House offer prices

ashfan83

We put our house on the market in January for an "offers over" price. We had a few offers, but for 20k or 30k below the asking price. All the feedback that we received was that our house was in excellent decorative order and no work needs doing, so it's not like there was a justified reason for such a big discount. We finally got an offerfor the asking price, which we have just accepted.

I just wanted to ask, is it normal to offer 20k or 30k below the asking price? Or were people just being cheeky? We just want to know which price band we should be looking at for our next purchase. We wouldn't dream of looking at properties we couldn't afford, but if it's 'normal' to offer this much less then we would look at properties that were in theory over our budget.

Any thoughts?

SmashedAvacado

I would kill for an offer of £20k below asking if my property was on the market for £1.5m

Someone marketing their home for £50k would probably be less than pleased

couriervanman

Depends on price of house.....500k less 25K 5% is not as bad as 150k less 25k 16/17%
Long time ago we made a 50k offer on a 62k house because we knew he was desperate to sell......he accepted
A house is only worth what somebody is willing to pay you got your price in the end others might have reduced or accepted lower offer,its who blinks first or a game of chicken

PasturesNew

I've just taken an offer about 6.5% below my original asking price. My buyers sold at 12% off theirs.

You either want to move, or you don't. Sometimes the desire/need to move is greater than the never-ending disruption of viewings and you just want it to end.

You need to ask yourself: What if this is the last offer - and nothing happens for 3 moths and then I have to shave a bit more off anyway?

A bird in the hand can be better than two in the bush for some.

It's personal. There are no figures that could be meaningful to you.

Life is too short for dithering. At some point you have to take stock and ask yourself why you're selling and whether you're fooling yourself you can get what you want for it in the next year if you hold on...

ashfan83

Ok so I get it that it's relative to the price. So, in terms of a percentage then, what would be acceptable as an offer?

Thank you Pastures New, perhaps you have mis interpreted my post but we are not dithering and have accepted the offer of the full asking price and are definitely moving/selling I just wanted to know what price bands we should now look at for buying. If we look at a 400k house but can only afford 380k then I wouldn't want to view the house if it's not the done thing to offer 20k less.

SmashedAvacado

the percentage will depend on the local market - ask the agents how close to asking price properties are going for.... a slow market = bigger discounts.

the fact that you were able to get asking might mean that you should expect to pay close to asking? unless you were very lucky - or buying something several steps up where the market might be different

letitbe90

ashfan83 wrote: »

Ok so I get it that it's relative to the price. So, in terms of a percentage then, what would be acceptable as an offer?

Thank you Pastures New, perhaps you have mis interpreted my post but we are not dithering and have accepted the offer of the full asking price and are definitely moving/selling I just wanted to know what price bands we should now look at for buying. If we look at a 400k house but can only afford 380k then I wouldn't want to view the house if it's not the done thing to offer 20k less.

You can look at houses above your budget by 5-10% in my opinion.Some might even accept an offer with more than 10% off, some might not accept an offer which matches offer price! There is no way of knowing so if I was you, I would view houses you like and bid as much as you can - the worst is they can say is no.

I've see houses on the market between 400-500k being sold 50k lower than original asking price. Generally timing your offer can help as someone putting a house on for say 475-500k might reject an offer of 440k, but if in a few weeks or month that house was reduce dto 450-475k, the vendors might have different expectations and may well accept 440k.



If your offer is rejected but house stays on the market after several weeks or months, feel free to let the agent know that you are still interested in the property and your offer still stands - they might change their mind.


Personally if I could only afford 380k, I'd probably look at properties up to 425k, but may still chance one even higher than that if I really liked the property - you never know!


Good luck.

AnotherJoe

ashfan83 wrote: »

Ok so I get it that it's relative to the price. So, in terms of a percentage then, what would be acceptable as an offer?

Thank you Pastures New, perhaps you have mis interpreted my post but we are not dithering and have accepted the offer of the full asking price and are definitely moving/selling I just wanted to know what price bands we should now look at for buying. If we look at a 400k house but can only afford 380k then I wouldn't want to view the house if it's not the done thing to offer 20k less.

That would only be 5%. You could offer less.

Also, if you can only afford £380k then there's no harm offering that on a £400k what have you got to lose? Worse case you've offended them if they wont budge but so what, you were never going to be buying it anyway so you can afford to offend those particular sellers


OTOH perhaps they will fall into any number of categories who would take £380 or less. Friends of mine advertised their deceased parents house at £400k. One year later it sold for £325k.

Plus there's always the issue, are the sellers deluded about the price or is the price fair? My friends were way off obviously, but to be fair to them were guided to that by EAs but a raft of newbuilds around £350k to £400k with HTB assistance and the like devalued this older house.

hazyjo

Most on here hate 'offers over' and will offer under. If I liked a house that had been on the market for offers over (OIEO) for more than a month, I would definitely be offering under.

Us Brits are strange. Find it hard haggling on hols or asking for discounts in shops etc, but when it comes to house buying, we all want a bloody discount. Everyone wants to tell people how much they got off, and most will at least test the water first with an offer.

It's for the market to dictate how much a house is worth, whatever it's up for really. Different in a fast market with lots of demand (people will think they 'won' with their high offer but won't think they overpaid), but in a static slow one like this, it doesn't make much sense. People won't want to pay over the asking price if nobody else wants it. I'd be thinking, well why put the minimum price down if you want more? Nobody has paid more, or even the minimum, in months so it must be worth less...

Most will look up to around 10% more than they can pay in the hope that it may either be reduced later, or they may get more for theirs (if not got a buyer yet) or put it up for a bit more, or the sellers may be desperate and take a low offer - especially if the buyer is chain free or a cash buyer.

PasturesNew

ashfan83 wrote: »

If we look at a 400k house but can only afford 380k then I wouldn't want to view the house if it's not the done thing to offer 20k less.

Ah.

I guess you have to wing it really..... it's a big game of poker

£20k on £400k would be fine for many houses, for many sellers, in many areas... but it's really house by house as everybody's different. If you like them, speak to the agent about your budget when asking for a viewing "We've only got £380 .... " and see if they try to talk you out of a viewing.

Catkei

Our budget was up to 200k and we have been looking at properties up to 220k, so I'd definitely be looking at 400k if I had 380k. Good luck !