Advice on price - first time home buyer

thermal2844

My husband and I are interested in a property that has been on the market for just over a year now. They are listing it as "offers in region of" for £142,000. They originally listed it for £145,000, but dropped the price by £3,000 a few months later. This price drop was last July and there has been no change in price since. The last sale was in 2007 for £153,000.

As it has been on the market for so long, I am assuming it is overpriced, but being very inexperienced at real estate, we are unsure what would be acceptable to offer. It suits our needs and is in good overall condition but the kitchen and bathroom could do with a facelift, as well as the fence which is a bit tired and sagging in spots. All in all it has good bones and is a great location for us but needs some work.

Any advice for first time buyers is gladly accepted and appreciated. Cheers!

Fisa002

I would say they are aiming at 140k for the sale. General consensus go 10% lower. Offer 130k and go from there. Good luck x

hazyjo

We don't even know the area. For all we know, similar houses may go for £100k and this may be well overpriced.


Compare against similar nearby SOLD properties. There is no magic formula to offer X% less.

thermal2844

hazyjo wrote: »

We don't even know the area. For all we know, similar houses may go for £100k and this may be well overpriced.


Compare against similar nearby SOLD properties. There is no magic formula to offer X% less.

Thank you for that advice. I've had a look on Zoopla and there were 6 houses sold in that immediate neighbourhood over the last 5 years ranging from £90k - £165k. The £165k house is the house next door, and the £90k is 3 houses down. These homes are all the same size but anyone's guess as to how done up they are on the interiors. I can say the home we are looking at has an exceptionally large and private back garden, which perhaps is raising the price, despite the interior being a bit dated.

With so many factors I feel a bit out of my depth!

mije1983

hazyjo wrote: »

Compare against similar nearby SOLD properties. There is no magic formula to offer X% less.

^ Completely this OP.

thermal2844 wrote: »

I've had a look on Zoopla and there were 6 houses sold in that immediate neighbourhood over the last 5 years ranging from £90k - £165k. The £165k house is the house next door

5 years is far too long a time period to work out what it's worth now. What about the last year? When did the next door house sell, and is it the same as the one you are looking at? If recent and the same layout, I'd say £140k is reasonably priced if it needs some modernisation.

thermal2844

mije1983 wrote: »

5 years is far too long a time period to work out what it's worth now. What about the last year? When did the next door house sell, and is it the same as the one you are looking at? If recent and the same layout, I'd say £140k is reasonably priced if it needs some modernisation.

Thank you for your help. The house next door that sold for £165k sold in late 2015. It is the same size as the house we are looking at but I don't know how fixed up it is on the inside. There have been no sales in the last year for this immediate neighbourhood, the most recent was 1.5 years ago. I'm not sure if that is too old? This house that sold most recently is just a few houses down and is the same size, but I can see the original listing and it has had modernisation in the kitchen and bathroom. It sold for £145,000. However, the back garden is a bit of a shambles, is about 1/3 the size and lacks the privacy of the one we are looking at.

Crashy_Time

Sounds like the whole area is overpriced?

jeanzbeanz

I agree you need to compare sold prices to houses on the same road, and similar houses nearby, to see what's a sensible price to offer.
It may be that the vendors have had lower offers but have just decided they are going to stick it out and wait for someone to offer them the "magic" number. It's worth asking the agent how many offers they have had, you might be able to find out why it's not sold!
Good luck