Ready to put in offer on property... advice needed!

Wattaz

Hi everyone, newbie here

Just looking for a bit of help really. My partner and I have found a flat that we’re keen to put in an offer on, but we’re not sure of what would be considered a reasonable first offer. Here’s the info we have:

- it’s being marketed as ‘offers over £180000’
- it’s been on the market since March 2018. In that time the vendor has only had six viewings and one offer, which was rejected
- the estate agent told us that the rejected offer was ‘significantly lower’ than the asking price
- there’s no upper chain on the property
- the vendor paid £185000 for it when she bought it 18 months ago.

So, based on this, we don’t really know what would be a good first offer. How important is the ‘offers over’ phrase, or do we just ignore it? We don’t want to put the vendor off by putting in too low an offer, but also we don’t want it to be too high so that we leave ourselves with no room for negotiation.

Thanks in advance!

Bossypants

Ignore the 'offers over' and offer what you think it's worth, based on what you know about the area and how it compares to other places you've seen.

Any idea why the owner listed it after only having had it for six months, and why there have been so very few viewings? Might be totally innocent, but worth digging into a bit with the EA if you can.

Wattaz

Thanks for your reply. The owner told us that she’s a ‘serial mover’ and doesn’t settle in one place for long. She’s looking to downsize to a one-bedroom flat as she’s finding this one difficult to manage, plus she works away a lot of the time.

I assume that it’s been on the market for so long because it’s right in the centre of town, so not an ideal location for a lot of people. It was only built a couple of years ago I think, so it’s not like it needs any work doing. The vendor says she’s never had any problems with it, so I assume it’s just because of the location. I’ll try and get more info from the EA though.

diggingdude

If you are brave put a link up for it. It's amazing the knowledge some people here have and will pick up on things the rest of us wouldn't even notice. It's unlikely anyone will take the opportunity to steal it from you

Bossypants

Wattaz wrote: »

Thanks for your reply. The owner told us that she’s a ‘serial mover’ and doesn’t settle in one place for long. She’s looking to downsize to a one-bedroom flat as she’s finding this one difficult to manage, plus she works away a lot of the time.

I assume that it’s been on the market for so long because it’s right in the centre of town, so not an ideal location for a lot of people. It was only built a couple of years ago I think, so it’s not like it needs any work doing. The vendor says she’s never had any problems with it, so I assume it’s just because of the location. I’ll try and get more info from the EA though.

This would get my attention right off. While she may be being truthful, 'serial movers' tend to rent, because it is vastly less complicated, expensive and time-consuming than repeatedly buying and selling. Also, town centre new build flats regularly come up on here as having significant issues which might not be picked up on the survey, most importantly noise issues. Just do a search on here and see how many people complain of being able to hear everything their neighbours are doing in their lovely new flats.

I'm not trying to put you off and it's perfectly possible that this is a great flat, but everything you've posted so far suggests to me that you may want to do some additional due diligence before you decide whether to proceed. For once thing, ring a few of the neighbours' bells (in this block and any neighbouring blocks which were done by the same builder) and ask them what the flats are like to live in.

Skibunny40

Is this in Scotland? (Just asking because of the offers over bid system) If so, get the advice of your solicitor who will know the local market, and you'll need a solicitor to put in a formal offer anyway. Remember the estate agent works for the vendor, the solicitor works for you.

Otherwise, I don't have much advice to offer but best of luck!

middleclassbutpoor

My guess would be this with regards to the pricing

EA has told them its not worth what they paid for it. They have said they are not taking a hit if they can avoid so rather than advertise at 185k and get offers under, which could encourage lower offers, they are asking 180 or over to send out a message that is the most of a hit they are prepared to take.

Too many warning bells for me;

- Town centre flat
- Not been there long
- Either it didn't sell easily from being built of the first buyer didnt stick around long.

Have you tried doing a viewing in the evening or at a weekend when neighbours likely to be in?

As people have already said, legal fees, stamp duty etc make no sense to be a serial mover where you are moving so quickly.

Lack of viewings in this period is worrying. I would also check out the lease details - how often ground rent cost increases. If its near commercial properties, I would also possibly post on mortgage boards to see if one of the brokers feel as though the location is going to be more difficult to mortgage?

Last point.. Do you know how many properties are buy to let in the block? This would put me off, if the rent looks cheap with it being centrally located also.

Crashy_Time

Chances are they heavily over-paid 18 months ago, you are not obliged to match this price to bail them out.

Wattaz

Bossypants wrote: »

This would get my attention right off. While she may be being truthful, 'serial movers' tend to rent, because it is vastly less complicated, expensive and time-consuming than repeatedly buying and selling. Also, town centre new build flats regularly come up on here as having significant issues which might not be picked up on the survey, most importantly noise issues. Just do a search on here and see how many people complain of being able to hear everything their neighbours are doing in their lovely new flats.

I'm not trying to put you off and it's perfectly possible that this is a great flat, but everything you've posted so far suggests to me that you may want to do some additional due diligence before you decide whether to proceed. For once thing, ring a few of the neighbours' bells (in this block and any neighbouring blocks which were done by the same builder) and ask them what the flats are like to live in.

You are absolutely right, and this is why we’re trying to get as much info as possible (both peoples’ opinions on here, plus anything the EA can tell us) before we proceed. The vendor has told us that there’s approx 1.5-2.0 ft of space between the floor and the ceiling of the apartment below. There’s only two flats on each floor - eight in total in the whole block.

The windows are also triple glazed, and on the three occasions we’ve been to view the flat (all on different days and at different times), we’ve not heard anything from the street below.

Wattaz

Hi Skibunny40,

No, not in Scotland, but in North East England. I have a feeling that they’ve only put that to avoid making a loss on what they paid in the first place. But then it’s not really our problem if the vendor makes a loss, is it? :A

Unicorn_cottage

Could you not buy a house in the North East for that money. Alarm bells are ringing for me re the flat as it sounds like the vendor wants to use a buyer's cash to bail them out as they are in negative equity. Have you looked online for how much they bought it for - https://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices.html?