How would you assess my very first buy and negotiation skills

g000444555

I am a first-time buyer and despite my lack of experience I managed to get my offer accepted while competing against 9 other offers that were on the table.

I have been looking for properties for about 3 months and wasn't planning to buy for at least another 3 months. Until I found this property that ticked all the boxes and stood out from all the houses I have seen in the last 3 months.

The date that the property was published on rightmove I requested viewing for the coming Saturday. The agent advised me to view earlier as there has been a huge number of viewings and it would probably be sold by Saturday. So, I did. When I arrived at the property, there was another viewing in progress. After my viewing was complete, I informed the agent that I am interested and asked some questions to try and understand what's the status of the sell. The agent advised me to make an offer the same day before 17:00 to increase my chances of it to get accepted. The asking price was £350,000. The agent told me that due to the number of viewings, there's no point of making an offer lower than £355,000. So, I did.

While driving away after my viewing, I saw a couple of more cars approaching the property. Looking at these cars they seemed like people who had more money to throw than myself. This was the first property where there were viewers both before and right after my viewing. I thought I did not stand a chance.

The next day I received a call from the agent, however, I missed the call as I was busy in a meeting at work.

The following day, I called the agency and spoke with the agent responsible for the sell. This was not the same person who showed me the property. He informed me that there is a high interest in the property and asked me to make my best and final offer. As he commented, they wanted to agree on the best price for the seller while avoiding turning this into a live auction. As I wasn't sure what to do, I asked more time to think about it.

I decided to call the agent who originally showed me the property because I had a very positive interaction with him and thought I could try and gather more information before placing my best and final offer. After my conversation with the agent, I decided to increase my offer to £365,000 as I did not feel I had a chance of getting it otherwise.

Eventually, my offer got accepted! The agent informed me that there were higher offers, however, the seller decided to accept mine because I had no chain whatsoever. I could not believe this! There were overall 9 other offers on the table, I was not the only chain-free buyer, there were higher offers than mine, and I have no experience in negotiating at all!

I feel I have done a great deal given the circumstances. How would you asses my very first buy and negotiation skills?

timeism0ney

I think it's impossible to tell without seeing the property. If it's worth 365k then you've done well. Later in the process mortgage valuation will give you an indication of whether your offer was a good one. You may already know that it is but from the information you provided it's hard to tell. 

timeism0ney

And yes being chain free is a bonus and worked in your favour. That was likely the major reason your offer got accepted. 

silvercar

"While driving away after my viewing, I saw a couple of more cars approaching the property. Looking at these cars they seemed like people who had more money to throw than myself." Company cars/ lease cars/ they've spent all their money on a car and have no deposit...who knows?
"The agent informed me that there were higher offers, however, the seller decided to accept mine because I had no chain whatsoever. I could not believe this! There were overall 9 other offers on the table, I was not the only chain-free buyer, there were higher offers than mine, and I have no experience in negotiating at all!"
 Agents lie, you can tell this because their mouths move! Seriously, agents want you to feel you've done amazingly well so you don't get cold feet and walk away. I seriously doubt anyone gets 9 offers in one weekend. All that matters is that you are in love with the property and happy with the price you paid.

Lokolo

So the property was up for £350k. You went in the same day and offered £355k? Then a day later you went up to £365k?
You are asking how your negotiating skills were... but you haven't done any! All you've done is offered £15k over an asking price. Very strange thing to do imo.
Now just hope the survey comes back matching your offer, from the sounds of things I can't believe it will. 

SameOldRoundabout

You haven’t done any negotiating. You’ve gone in some margin over asking price for possibly no reason. Now you just have to hope the valuation survey comes back as valuing it at that. On my property we had 5 offers the day after the open day, we also chose someone who wasn’t the highest, because we were aware that the guy offering silly money wouldn’t end up paying it as it would be downvalued in the end. Highest isn’t always best, so you’ve been lucky rather than a cunning negotiator. Best of luck with your purchase. 

g000444555

All you've done is offered £15k over an asking price.

That's not the whole story. In fact I did try very hard to convince them accepting my offer. I am not going to reveal my strategy on a public forum though.

Zoopla estimates the property up to £370k. I did Level 1 survey, which evaluated the price to be £365k. Given the circumstances I did not feel Level 2 was worth it, because even if something would come up, I was not sure I would want to re-negotiate the price. There would be high chance of me loosing the deal because of the interest that the property received and myself being a novice buyer/negotiator. I would be happy to pay an additional £5k for repairs if something comes along after I move in.

Overall, I think I did great. However, I do understand the scepticism and the fact that it is hard to assess the deal with the limited information I have provided. Perhaps after I exchange contracts I might even post a link to the rightmove ad.

[Deleted User]

g000444555 said:

Overall, I think I did great. 

Then that's all that matters.  Having others tell you overpaid £15k for a property, or that it's really worth £1.5 million won't change anything.

Sometime you just need to do what you think is right, with or without the support of strangers.

spadoosh

I dont see any negotiation. I see an estate agent telling you a price and you offering it. Negotiating skills = 0. 

Now whether that relates to you getting a bad deal is a completely different question. You didnt negotiate though, you just offered what you where told to. Thats like shopping, where you see a price on a shelf, find it agreeable and put it in your basket. 

strawb_shortcake

Zoopla estimates my house to be up to £280k that's more than £30k over the ceiling price in our street and £100k more than we paid 4 years ago, so I would take zoopla estimates with a pinch of salt. 
You have to expect some criticism about your negotiation skills when you offered £15k over the asking price. I almost got pulled into a "bidding war" on a house once but walked away as there was no tangible evidence what the estate agent was saying was correct, looking later on sold prices the house went for less than we were offering. 
But I wish you well in your purchase

eddddy

The main thing is that you're happy with the property and the deal you've got.

Unfortunately, this isn't usually the type of forum to come to for praise and support. TBH, you're more likely to end up a bit deflated by the responses you get. 

As the process moves forward, you may have specific questions about buying a property which people on this forum may be able to answer, but you might still need to be a little 'thick-skinned'.