first time buyer

lightbulbroy

Sapindus said:

If this does not work, there will be other houses.  I note you said "we both liked", not "we fell in love and this is the dream house for us and another opportunity like this is never going to come up."

We're not looking to fall in love, just get started on the property ladder. It's all head and not much heart at the moment. We're in the South of England and 250k doesn't get you much! Having said that, it's the best house we've seen in this price bracket. We've rented for years and just want something to call our own- I look forward to the day I don't have to stare at magnolia walls! Seriously though, you've made a great point and it's got me thinking about our priorities.

Tom_Ballard

lightbulbroy said:

We are first time buyers with a maximum budget of 250K, due to using help to buy ISA's. We viewed a house today listed at 270K, which we both liked. Right off the bat the estate agent said the seller would probably take an offer of 260K but wouldn't go lower. It's been on the market for 3 or 4 weeks, and I asked if they had had any offers and he said only cheeky offers. I never asked what he considered a cheeky offer to be. Checking Zoopla gives the house a valuation of 240k to 260k which makes a 250k offer seem reasonable, but is it worth it if the seller is looking for 260K? I can't give any counter to their valuation other than the Zoopla figures, which doesn't seem much ammunition. Properties in the local area are going for anywhere between 250k and 270k (but that's based on list price rather than actual sold price.) Any advice would be gratefully received.

Go in with an offer of £240k, but then begrudgingly agree to go up to £250k if they seller asks for a bit more - gives them the warm and fuzzy feeling of getting more out of you, but should secure your property at what you can afford - who knows, the seller may accept £240k in this market! 

Sootster2021

I would personally just be honest - we like the house but our max is £250k and outline your reasoning (because the Help to Buy ISA bonus). 

At the end of the day, they can accept or reject.  They may of course intially reject but if in 1 month the house still hasn't sold, they may come back to you because you are already willing to buy and have no chain. 

If you don't offer you will never know.  Might as well shoot your shot! 

peterhjohnson

jonnydeppiwish! said:

Guven that they’ve already had ‘low ball’ offers, it’s a good indication it’s over priced.

Agreed. If it was "correctly" priced, it would be SSTC by now.
I would be the guy who offered £250k and if rejected would leave the offer on the table. Most other people would be put off making a sensible offer and you may well get it for £250k.
I suspect that if the seller had agreed to a sticker price of £255k or £260k, it would have already sold at around £255k.
Asking too much for a property often results in delay and an eventual sale at a lower price. Your chance to win :-)

caprikid1

Go in with an offer of £240k, but then begrudgingly agree to go up to £250k if they seller asks for a bit more 

Personally £240 feels on the edge of low to me but might be an acceptable starting point.

jonnydeppiwish!

lightbulbroy said:

Sapindus said:

If this does not work, there will be other houses.  I note you said "we both liked", not "we fell in love and this is the dream house for us and another opportunity like this is never going to come up."

We're not looking to fall in love, just get started on the property ladder. It's all head and not much heart at the moment. We're in the South of England and 250k doesn't get you much! Having said that, it's the best house we've seen in this price bracket. We've rented for years and just want something to call our own- I look forward to the day I don't have to stare at magnolia walls! Seriously though, you've made a great point and it's got me thinking about our priorities.

Sounds like you’ve spent too long in married quarters! 😂 

saajan_12

lightbulbroy said:

We are first time buyers with a maximum budget of 250K, due to using help to buy ISA's. We viewed a house today listed at 270K, which we both liked. Right off the bat the estate agent said the seller would probably take an offer of 260K but wouldn't go lower. It's been on the market for 3 or 4 weeks, and I asked if they had had any offers and he said only cheeky offers. I never asked what he considered a cheeky offer to be. Checking Zoopla gives the house a valuation of 240k to 260k which makes a 250k offer seem reasonable, but is it worth it if the seller is looking for 260K? I can't give any counter to their valuation other than the Zoopla figures, which doesn't seem much ammunition. Properties in the local area are going for anywhere between 250k and 270k (but that's based on list price rather than actual sold price.) Any advice would be gratefully received.

I'd suggest two tacts:

Plan A: If you can find local sold prices (or SSTC) that average closer to the £250k then point to those as a demonstration of a more realistic value (Zoopla isn't any kind of ammunition). 

Plan B: If you can't find the above, then forget the 'correct' value and instead focus on "I can only pay £250k max because of HTB ISA". Around thresholds like this, you often have sticking points as many buyers will be in the same position and the extra £10k to 260k costs the buyer 15k. You had the same thing when you had stamp duty cliff edges. 

Note I wouldn't faff around with 240k because worst case you risk the seller ignoring it as a stupid lowball offer and best case they'll know you can move up to 250k anyway (which you cant do from 250->260). 

Sarah1Mitty2

lightbulbroy said:

Sapindus said:

If this does not work, there will be other houses.  I note you said "we both liked", not "we fell in love and this is the dream house for us and another opportunity like this is never going to come up."

We're not looking to fall in love, just get started on the property ladder. It's all head and not much heart at the moment. We're in the South of England and 250k doesn't get you much! Having said that, it's the best house we've seen in this price bracket. We've rented for years and just want something to call our own- I look forward to the day I don't have to stare at magnolia walls! Seriously though, you've made a great point and it's got me thinking about our priorities.

Just don`t overstretch yourself, inflation is fully back in the spotlight today if you are following any economic media stories.