FTB deciding what to offer

george2017

I’m a FTB and have viewed a property I like and would like to put in an offer, but I’m not sure how much.

I think the property might be a little overpriced. It’s an end of terrace Victorian cottage and the one at the other end of the terrace three doors down was on the market recently. It went on at £380k in august and was reduced a few times, ending at £355k in December, and sold sometime after that (not on land registry yet). It was slightly larger as a bigger extension and one extra (small) bedroom, but a smaller garden and less nice inside.

The terrace is on a main road with parking on street a little way down (the one I’m looking at is closer to the parking), and there’s a railway line at the bottom of the garden. The one I’m looking at is up for £385k.

On the other hand, there is little on the market in the area, nothing else at this price. Everything else is £400k+. In general demand seems to outstrip supply and houses are selling quite fast. 

So I don’t really know where to go with an offer, any thoughts? I want to avoid being outbid, but also avoid downvaluation at mortgage application.

diystarter7

If your heart is set on it, make an offer then the sellr can either accept or refuse and work on that.
Start off with a 10% reduced offer and the EA will tell you if they have had offers like that before rejected, but don't forget your advantage ie FTB ready to rock n roll.

Good luck.

JReacher1

I would offer £355k. They are probably aware how much the other house sold for so offer around that amount as a starting point. 

donutandbeer

To avoid being outbid: offer as much as you are willing to pay for the place, at least at best and finals if there’s any. 
 
To avoid downvaluation by lender: to be honest I don’t know if there’s really anyway to avoid that because sometimes if you don’t offer that much you won’t win the bidding war, which just means that it wasn’t meant to be bought by you. Maybe if you know it’s happening in your area than you need to be looking at a lower price bracket so you have a lower LTV.
 
I know it’s easy to say “offer as much as you are willing to pay”, but it’s really quite important that you feel like you are content with how much you are spending on making probably the biggest purchase in your life. In our area, prices have gone up since last December by quite a lot, I would say for 2 bed terraced houses about 10%. 

Richiem1987

Ensure you have at least 20% deposit, as if what you say is true from other sale prices, then if it does get down valued, and the seller refuses to budge (as there are cash buyers who will take your place) then you can have a higher LTV ratio with 10% wiggle room, and cover off the remaining 10%. The market has now peaked, and lenders will be cautious. 

jaelato1

Ensure your offer is submitted to vendor by asking for written confirmation that it is. currently dealing with EA not submitting our offers to vendor as vendor himself confirmed because we contacted him directly.

powerful_Rogue

jaelato1 said:

Ensure your offer is submitted to vendor by asking for written confirmation that it is. currently dealing with EA not submitting our offers to vendor as vendor himself confirmed because we contacted him directly.

You mean you had a friend find the vendor on facebook and ask him.... That's just creepy.

OP, there is no right or wrong answer. Just offer what you feel it's worth.

powerful_Rogue

jaelato1 said:

powerful_Rogue said:

jaelato1 said:

Ensure your offer is submitted to vendor by asking for written confirmation that it is. currently dealing with EA not submitting our offers to vendor as vendor himself confirmed because we contacted him directly.

You mean you had a friend find the vendor on facebook and ask him.... That's just creepy.

OP, there is no right or wrong answer. Just offer what you feel it's worth.

Good thing you are not our vendor then!

Good job you wasn't my 'buyer'!

jaelato1

Haha someone is salty on matter that has nothing to do with them.

powerful_Rogue

jaelato1 said:

Haha someone is salty on matter that has nothing to do with them.

It has nothing to do with any of us, however you've posted on a forum so will get comments you like and comments you don't.

powerful_Rogue

jaelato1 said:

False, you don't have to comment on everything but go off lol

Let's keep this to your own thread which has unanswered posts, rather then taking this one off topic.