Advice on offer from sellers POV

jlaw4

Hi,

i'm a FTB and have already lost out through best and finals on a couple of houses and am now a bit more nervous of trying again...

We viewed a house yesterday that has been marketed twice and both sets of buyers have dropped out, the second because their survey came back as needing a full rewire and they had no money to do this.

Its on at around £185K and I am unsure what to offer as rewiring a 3 bed semi won't be cheap and it needs a bit more TLC... we really can see the potential of the house but don't want to overpay. the EA told us it went to best & finals both times before and fetched £190K+ (before anyone knew a complete rewire was needed). How much negotiating room does it leave us? we were thinking around £180K so it can be taken off and get the process moving as its vacant possession (shes already moved out) would that make them more likely to take a little less so its gone?

Any suggestions or advice from a buyers/sellers POV would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

J x

Mr_da

I'm nowhere near experienced in house buying or selling , so basically take what I'm saying with a pinch of salt but I think 180 sounds about right, as long as you can put up with all the work to be done.

Hoploz

The rewire is likely to be £4k ish. It is a horrible job which I've had done once when luckily I wasn't living in the house at the time. I would never choose to do it again. Expect the whole house to be a building site and every wall to need at best making good and at worst replastering.

Aside from this, £180k sounds a reasonable offer on asking price of £185k. It will depend how keen the seller is to sell. Empty can mean they are desperate to get rid (for example they need the cash and they are selling an investment property for this reason) .... or it can mean it isn't costing them anything sitting empty, and it makes no difference how long it sits there as long as they get top price for it (for example if it is a property that's been inherited and not required.)

It's value depends what it's worth to you. If there are many other similar properties at the same sort of price then it's not worth paying more than one of the others would cost. But if you've been looking for ages and keep missing out by £1000 or £2000 then it might be worth offering that little bit extra to get a deal done, as if the market is as busy as you seem to be finding it, prices are likely to go up and suddenly you might find the next similar one comes on at £5k or £10k higher.

JP1978

If you do go for it, consider running in ethernet and other AV cables as well when the re-wire is done - will add very little cost to the overall job but will future proof the house for future AV and IoT applications.

ReadingTim

I'd take "needs" a full re-wire with a pinch of salt: there's needs as in the wiring is extremely old (round three pin plugs etc) and potentially (or actually) dangerous, and "needs" as in doesn't meet current standards (which nothing does unless it was installed literally yesterday), doesn't really have enough sockets etc for the plethora of modern gadgets, but isn't inherantly dangerous. FTBs can often be a panicky bunch, so interpreted "needs" as the fomer, whereas in reality, it's the latter.

You also want to consider the extent to which the seller hasn't already priced in the cost of any redecoration/TLC into the asking price, especially if they've also been looking for somewhere to buy. They ought to have a fairly good idea that their property isn't in tip top nick, so can't charge top dollar for it. If it seems cheap in comparison to other similar properties then it could well have been priced to take into account some work. To come in with a lower price again, citing the cost of the work may not be recevied that positively. Also, the seller probably won't want to pay for your redecorating - sold as seen and all that - you want to decorate, you do so at your own cost once you've bought the place.

You probably want to try and ascertain why the other sale fell through - one lot who weren't up for a bit of redecorating is understandable, two drop-outs may indicate more serious problems with the property, which you may or may not have the time, money, skill or enthusiasm to tackle...

jlaw4

ReadingTim wrote: »

I'd take "needs" a full re-wire with a pinch of salt: there's needs as in the wiring is extremely old (round three pin plugs etc) and potentially (or actually) dangerous, and "needs" as in doesn't meet current standards (which nothing does unless it was installed literally yesterday), doesn't really have enough sockets etc for the plethora of modern gadgets, but isn't inherantly dangerous. FTBs can often be a panicky bunch, so interpreted "needs" as the fomer, whereas in reality, it's the latter.

You also want to consider the extent to which the seller hasn't already priced in the cost of any redecoration/TLC into the asking price, especially if they've also been looking for somewhere to buy. They ought to have a fairly good idea that their property isn't in tip top nick, so can't charge top dollar for it. If it seems cheap in comparison to other similar properties then it could well have been priced to take into account some work. To come in with a lower price again, citing the cost of the work may not be recevied that positively. Also, the seller probably won't want to pay for your redecorating - sold as seen and all that - you want to decorate, you do so at your own cost once you've bought the place.

You probably want to try and ascertain why the other sale fell through - one lot who weren't up for a bit of redecorating is understandable, two drop-outs may indicate more serious problems with the property, which you may or may not have the time, money, skill or enthusiasm to tackle...

In relation to the rewire thats what the EA told us has been given as the reason the second set of buyers had back on their survey, but they also refused to let the EA see it... which i'd be the same if i'd shelled out for it.

We went in at 180, she rejected wanting 185 then i countered at 182500 but have now agreed to the 185. However she is saying that she wants it to stay on the market until the survey is completed! She also has agreed that a second viewing should take place before she will fully accept the 185 to make sure we are certain! Head is completely baffled! The first buyers didnt like the boiler in the bathroom and pulled out for that reason but they both had offered in excess of £190K so maybe £185 is a discount in the sellers eyes... no idea what will happen tomorrow!