We have made our 1st offer

Leia_Stephens

We have made an offer to buy our 1st house, we made our offer on Saturday
just before the Estate Agent closed.

We made an offer for £9,950 below the asking price and we were asked to increase our offer in light of interest from other prospective buyers. Sadly we couldn't increase our offer because we simply can't afford to .

If others make offers too - perhaps nearer the asking price - can we expect the EAs to contact us to say we have lost the property .

So far we have heard nothing from the EA, we don't know if this is good or bad news.

x Leia (house-buying virgin )

lipidicman

If you were asked to increase it, and you can't, then it doesn't sound good.

meanmachine_2

You've been asked to increase your offer because the seller wants more money.

In six month's time a similar property will possibly be £20K less. SO if you lose out because of a greedy vendor, then they're actually doing you a favour.

Estate agents always seem to magic up these "other buyers" at the right moment, and yet, do they EVER tell you that there are NO buyers interested in a property and that it's been on the market for months? Of course not.

Don't be a mug. Stand by your original offer and let the agent know you're interested in a number of other places with different agents. Otherwise you'll be ripped off.

Can I ask how much the asking price is? If you've offered more than 90% of its market price, you're offering too much.

nelly_2

estate agents are only interested in getting as high a price as they can for their commision. They NEVER say your the only one who wants the place. They just play mind games to get you to up your offer.

Leia_Stephens

lipidicman wrote:

If you were asked to increase it, and you can't, then it doesn't sound good.

If I have lost the place, are the EAs likely to let me know .

Leia

Leia_Stephens

meanmachine wrote:

Can I ask how much the asking price is? If you've offered more than 90% of its market price, you're offering too much.

We offered £190,000 and the asking price is £199,950.

Leia

meanmachine_2

Leia_Stephens wrote:

We offered £190,000 and the asking price is £199,950.

Leia

Well only you can know how much you can afford and whether you think it's a fair price, but in today's buyer's market, I personally would have started with an offer of £180 and gone up to a max of £185K. At that point I'd have walked.

But you play it how you want to. It's YOUR money remember.

kamaran

Hi Leia,

There are two factors which are important here outside the 'housing bubble' argument.

How much do you like the house? Are you prepared to lose it? If its not your dream home then play it cool and wait and see what happens whilst continuing to look at other houses. At the end of the day it's still a very good offer and as your first time buyers your in a strong position.

You could use some reverse psychology like I do and tell the agents you have found another house with another agent which is cheaper. This means you dont have to stretch your budget as much, however the location is slightly more remote so you will stick with the original house if you can get it. This will mean the agent is pushed into contemplating losing a sale and may pressure the buyers to accept 'in light of your FTB position', you will also get an answer quickly without seeming desperate.

My second point is that houses generally a medium to long term investment. People on these forums talk about offering 90% of asking price, however forget to bear in mind these offers will not be accepted because the vendor needs all the money they can get to buy their next property. This is why we have such a gap between what people are willing to pay and what sellers are accepting. Although understanding this argument doesnt get you your house! Think about whats the max you can afford bearing in mind how much you like the property.

At the end of the day even if house prices do fall, its likely they will return to values in excess of what you paid if you are there for more than a few years. Finally as someone once said to me, you could do something worse and rent! Which means you dont get back anything for your money.

Good luck!

meanmachine_2

kamaran wrote:

Hi Leia,

No offence to others, but there seems to be a lack of compassion in the responses so far. There are two factors which are important here outside the 'housing bubble' argument.

The only person showing a lack of "compassion" is you. You're trying to persuade someone on a money saving forum to offer more than current market conditions require them to.

No one is suggesting offering 80% of asking price. I suggested 90%. And given that house prices have been FALLING for 11 months solid, I think that is perfectly reasonable.

And there's nothing wrong with renting in a stagnant or falling market. House prices don't always go up. In an open market they're just as likely to fall as rise. In fact, after 10 years of rises most EXPERTS are predicting a 5-10 year slide.

kamaran

meanmachine, my comments werent directed at you, apologies if they seemed that way - were all in this togethor! I have edited my original post to remove any comments which may have offended you.

I'm not going to get into the debate about rent vs buy - the point there was at least you see back some of your mortgage (from paying back capital) which is generally better than what you get back with renting (unless you get negative equity on the mortgage etc etc).

Leia clearly said she cant afford to increase her offer and I never suggested she did. I simply tried to help move the situation along in her favour and explain why things maybe the way they are.

Further to my original post, have the vendors found a property they want to move to? If not then it maybe more difficult to negotiate. Also whats there reason for moving - if its something isnt urgent - ie a bigger house for the sake of it then you may struggle. However if they are relocating for work reasons or others which are more urgent you can use these to your advantage.

loanranger_4

Leia_Stephens

Like you when I made offers, I thought I had registered an interest and the agents would call me back if someone made a better offer than me. However we 'lost' two houses this way as the vendors got a better offer and accepted without consulting us.

If you really want the house then I would suggest going to another viewing and chatting to the owners. You will get a better idea of their position, what is on the table and if you have any competition. If you can agree the price with them you can bypass the mind games the agent may be playing.

Thanks