Asking Price and Offer Amount

Regina.filangie

Hi all,


I've been searching frantically for a house to buy after accepting an offer on mine at the end of May. Unfortunately, the market has been really, really quiet in my area save for flats and bungalows.


I have made an appointment to view a house on Friday and I'm after a little advice in terms of what I should consider offering if I decide to buy. It looks very promising on the photos, doesn't need a penny spending on it as it's relatively new, it's within walking distance to school, friends live close by, etc. I know the area well as it's literally two minutes away from where I live now and I drive past it every day, so I have a good feeling about it. It has everything I need - en suite shower room plus family bathroom and downstairs toilet, garage, doule bedroom for each of the kids, flat garden for them to play in.


I did a bit of digging and got a bit of a surprise when I looked at the asking price history. The house was originally bought for £215,000 (Oct 2009). The vendor first listed it for sale in October 2016 for £199,950. It has been reduced a few times since then - £189,950 in Jan 2017, £185,000 in March 2017 and again in July to £179,950.


I am wonderng what a reasonable offer wouold be given the above? I know it's all relative in terms of what the house is worth, etc., but I can't afford £180k. My budget is £165 max. I am wondering if I will be laughed off the phone if I offer £160k for a house that's up for £180k (and originally cost the vendor £215k 8 years ago!).


Thoughts?

glasgowdan

All you can do is offer, and if 165 is all you can afford then you can't do much if they won't go that low. 160 then up to 165 if they say no, then bow out when they still say no.

tori.k

If you don't offer then the house definitely will never be yours, it's always worth a go

goodwithsaving

Offer what you think it is worth and what it would be likely valued by the surveyors at for mortgage purposes. If local market forces indicate that the house is worth more than you can afford, then why are you looking at it? I liked many houses listed at £15k over my budget but couldn't afford them. However this is an area where houses go for asking and the market isn't falling (yet). As far as you are concerned, it doesn't matter what they paid for it; it matters what it is worth now.

I do get quite annoyed when people use sold prices to pitch their offer. Use them to follow area trends and see if there have been any dramatic losses on a property, but don't use past sold prices to gauge what you're going to offer on one particular property.

There must be a reason for why it hasn't sold. If it overlooks anything less than ideal, if vastly overpriced etc.

We won't be able to offer guidance if we don't know the area. I personally would be a bit insulted at an offer that far below asking price, but then I may well be in a different area used to different trends. I personally don't understand why you're looking that far above budget if you know you can't afford it to be honest. I'm sorry to be so blunt, it isn't intended quite so.

Tiners

Your maximum of £165k is less than 10% below the current asking price so is a perfectly reasonable offer to make.

It was obviously initially overpriced, but at least the vendors are showing they are genuinely looking to sell and are gradually accepting reality with their numerous reductions (unlike in my area where the vast majority of houses just tend to come on at stupid asking prices then sit there languishing, often for years, OR the vendors have a tantrum and withdraw from the market after 6 months of no interest)

I'd say it is still very much a sellers market across the uk, with realistically priced houses selling quickly and easily, the only people wailing about it being a 'slow' market are the greedy vendors with deluded asking prices.

Given this one still hasn't been snapped up yet suggests it still isn't at a price that's hugely attractive to other local buyers and the vendors/agents would have to be a bit dim to 'laugh you off the phone'

AnotherJoe

Re the offer I wonder if there is something wrong with this house that's not apparent on first viewing? Neighbours ? Leasehold ? Condition? The fact they keep dropping the AP and haven't yet sold also might indicate they aren't that desperate to sell or they would just have auctioned it and let it find its own price.

Out of interest where are you that prices have fallen so much ? Seems if you wait a few months it might come at your max price even if they reject now, OTOH why buy if prices are dropping so consistently? How are sold prices looking for similar houses in the same area over the past couple of years ?

enthusiasticsaver

I am surprised prices have fallen so much that the owners are willing to accept such a large reduction on what they paid for a property. What part of the country is it and what are comparable properties in the area up for?

If the maximum you can afford is £165k and you want the house there is no harm in offering that. Personally though if I were the vendors I would have difficulty in accepting an offer £50k less than I paid for it. 2009 was after house price crash too although perhaps it had not filtered through to prices in that area then.

Regina.filangie

Thanks for your replies.


I know the estate and I even know the family that lives next door (I've known the bloke since I was about 8 as we went to the same primary and secondary schools). It is freehold. Not sure about the neighbours on the other side.


This is one of the smaller houses on the estate - a lot are large detached houses or bigger townhouses. This one was originally advertised by the developer as a 3 bed with study as even they acknowledged that the study was too small to be considered a bedroom. Typically (for estate agents in my area anyway), the EA is now advertising it as a 4 bed.


I do think it seems to be a case that there was high demand for houses on this estate and people may have paid over the odds. It is a popular area and very few new build developments have come up over recent years.


Personally, I think it's a good idea and very sensible to consider sold prices when considering offering on a property. I have looked at others on the development and a few have made losses, with some of the more expensive, bigger detached houses making big losses when sold on compared to the original purchase price.


As I said I know the area well so I'm confident there would be no massive issues in that respect. If I like it I think I'll go ahead and offer £160k so I can increase to a full and final offer of £165k if they say no. If they say no to that then fair enough, it will be a shame but not surprising really as I'm not sure there would be many who could afford to accept an offer so much lower than what they paid 8 years ago. I suppose it depends on their circumstances and how much they need to sell.

Regina.filangie

For those who were asking, I'm in the North East. Durham to be precise.

Crashy_Time

Regina.filangie wrote: »

Hi all,


I've been searching frantically for a house to buy after accepting an offer on mine at the end of May. Unfortunately, the market has been really, really quiet in my area save for flats and bungalows.


I have made an appointment to view a house on Friday and I'm after a little advice in terms of what I should consider offering if I decide to buy. It looks very promising on the photos, doesn't need a penny spending on it as it's relatively new, it's within walking distance to school, friends live close by, etc. I know the area well as it's literally two minutes away from where I live now and I drive past it every day, so I have a good feeling about it. It has everything I need - en suite shower room plus family bathroom and downstairs toilet, garage, doule bedroom for each of the kids, flat garden for them to play in.


I did a bit of digging and got a bit of a surprise when I looked at the asking price history. The house was originally bought for £215,000 (Oct 2009). The vendor first listed it for sale in October 2016 for £199,950. It has been reduced a few times since then - £189,950 in Jan 2017, £185,000 in March 2017 and again in July to £179,950.


I am wonderng what a reasonable offer wouold be given the above? I know it's all relative in terms of what the house is worth, etc., but I can't afford £180k. My budget is £165 max. I am wondering if I will be laughed off the phone if I offer £160k for a house that's up for £180k (and originally cost the vendor £215k 8 years ago!).


Thoughts?

They are desperate (or sensibly accepting that the market is against them) offer them 150k IMO, but without a link there is no way to get a sense of value anyway.

hazyjo

You might want to read people's replies to Crashy on other threads before accepting his 'valuation' on it.