Advice needed

Pops158

Hi everyone, my husband and I are looking for our first house. Weve found the perfect home in the absolute best location. We've got a mortgage in promise, and have no chain.
The house was initially up for £200,000 but dropped to £196,000 and now £190,000 guide price, and it been on the market for 4 months.
My husband and I are looking to offer £185,000 as two houses on the street with the exact layout and size sold for £164,500 and £165,000 in 2015 and 2016 respectively. I understand this was 3 years ago, but I can't see the house prices have changed that much in this time?
We contacted the agent asking what he believed the house was worth, as he has hinted at the viewing it may be overpriced, and we were told by a different agent that the house was well worth £200,000 and they had 4 more viewings lined up this week.
This has had the (wanted I'm sure) affect of spooking me, and I'm now wondering if offerkng £185,000 is too little and may loose us the house? We are thinking of going up to £195,000 if needed but didn't want to offer too high just for it to go up in negotiations.
Does anyone have any advice for how to proceed?

KatieDee

Pops158 wrote: »

Hi everyone, my husband and I are looking for our first house. Weve found the perfect home in the absolute best location. We've got a mortgage in promise, and have no chain.
The house was initially up for £200,000 but dropped to £196,000 and now £190,000 guide price, and it been on the market for 4 months.
My husband and I are looking to offer £185,000 as two houses on the street with the exact layout and size sold for £164,500 and £165,000 in 2015 and 2016 respectively. I understand this was 3 years ago, but I can't see the house prices have changed that much in this time?
We contacted the agent asking what he believed the house was worth, as he has hinted at the viewing it may be overpriced, and we were told by a different agent that the house was well worth £200,000 and they had 4 more viewings lined up this week.
This has had the (wanted I'm sure) affect of spooking me, and I'm now wondering if offerkng £185,000 is too little and may loose us the house? We are thinking of going up to £195,000 if needed but didn't want to offer too high just for it to go up in negotiations.
Does anyone have any advice for how to proceed?

I find it extremely unlikely that after being on the market for four months and not selling, the EA has magically sourced four people who want to see the property. Yes, there's always a chance it could be true (we're getting into Spring now), but most people view prospective houses in the first few weeks they're advertised.

Try not to be sucked into the competition. Consider what you would be willing to pay for the property and make an offer slightly below this, giving yourself room to increase. I would not recommend creeping up in tiny amounts, as you're already spooked and the EA could use this against you. Make your first offer (maybe be a tiny bit cheeky!) and then go back with your full and final if refused.

There will always be more houses. This mantra has gotten me through the last three months. Play it cool, remember that you're in a good position and tred carefully.

Good luck

jonnygee2

and I'm now wondering if offerkng £185,000 is too little and may loose us the house?

The 'guide price' is £190,000 and you are offering £185,000. I think that would be considered a reasonable starting offer!

If anything, given its history, I'd go in a bit lower...

Pops158

Thanks everyone. I get the email was meant to spooking me and I do feel foolish for being spooked, but it is a pretty amazing location for us!
They also said that there was one offer but the mortgage fell through, so I guess I'm also worried that they will be able to get their mortgage sorted before us?
So would £180,000 maybe be a better starting offer due to the other properties sold in 2015/16?

jonnygee2

So would £180,000 maybe be a better starting offer due to the other properties sold in 2015/16?

Comparative valuations are more complex, and less exact, than most people think. I don't know the details of the other properties or your local market.

But, the guide price is 190k, it's dropped twice. They clearly don't have a lot of options so it can't be bad to give 180k a go.

datlex

Offer what you think the property is worth , allowing for what you can afford.

kinger101

Pops158 wrote: »

We contacted the agent asking what he believed the house was worth, as he has hinted at the viewing it may be overpriced, and we were told by a different agent that the house was well worth £200,000 and they had 4 more viewings lined up this week.

Would seem unlikely agent 2 it telling the truth. Your first offer will likely be rejected, so £180K is a sensible start IMO.

Pops158

Hi everyone, thanks for your responses. We have a second viewing tomorrow and we are bringing my sister in law who is a quantity surveyor to give her advice.
We are thinking of offering £180,000 as a starting, as is it still only 10% below the original asking price, and honestly we don't believe it's worth any more than £185,000 and don't want to be left with no room to negotiate.

I do think the second estate agent was trying his luck, as far as I'm aware he is not the agent acting for the house, but wants us to put the offer through him? We will get the contact details of the estate agent we've been dealing with tomorrow so we don't have to deal with the other one.

tlc678910

Pops158 wrote: »

They also said that there was one offer but the mortgage fell through

Unless you have more information the mortgage company not thinking the house was worth the price agreed is a possible reason for it falling through.

Crashy_Time

Sounds like you should be offering a lot lower IMO.

eddddy

Pops158 wrote: »

We contacted the agent asking what he believed the house was worth, as he has hinted at the viewing it may be overpriced, and we were told by a different agent that the house was well worth £200,000 and they had 4 more viewings lined up this week.

I guess, if you're going to be pedantic, asking what the house is worth isn't the key question.

The real question is "What's the lowest offer that the seller is likely to accept?"

Although, the EA is still likely to give a 'tactical answer', rather than an 'accurate answer'.

The 'tactics' might include....

• a) Suggest a low price to get you to make an offer and then start negotiating

• b) Suggest a high price to make you offer more initially

TBH, I think most EAs tend to use tactic a).