Interested in buying a house but not sure we are getting the right price

Help1234

Hello,

Me and my partner are first time buyers. We have seen a house we are interested in. The price has fluctuated over the years so we think it could be a bit of a risk:

21 Nov 2014 £160,000
07 Dec 2012 £130,000
10 Jun 2008 £175,000
17 Oct 2006 £165,000

The current owners who bought it in 2014 originally put it up for sale in January 2017 for £179,950 and have then reduced it in April 2017 to £174,950.
They have made it look very presentable by painting the walls and lifting the carpet to reveal original flooring. They have painted the kitchen cupboards, which look nice cosmetically on the outside but on the inside it is very messy and really the whole kitchen needs replacing. They haven't done anything to the bathroom.

It is a small house. Two bedrooms, although you would struggle to get a double bed in the second bedroom.
The bathroom is accessed only through the second bedroom.

There is a very small paved garden.

We offered £165,000, which was rejected. We then offered £167,000, which was also rejected and the counter offer provided was £170,000. We are unsure whether to go ahead with that as the increase in price of £10,000 in 2 and half years seems a lot, when they have probably only spent £2000 -£3000 on it. They have made it look gorgeous with their taste and style compared to what it looked like when they bought it though.

We are just unsure whether to accept £170,000 when our gut tells us we shouldn't pay over £167,000. What do people think?

ReadingTim

What someone else paid for it and spent on it is irrelevant. Offer what you're willing and able to spend on it, compared to similar properties in the same area.

Pupnik

It depends where you live - I'd say a £10k increase in 2 years for a house of that value is low, but I'm in an area where property prices are increasing rapidly (over 50% in 4 years in my case).

Look at what has sold recently in the area and for what price to try and get an idea of what is 'normal' for the area, although that's hard to do if they don't come up very often or it is an unusual property. One thing I did to get an idea for price was to tick the 'show sold' box on Rightmove and try and see how quickly houses of a similar size in the area were selling and what their asking price was.

hounsehunterftb

If you love the house and are certain you would be there living for a long time then you can think about taking the plunge. Instead you could negotiate for a furniture and fixtures as their taste to decor is nice.

To give you my example, we are FTBs too currently living in a rented furnished accommodation. The property we are buying was a To Let and decent/fairly recent furniture and fixtures sized up. We negotiated our offer with regards to that. (Saving a 1-2k on these misc things)

And as everyone suggested, please do check the selling prices for the nearby properties. All the best!

theartfullodger

Buying property is like marrying: You don't really know if it was a good idea or not until 2 or 3 years later.

There is no "right" price.

Artful: (On 3rd successful marriage...must have bought and sold 15+ times by now...)

Cakeguts

You don't get money off for taste. You don't get a reduction because the kitchen isn't to your taste. It works as a kitchen because that is how it is being used. If you changed it that would be to suit your taste.

To work out the value of a house you compare the price to similar properties in the same area. You can get the sold prices from Zoopla. Ignore the Zoopla valuations they are usually wrong.

AdrianC

Help1234 wrote: »

Me and my partner are first time buyers. We have seen a house we are interested in. The price has fluctuated over the years so we think it could be a bit of a risk:

21 Nov 2014 £160,000
07 Dec 2012 £130,000
10 Jun 2008 £175,000
17 Oct 2006 £165,000

All very interesting, but completely and utterly irrelevant.

The current owners who bought it in 2014 originally put it up for sale in January 2017 for £179,950 and have then reduced it in April 2017 to £174,950.

So they've already come down £5k...

They have made it look very presentable by painting the walls and lifting the carpet to reveal original flooring. They have painted the kitchen cupboards, which look nice cosmetically on the outside but on the inside it is very messy and really the whole kitchen needs replacing. They haven't done anything to the bathroom.

It is a small house. Two bedrooms, although you would struggle to get a double bed in the second bedroom.
The bathroom is accessed only through the second bedroom.

There is a very small paved garden.

Do we get a link?

We offered £165,000, which was rejected.

£10k less than asking. No great surprise.

We then offered £167,000, which was also rejected and the counter offer provided was £170,000.

So half way between your original offer, and the post-reduction asking. Or another £5k off the reductio in asking that they only made a few weeks ago.

We are unsure whether to go ahead with that as the increase in price of £10,000 in 2 and half years seems a lot, when they have probably only spent £2000 -£3000 on it. They have made it look gorgeous with their taste and style compared to what it looked like when they bought it though.

Lovely, an' all. But still irrelevant. The ONLY thing that matters is whether YOU like it, what work YOU want to do to it, and how it compares to other places on the market TODAY.

We are just unsure whether to accept £170,000 when our gut tells us we shouldn't pay over £167,000. What do people think?

If you want to buy it, as it sits today, you're going to be paying £170k. You're already happy to pay £167k for it - so are you willing to lose it for £3k, because of some trivial worries over a complete irrelevance? You don't have the option to buy it for a previous-year price in a previous-year condition. You're three years too late for that.

Another way of looking at it is to look at inflation. RPI in November 2014 was 257.5. At the end of March, it was 269.3. That's a 4.5% increase. The value of this house has changed by 6.2% over that time. So, basically, it's ONLY just outstripped inflation... - and that's before the improvements that have been made

always_sunny

the right price doesn't exist, it depends how much you're willing to pay.

Crashy_Time

Why the dip in 2012?

AdrianC

Crashy_Time wrote: »

Why the dip in 2012?

You may not have heard, but the market peaked in 2008, and had a bit of a problem for a while afterwards.

Given that somebody bought it at the very peak, quite probably with a 100% mortgage, it may well have been sold after repossession - or in other time-critical circumstances.

ReadingTim

Crashy_Time wrote: »

Why the dip in 2012?

We were hoping you could tell us...