Offering less on an ‘Offers Over’ property in Scotland -- Advice

meigui88

I was wondering if anyone has experience/advice regarding the Scottish property market and offering less than the asking price on an ‘offers over’ property.  Is this an acceptable thing to do?  Or do we run the risk of offending the sellers and completely missing out on the property?

My husband and I have been looking into moving to a specific area for several months now and have just viewed a property we like, but we feel like it’s somewhat overvalued at £475,000.  The property needs some cosmetic work and is slightly more expensive than several other properties on the street, and other properties we’ve toured (ranging in price from £420-500K) have been presented in better condition.  This house has been on the market for two months now, and most homes in the area tend to sell in a couple of weeks, so I feel like this is another indication it’s somewhat overpriced.

Neither my husband nor I are from the UK/Scotland and we offered over the asking price when purchasing our first property, so we have no experience with offering less than the asking price.  

We are considering offering £15,000 less than the asking price (so £460,000) and would be happy to negotiate with the sellers, but we don’t want to completely miss out on the property if this isn’t something that is done in Scotland.

Grateful for any opinions/advice.

dimbo61

Sorry I can't help as no idea how Scottish system  works.
I do know they have high stamp duty taxes 
If it sells and for how much depends on the local market.
There was huge demand for homes in the big cities but the mortgage hikes are beginning to  bite.
Why not speak to a local estate agents or solicitors and ask them.
Not the people or solicitors selling the house

_Penny_Dreadful

meigui88 said:

I was wondering if anyone has experience/advice regarding the Scottish property market and offering less than the asking price on an ‘offers over’ property.  Is this an acceptable thing to do?  Or do we run the risk of offending the sellers and completely missing out on the property?

My husband and I have been looking into moving to a specific area for several months now and have just viewed a property we like, but we feel like it’s somewhat overvalued at £475,000.  The property needs some cosmetic work and is slightly more expensive than several other properties on the street, and other properties we’ve toured (ranging in price from £420-500K) have been presented in better condition.  This house has been on the market for two months now, and most homes in the area tend to sell in a couple of weeks, so I feel like this is another indication it’s somewhat overpriced.

Neither my husband nor I are from the UK/Scotland and we offered over the asking price when purchasing our first property, so we have no experience with offering less than the asking price.  

We are considering offering £15,000 less than the asking price (so £460,000) and would be happy to negotiate with the sellers, but we don’t want to completely miss out on the property if this isn’t something that is done in Scotland.

Grateful for any opinions/advice.

There’s certainly nothing stopping you from offering less than the offers over price. It’s anyone’s guess how the seller will receive it. What is your solicitor advising? 

I haven’t offered less that o/o prices before but I have twice offered less than fixed prices in Scotland and have my offers accepted both times. 

user1977

What's the Home Report valuation? Do you have a solicitor? You should be making the offer via them, and they can give you advice about the best approach. But it's certainly fairly commonplace for the properties to be bought at under the asking price.

mi-key

Really you are talking about offering around 3% under asking, you need to ask yourselves if it is worth losing out on the house, or if paying that extra 3% to get it is worth it to get the house you want. In the grand scheme of things, having paid 100% rather than 97% is negligible.

I am guessing there is a reason  you didnt buy any of the other houses you looked at ? There is a reason you prefer this one and want it, so ask yourselves if paying out a tiny amount extra makes sense.

Unless your budget is only a maximum of £460K and you have no wiggle room then its really up to you. You can try offering the £460K and the seller may well be happy with this ( I would if I was selling ) but also be prepared to up your offer if they reject it

sheramber

It depends on the area you are wanting to buy.

E.g houses in the Edinburgh area sell for upwards of 10% over the asking/home report price.

You need a solicitor to make an offer in Scotland and he may be able to guide you. 

When I suggested an offer to my solicitor he told me I would have offer more than that to get the property.

Other areas may be less competitive for prices.

How desperate are the sellers to sell?  Do they  have a property to go or do they need a  certain amount to move?

fackers_2

Any listing that had ‘offers over’ I wouldn’t even entertain contacting the EA. To me these people are going to be the most difficult during the process. 

EssexHebridean

fackers_2 said:

Any listing that had ‘offers over’ I wouldn’t even entertain contacting the EA. To me these people are going to be the most difficult during the process. 

Seriously? This is a pretty usual method of marketing in Scotland - frequently alongside sealed bids. 

HM0002

I'm from Scotland. It's definitely not the case that all properties that are listed as offers over actually go for above the listing price. The majority will and that's the expectation. But as far as I'm aware it's not a rule, you can always offer what you think and see if the sellers are happy to negotiate. 

So first thing is to get a copy of the home report and see what that says in terms of valuation if you have not already.

Depending on where you are buying, the property website ESPC can be quite helpful as they give you all the data on what percentage above valuation properties are going for in general in each area.

Obviously it does then come down to specifics as every property is different.

Usually in Scotland solicitors are actually quite helpful in advising roughly what ballpark you need to offer to be in with a chance of success. Certainly when I bought my current house 7 years ago they provided very good advice which helped me be successful in offering at a closing date.

Joyful

I would say if its been available for 2 months, you have nothing to lose by offering under. Your solicitor will be able to advise you. I am in East Lothian and a house went live last week and sold within 2 days. It was offers over but people want to live here so I assume went for a good price over.

theoretica

The other Scottish question to ask is whether there have been any notes of interest in the property - and probably worth asking your solicitor to note interest for you.