How low would you go

tom.senex

Hi
Have just seen a 1 bed flat in London on the market for 275K estate agent rekons seller will accept something around 250.

How low would you go?

Tom

SquatNow

£200k maybe a little less.



Actuall start at £100k

nollag2006

Don't forget the stamp duty threshold. Go to £249,950, and offer to work to the vendors timescales.

You could also offer a couple of grand for the furniture, if you're feel generous

Biggie

Atomised wrote: »

Do you agree with estate agent? If so i'd offer 255k
Sometimes it pays to be cheeky

why go in at 255k when agent says around 250k that usually means try 250k. to my ears anyway.

I agree with the above try under the threshold. Also find out the buyers situation how long it's been on the market, has he found a place ? is he in a chain ?.

You will then be in a better position to judge how much to offer.

kissingthepink

You definitely do not want to go over the £250k stamp duty threshold.

Why not start around £245k?

granville_2

My opinion... with the economic events that have happened over the last couple of months, I'd personally not make an offer. If I was a gambling man I'd bet on it getting much worse.

More importantly can you afford to make an offer and how much debt will you be in to make said purchase? Let's think about it... 275K for a *1* bedroom flat? (yes, I know it's in London...!).

Worth having a read of a great blog entry on the Telegraph site about the current economic events... http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/business/ambrosevanspritchard/oct07/skyhasfallen.htm

If you really want to make an offer, start low and negotiate up, but go in at least 10-15% under, oh and make sure you get a *full* buildings survey.

ymmv.

happinessfactory

The absolute ceiling you should be prepared to pay in this market is the stamp duty boundary.

I would check out comparables on ourproperty.co.uk to see what similar flats have sold at, and then open discussions at 10% below, explaining how the dynamics of the market have changed profoundly in the past few months(interest rate rises, credit crunch affecting availability and set-up costs of mortgages etc). Stress your own position (deposit, mortgage approved in principle etc) and your ability to be flexible about timings, either taking as long as the vendor needs or moving very quickly (depending on which suits the vendor's needs better - ask the agent before making your offer).

Pay for the furniture and/or appliances if necessary, but don't pay the taxman a penny more than you have to!!!

happinessfactory

granville wrote: »

More importantly can you afford to make an offer and how much debt will you be in to make said purchase? Let's think about it... 275K for a *1* bedroom flat? (yes, I know it's in London...!)

I'm guessing by the price that it's in Zone 2 - the rental for a one-bedder in a scruffy but convenient part of Zone 2 is probably £900-1100 a month depending on the area. If your mortgage is going to cost more than this, I'd take Granville's advice and probably not bother offering

Prices have stopped rising, and when it comes to FTB flats, things are likely to change when the new capital gains tax rules come into force; the majority of these are owned by investors these days and I'm guessing many of them will want to take profits next year, increasing supply and therefore suppressing price.