How low is too low on a house offer? Advice please

mandgreen

Hi All

Basically we are very close to putting an offer in on a house, it is a lovely house with lots of character but has been a bit neglected since the last buyer bought it in 2014 so needs about £8-£10k spending on it. Our position is we have just accepted an offer on our house from a FTB.

I am unsure about the original selling price but it was reduced August last year to £290,000 and they have reduced it again yesterday to OIRO £282,500. We found out that they had a sale fall through at the last minute just before Christmas and when we went to view it the buyer told us the house she was going to buy is still on the market so soon as she gets a buyer she will proceed with her sale.

I was thinking an initial offer of £270k but my family are telling me to go in even lower at £260k?

I don't want to risk the sale falling through by going in too low. What would you do?!

JP1978

Offer 260k, see what happens

Make sure they know you have a buyer for your house and are at the lower end of the chain, makes you a better proposition as a prospective buyer to them.

If they refuse, offer 265.

Surrey_EA

It is sometimes said:

"If your first offer doesn't embarrass you, it is too high!"

You can always increase your offer.

It's very difficult to give you meaningful advice without knowing more about the property and the location.

hazyjo

Sounds like they're looking for around £280k. I doubt they'd lose you for another few grand.


Is it cheap or overpriced compared to similar properties on the market?


If you feel their £280k-ish is a realistic price for it, I would first go in at around £264k. If you go in at £270k, they'll do the whole 'meet in the middle' or everyone will keep going up in thousand increments meaning you'll be paying nearer 276k. Start at £260k-something and you're more likely to get it for nearer £270k IMO.


You have to know when to stop too - even if it's just pretending. The EA will just keep coming back for an increase if you buckle too quickly each time.


Pathetic really isn't it :laugh:


Good luck. Let us know how you get on.

Mahsroh

£22,500 is a lot of money. But at the same time, it's less than 8% of their asking price. Worth a shot. If they reject your offer, go back with a higher offer.


Just to give a similar example. The home my parents now own was on the market for £430k. They initially offered £380k which was an 11.6% drop. This was rejected so they immediately went back and offered £400k, which was still 7% below asking price, and this was accepted. I don't think an initial £260k offer when the asking price is £282.5k is too low, personally.

bowlhead99

For all you know, after they reduced the list price to 290 last year the offer they accepted which eventually fell through might have been 270. If they had got a reasonable way towards their purchase they might bite your hand off for 265 because it 'costs them' 5k more than they were hoping to get their dream house, but they would be back on track with a route to getting it.

So I would probably agree with your family and not go in as high as 270. I agree with the others that offering only 260 of 282 is ambitious on a house that has only just had a reduction, but the original 290 was six months ago and they have not successfully got it sold yet so may be keen to reignite the chain (knowing that you do not have much of a chain below you).

8% under their current 'region of' is fine. They might feel that more than 5% below is not 'in the region of', and their agent might tell them they could probably get closer, in which case they will reject the offer, but they will not outright reject you and say never darken my door ever again.

It is easier to make a second offer higher than lower, so start lower!

You could even do what my last buyers did: offer low, get it rejected, increase it to above the level of everyone else so they tell the other potential buyers to go away because you're more proceedable, wait til you get three months into the process, then arbitrarily reduce your offer without much excuse other than you don't want to pay as much as you first thought. Faced with going back to the drawing board yet again and relisting it in a softer market, the sellers may cave....

Crashy_Time

Can we see it on Rightmove?