4K views

mightykate

Hi
I am completely new to house buying, I have seen a house for sale in my current street which I love but have been shocked at it's sale price of 178,000. Its a small 2 bedroom terrace with small back yard. How do you decide what offer to put in? One sold last year for 153,000 in the same street.
The property is in Leeds

Any advice gratefully received!

Mr_da

What is the difference in condition between the two houses, seems a big price increase and is property going up in price quickly in Leeds

walwyn1978

Check previous purchase price on Zoopla. It may be that the price is high because the current owner bought at a high price (e.g. In 2005/6 when prices were high) and thus wants a 'return on his investment'

Houses like that are harder to buy just because the owner is less realistic about a sensible market value.

Mickygg

You decide how much to offer by working out how much you are prepared to pay.

As above check sold prices but only recent ones should be compared. As a very loose guide you can use house price calculator to get a VERY rough guide. Ask EA what has been done to the house in the owners period, then you can factor in what the improvements would be worth to you and voila.

pollyannaL

i am in this situation too. The house i want is selling £50k more than it did 5 years ago, and that is after a reduction of £20k too! unbelievable.

I have a second viewing next week and will ask the agent if they can explain how the price is £50k more considering a similar house on same street sold 18 months ago at £40k less. There is NO WAY house prices have gone up that much where i live. The house is not overlooking a spectacular view, or does not have unique features. My broker also said that the location is not the fastest growing area (house price wise) in my city, and can't be justified! So basically house is over priced.

So, as you have done your research about how much other similar properties have sold for, feel confident and inform the agent you would like to make a bid of xxxx based on the value of recent sales. Agent will probably say they have had higher offers/ there is another seller etc so I would just be certain your offer is passed to vendor. It is also about getting the house valued, and if you have not access to other funds and totally reliant on mortgage, the house may not get valued at the 178000 amount.

Good luck xx

tykesi

Mr_da wrote: »

What is the difference in condition between the two houses, seems a big price increase and is property going up in price quickly in Leeds

It depends where. I'm looking in a very popular area of Leeds at the moment and houses that were selling for £140-£145 towards the end of last year are now going for £160+ (comparable size, condition etc). The demand is so far outweighing supply that nearly everything is going for over asking within days.

I don't think it's the same all over Leeds though.

cashbackproblems

I would just offer what you think it is worth even if that's 50k less. Is they get no other offers they will reconsider their asking price

trailingspouse

It's worth what someone is prepared to pay.

What are you prepared to pay? There might be someone who is prepared to pay more, in which case they will get the house (unless you decide that, after all, you're prepared to pay more again). Or there might not be, in which case you get the house (unless the vendors decide that they really don't want to sell it for that amount).

Cakeguts

Have you seen inside both of them? There are a lot of alterations that you can make to a traditional 2 bed terrace. Have the stairs been moved in the one you like? Is there a loft room? Has the kitchen been extended? Where is the bathroom?

ScorpiondeRooftrouser

Are there lots of cheaper houses in the area that you would rather buy? Then it's probably not worth the money.

Are all the houses in the area that you would rather buy more expensive? Then it's probably worth the money.

Nasqueron

My girlfriend's house was about 2 grand under 100,000 in 2002 (up from 55,000 in 1997 so 43.5k in 5 years), it's a 2 bed terrace.

2 doors down sold in 2006 for a nudge under £180000 and was £86.5k in 2000 so nearly 100k increase in 6 years. It sold for nudge under £190k 4 years later (2010). 50k in 5 years is not unreasonable depending on the time - on our road I can see 90k gain in 8 years and 103k in 10 years

There are some on our road with an attic conversion so don't take these figures as 100% gospel as some might be better spec