Fair offer

jo03gra

Hi, I’m trying to judge what is a fair offer to make on a property that has been on the market since August 2021.

 The elderly couple who owned it passed away and the house is currently unoccupied and being sold by their son.
 I went to view it last week and it’s a case of worst house, best road. It literally needs everything doing except windows and roof.
the estate agent (online agent not local) told me the vendor had only had 4 viewings and no offers to date.
The local agents suggest the price it’s marketed £400k, which was recently reduced from £425k is the price it would be pushing if completely renovated. 

I don’t want to insult the vendor but equally I don’t want to pay more than necessary or pay over the odds to move into a house which needs some things (electrics, boiler, bathroom) sorting immediately and everything else done some time soon after. 

I’d be grateful for any advice.
thank you 

propertyrental

How much needs spending on it?
How much do you have?
How much does the seller want?
How desperate is the seller to sell (or not that worried)?
How badly do you want it?

dimbo61

Whatever you think it will cost Double IT !
Can you get a mortgage on the property ?
Unless you have £450,000 lying around in your current account 
IE does it have a working kitchen and bathroom 

Zerforax

If the property has been listed for 18 months and had only one price change and 4 viewings.. they don't seem that bothered about selling?

JM68

If its been on for 19 months, and you have been advised that even after the recent reduction its priced a lot higher than it should be in its condition, then it does not sound like the vendor is either realistic about what a 'fair' offer would be, or in any sort of a hurry.  Plus as others have said, costs of doing up may be a lot higher than you think and also mortgage valuation could well be an issue even if an offer is accepted.  Personally I would move on....

theoretica

For 'not insulting' the vendor I would think carefully about how you phrase the offer rather than feeling you need to make a higher offer.  'I know it's not what you are asking, but decided to make my offer rather than not.'

Martico

By the sound of it, it needs a five figure amount spent to bring it up to the price it's being marketed at.
Factor that in and explain your rationale. I suspect this one's not worth it

jo03gra

@propertyrental and @dimbo61 i could move in on completion as working kitchen, bathroom etc.. it’s just not been re-wired since 1998 and had a boiler same time so I’d like to get those done straight away. 

Needs two ceilings replacing which I assume is age related. All the walls probably need skimming. Some work is removing wallpaper and tiles and flooring, the usual.

I’d be buying with mortgage which I don’t want to increase or stretch out ideally but I need to get off the estate I’m living on and this is a very nice road, so although I can see some nightmares ahead I believe it would be worth it once done.  Plus it’s 4 bed 1920’s detached and I’m currently in 3 bed detached new build.
I’m kind of wondering why it’s still on the market. The vendor obviously isn’t desperate for his inheritance. 
 

No I don’t have money in the bank to do big jobs which is mainly the kitchen knocking through dining room. 

I’d have enough initially to do electrics and new boiler and possibly replace the bathroom suite. I’d need to live with the rest until I can draw down some pension money. My hubby gets decent bonus each year which could hack away some jobs. 
I reckon needs between £30k and 40k to bring upto date with new kitchen, floors and knocking through a wall. 

Is it acceptable to reduce the price of works from his asking price? He’s obviously wanting as much as he can get but not one offer in almost 18 months 🤷‍♀️ 
I’d definitely be getting a good survey obviously. 

Thank you 

RelievedSheff

From what you have described a lot of the work is what you would like to do not what is necessary to move in.

The boiler and the wiring for example are jobs you would like to replace, however they are currently in working order so not essential that they are replaced straight away.

It doesn't sound like the vendor is in any rush to sell. Just put in an offer for what you think it is worth to you.

propertyrental

jo03gra said:

.....

Is it acceptable to reduce the price of works from his asking price? He’s obviously wanting as much as he can get but not one offer in almost 18 months 🤷‍♀️ 
I’d definitely be getting a good survey obviously. 

Thank you 

You can offer whatever you want or are willing to pay. You need to start by deciding what it is worth to you, irrespective of what he wants or thinks it's worth.

He will accept or reject your offer depending on what he thinks it's worth and how keen he is to sell (not very by the sound of it).

He may believe he has priced it to take account of the condition, and hence not be willing to reduce the price just because you say it needs £XK spending on it.

The only way to find out is to make an offer.

eddddy

jo03gra said:

the estate agent (online agent not local) told me the vendor had only had 4 viewings and no offers to date.
The local agents suggest the price it’s marketed £400k, which was recently reduced from £425k is the price it would be pushing if completely renovated. 

It's not completely clear...   Are you saying the house is for sale with an online agent, and you asked a different local agent about it's price?

If so, the local agent is 100% guaranteed to tell you reasons why you shouldn't buy a house that's for sale through another agent.

(Estate Agents are typically fiercely competitive - they won't say anything that might encourage you to buy through one of their competitors.)


If that's what has happened, I would completely ignore what the local agent said about it's price, and do your research in other ways.