What is my advantage money wise here?

Andrew_M_4

I'm a first time buyer, and am looking to buy in a sought after location as I commute to London.

I have seen a house that seems to be relatively cheap for the area, is within walking distance (just - about 1500m) from the mainline station.

The house is up at £189.950 but the agent has let it bew known that the buyer wants rid of it quickly. The house is emptied of furnishings.

I can assume the following:

1 - As a FTB I have an advantage if the buyer wants rid of it quickly.

2 - They are possibly worried about the market going down.

So if you were me, what would you make your starting offer, assuming you liked the place?

Thanks for any help with this!

A.

cattie

If it's in a sought after area it shouldn't be hanging around on the market for long & if as you say it's already relatively cheap then it's probably priced that way for a quick sale. A house in a good area is always an asset.

Obviously untill you had at least a homebuyers survey carried out you wouldn't know for sure if the house has problems & this is the reason the vendors want to get rid of it as quickly as possible.

Although being empty because they have already moved out for one reason or another, be it they already found their ideal house or that the relationship has broken up or some such thing does often mean vendors are looking for a quick sale.

As a first time buyer you are in a good position, but my only word of warning would be to go in with a sensible offer.

As a vendor it can be very infuriating when someone comes up with an insulting offer & it makes me disinclined to accept the offer when they next come back with one for the full asking price.

At that asking price it would be reasonable to offer £5000 less & see how that goes.

Don't forget that survey though, it's worth paying out for & could save you making a costly mistake.

Good luck anyway.

Robert_Sterling_3

Cattie

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RS

You did it Cattie ;D

safari_2

Make sure you've got your mortgage and solicitor lined up and ready to go.

Ask the agent whether the price has been dropped and how long it's been on the market for - that'll give you an idea of how desperate they are.

I'd offer maybe 10% below (say 170), expect a rejection, have another look round and then think about making a higher offer.

Ultimately, you've got to ask yourself at what price you'd be prepared to walk away - if the vendor stuck rigidly to the asking price, would you be prepared to walk away and risk having your bluff called? Only you can decide this.

My final tip, and I know this is probably heresy around here, is not to quibble over a couple of thousand. It's just not important in the scheme of things. Most important is that you get the home you want at a price you can afford.

Han_naH

Wait for the clocks to go back, or forward (don't confuse me!) or whatever it is they do at this time of year. All I know is - it's darker - OK?
It's pitch black. It's so dark no-one wants to buy it.

It's raining, the buyers aren't appearing.

The Sun reports house price crash (again).. media generally is malignant about the property market...

Make the seller squirm... he's desparate. He even checks and double checks his phone is working.

Finally, move in with a low bid.

Wow. I got a bit carried away there!