How much below asking price do people tend to go?

N1ckS

I stick by the rule that if you're not embarrassed by your first offer it's too high! Also, make sure the estate agent doesn't know you only have one house on your mind and especially not that you have your heart set on it!

In fact there's no harm in putting a cheeky offer in on your 2nd/3rd favourite house. You might even get a counter-offer that can help you in negotiations for the house you're really after.

the_quick

Isn't that part of negotiation?

Offer what you want to pay for it, check sale prices around and guide yourself on that. Your offer might be not accepted than you can offer more. especially it has been on the market for 9 month - either seller are not in the hurry to sell or there is something wrong with the house and people are not offering.
For me I want to pay as little as possible, what I save I can put towards house improvements. This is house buying, serious decision and serious money involved - and hopefully you will not have to do it again in near future.

JayZed

As others have said, it all depends on the difference between the asking price and your perceived value of the house. We're in London, and are selling our flat for almost 5% below our asking price (having rejected an offer at almost 10% below).

We had originally planned to buy a house for which our accepted offer was 9% below the original asking price, but the chain collapsed - and I never thought we were getting a bargain. We're now buying another house for 6% below the asking price (which had only been on the market for a couple of weeks). The original asking price was the same for both houses, but I feel that we're getting a better deal on the one we're buying at 6% below asking than we would have done on the one at 9% below asking - it's a bigger house, with a much bigger garden, in a better neighbourhood, and I've seen similar houses on the same street go for considerably more.

steph2901

I've had an offer accepted for £2000 below the asking price, we were the first viewers and it had just gone up for sale.

When I sold my house, I accepted £3000 below the asking price because I was selling the house I owned with my ex and just wanted to get rid of it, even though it had only been on the market 3 weeks.

wantonnoodle

The house we bought had been on the market 4 months or so when we offered. We offered just after it had been reduced for a second time (first was from £269k to £265k, then to OIEO £250k. Initially we offered £240k but that was rejected out of hand by the vendor. We then offered £250k which was also initially rejected (vendor wanted nearer £260k). We refused to increase the offer, as even a penny more would have increased our SDLT liability, so we told the agent we were leaving the offer on the table until the end of the month (about 10 days or so).

A week later, the EA called and told us the vendor had accepted the offer. Clearly there hadn't been any more bites after the reduction to £250k, so leaving the offer on the table gave the vendor chance to think it over.

pinklady21

Offering a reduced price can be worth a try, there is the risk of insulting the seller and they then refuse to deal with you again. You need to talk to them and find out what their expectations are and their circumstances.
Do they have somewhere else lined up? If not, then they might be prepared to stay put a bit longer and not prepared to budge on price, and are happy to wait until someone pays them what they believe the house is worth.

Crashy_Time

I wouldn`t worry about "Insulting" sellers now, you hold all the cards if they really want/need to sell, just have fun with it, put in low offers and see how people react.

betsie

Unless you really want that specific house always offer lower than asking, the longer it!!!8217;s been on the market the lower I would go.
The worse that can happen is they say no.

buggy_boy

betsie wrote: »

Unless you really want that specific house always offer lower than asking, the longer it!!!8217;s been on the market the lower I would go.
The worse that can happen is they say no.

Totally agree with this, ignore Crashy time... My tactic has always been take someone with you, (preferably a parent)in front of the agent say you really like it but it will be a stretch, ask the person with you, if you made an offer would they be willing to lend you £10k to put in an offer that wont offend (around 10% below asking)try to look at it objectively, find things that will need doing.

That way it makes it look like thats all you can afford so if they turn it down you might walk away... You can always then up your offer a bit saying you can borrow a bit more from your parents but your really pushing it..

If its been on the market for 9 months it could be good or it could be bad, if they actually want to sell then it could be good, try to see if the house as been reduced in that time (propertybee). They could be kite flyers... It really depends on how much you can afford and how much you want the house.

elonii

We offered 15% below asking price on the house we bought 6 months ago. We were clear to the estate agent that we weren't taking the piddle, and that we also weren't knocking off money for kitchens, bathrooms, carpets etc as that was reflected in price. It was other things like roofing, heating, rewire windows, work to the grounds etc which we felt wasn't reflected in valuation. We said we felt it'd cost £x thousand pounds to fix the place up to modern standards, gave a rough breakdown of our reasoning, and then said we would ask the vendor to help us bear half the cost. Pretty please, sugar, cherries, love your house, want to make it our forever home etc.

We eventually agreed 10% below asking price, and enjoyed a sale full of goodwill. I'm sitting writing this at the beautiful oak desk they left me in the study. I've since found out our canny elderly vendor was very much aware how much money needed spending on the place - so we were never in danger of offending so long as we justified it to him.