Really struggling with what to offer

NameUnavailable

Whatever you estimate you need to spend on renovations, double it. Deduct that off what you can spend and that's your highest offer.

badger09

ouraggie said:

It is not always necessarily the highest bidder who is successful. eg It may be that the vendor hasn't yet found a place to buy so they may prefer a buyer who's not in a hurry. Or they may need a quick sale so a cash buyer or FTB would be preferable. I would try to find out their situation, either from them or the EA and definitely mention that in my bid. 
Oh, and years ago my best friend was in your shoes. She wrote a letter in with the bid, saying about how she'd loved the house for years and always dreamed of living there etc etc. Her OH said they would think she was a nutter but she still did it. They got the house and the vendor's daughter said it was because her parents knew the house would be loved.

I agree, its not always the highest bidder who wins. We had 2 identical initial offers which we said were too low. One was from a family, with 2 teenage children, who offered as soon as theirs was STC. The other was from a couple who offered the day they viewed, who wanted to reconfigure it completely.  We didn't want to encourage a bidding war, so requested 'best & final' offers. Both came back with substantially improved offers, both above asking price, which we had not expected. 'Reconfigure' couple offered several £000 more, but we accepted lower offer, because we knew the family would be as happy here as we have been. 

A home is so much more than a roof over your head, and money isn't everything. I do realise how fortunate I am to be able to say that.

coachman12

NameUnavailable said:

Whatever you estimate you need to spend on renovations, double it. Deduct that off what you can spend and that's your highest offer.

Gosh, what a spiffing formula for all viewers to see when they visit MSE to read what real experts think.

NameUnavailable

coachman12 said:

NameUnavailable said:

Whatever you estimate you need to spend on renovations, double it. Deduct that off what you can spend and that's your highest offer.

Gosh, what a spiffing formula for all viewers to see when they visit MSE to read what real experts think.

Where did I say I was an expert? Just offering an opinion, that's all.

coachman12

NameUnavailable said:

coachman12 said:

NameUnavailable said:

Whatever you estimate you need to spend on renovations, double it. Deduct that off what you can spend and that's your highest offer.

Gosh, what a spiffing formula for all viewers to see when they visit MSE to read what real experts think.

Where did I say I was an expert? Just offering an opinion, that's all.

You're quite right, NU. I apologise for being a grumpy so and so just because my favourite company shares in Ocado are being threatened by a possible infringement legal threat. Sorry 

eve824

Thanks for the helpful replies everyone. We’ve managed to make contact with a builder who has confirmed a ball park figure which is helpful. It doesn’t leave much wiggle room but we would have another 1-2 years of saving before we would be getting to the end of the project and therefore, our budget. It’s certainly a risk but you only live once! 

Interesting re the valuation, I guess it may give us some movement to re negotiate later down the line and they must be prepared for this too. 

the house is being sold via probate, the executor is a solicitor and the beneficiaries are all charities. So not much touchy feely sentimental-ness! 

Nevertheless, accompanying our offer we have written a short statement about ourselves, our plans for the house, the fact we already live in the village, no plans to build another house on the plot (it’s big enough to and I bet developers are interested) and that our intention would be to restore it to a family home for us for many years to come. 

Incidentally we already do quite a bit of charity work so have mentioned that moving to this house would allow us to do more of that (which it would). Can’t hurt I suppose! I guess though that the charities will just be looking for the largest number so I’m sure we will miss out to a developer who will just look to profit out of the property, but we have tried our absolute best. 

Don’t want to post a link to the property or give any idea of offers we will be making as I don’t want to jeapordise our position at this point in time. I’ll keep this thread updated as to how we get on. 

eve824

Just to update this - we offered £55k above the guide price and were told today our bid was unsuccessful. Think it's probably gone to a developer who will split the plot and build another house. Gutted. Link below...
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/98039531#/

badger09

Thanks for the update and sorry it didn't work out for you. You obviously offered what you thought it was worth - to you! Have you left your offer on the table in case the sale falls through, or were you too far below the winning bid?

eve824

badger09 said:

Thanks for the update and sorry it didn't work out for you. You obviously offered what you thought it was worth - to you! Have you left your offer on the table in case the sale falls through, or were you too far below the winning bid?

I don't know what the winning bid was. We just got an email telling us our bid was unsuccessful (we've come to expect nothing more from the agency in question). I've been toying with whether to email back and ask how far off we were but I am not expecting them to tell us to be honest. I'm not even convinced they sent our letter accompanying the offer to the executors.

badger09

eve824 said:

badger09 said:

Thanks for the update and sorry it didn't work out for you. You obviously offered what you thought it was worth - to you! Have you left your offer on the table in case the sale falls through, or were you too far below the winning bid?

I don't know what the winning bid was. We just got an email telling us our bid was unsuccessful (we've come to expect nothing more from the agency in question). I've been toying with whether to email back and ask how far off we were but I am not expecting them to tell us to be honest. I'm not even convinced they sent our letter accompanying the offer to the executors.

I'm pretty sure they're obliged to submit all offers, unless vendor has set a base below which they don't want to know.