Asking Price and what to offer.

Scrappycoco

 Looking at a property tomorrow -second viewing. This time taking my son to see.

The bungalow is exactly what I need ( inside)  Absolutely immaculate. Could not have done it better myself. Not many bungalows on the market. 

This is where the good news end. I go in the conservatory and most of the double glazed windows have blown. The back garden is a mess. Never been touched since the current owners bought the property not quite 2 years ago. Needs complete landscaping. Fencing is shot.

Agent states that the owners tell her ‘they are not much of a gardener’. Understatement. Also admit that the gas fire does not work. Tried to tell me that the current owners have updated the property. I said they haven’t. All they have done is changed the flooring and completely neglected the garden. I have access to what the property looked like 2 years ago.

My question is this: The property is on the market at my top budget. If they wont budge from asking price I could not afford to replace windows or landscape the garden(even simply). Is it reasonable to expect them to drop the price siting the windows and garden as a reason. They paid £30,000 less than asking price less than 2 years ago and the property has been on the market for several months.

Just to add, I am able to proceed immediately. No chain.

Was thinking at going in at 5% under asking?

powerful_Rogue

Scrappycoco said:

 Looking at a property tomorrow -second viewing. This time taking my son to see.

The bungalow is exactly what I need ( inside)  Absolutely immaculate. Could not have done it better myself. Not many bungalows on the market. 

This is where the good news end. I go in the conservatory and most of the double glazed windows have blown. The back garden is a mess. Never been touched since the current owners bought the property not quite 2 years ago. Needs complete landscaping. Fencing is shot.

Agent states that the owners tell her ‘they are not much of a gardener’. Understatement. Also admit that the gas fire does not work. Tried to tell me that the current owners have updated the property. I said they haven’t. All they have done is changed the flooring and completely neglected the garden. I have access to what the property looked like 2 years ago.

My question is this: The property is on the market at my top budget. If they wont budge from asking price I could not afford to replace windows or landscape the garden(even simply). Is it reasonable to expect them to drop the price siting the windows and garden as a reason. They paid £30,000 less than asking price less than 2 years ago and the property has been on the market for several months.

Just to add, I am able to proceed immediately. No chain.

Was thinking at going in at 5% under asking?

Depends whether the EA factored this into the current selling price. I'd be surprised if they hadn't.

Forget what they paid 2 years ago, makes no difference at all.

All you can do is ask, they can either say yes or no.

Scrappycoco

Description states: if you love the inside you wont be disappointed by the outside! A wonderful, rear landscaped garden, with patio and seating areas. A garden that can be enjoyed by all the family.( yes if you like all broken, un - level paving stones overgrown with weeds and slime..) Not a patio. Cant see what was the lawn. Fencing falling down as is the shed.

Description of the conservatory: wonderful place to sit and look over the garden..A great place to sit and relax( cant see out the windows as all the panes have blown.

powerful_Rogue

Scrappycoco said:

Description states: if you love the inside you wont be disappointed by the outside! A wonderful, rear landscaped garden, with patio and seating areas. A garden that can be enjoyed by all the family.( yes if you like all broken, un - level paving stones overgrown with weeds and slime..) Not a patio. Cant see what was the lawn. Fencing falling down as is the shed.

Description of the conservatory: wonderful place to sit and look over the garden..A great place to sit and relax( cant see out the windows as all the panes have blown.

As such:

All you can do is ask, they can either say yes or no.

jimbog

Scrappycoco said:

 Looking at a property tomorrow -second viewing. This time taking my son to see.

The bungalow is exactly what I need ( inside)  Absolutely immaculate. Could not have done it better myself. Not many bungalows on the market. 

This is where the good news end. I go in the conservatory and most of the double glazed windows have blown. The back garden is a mess. Never been touched since the current owners bought the property not quite 2 years ago. Needs complete landscaping. Fencing is shot.

Agent states that the owners tell her ‘they are not much of a gardener’. Understatement. Also admit that the gas fire does not work. Tried to tell me that the current owners have updated the property. I said they haven’t. All they have done is changed the flooring and completely neglected the garden. I have access to what the property looked like 2 years ago.

My question is this: The property is on the market at my top budget. If they wont budge from asking price I could not afford to replace windows or landscape the garden(even simply). Is it reasonable to expect them to drop the price siting the windows and garden as a reason. They paid £30,000 less than asking price less than 2 years ago and the property has been on the market for several months.

Just to add, I am able to proceed immediately. No chain.

Was thinking at going in at 5% under asking?

replacing a blown double glazed units isn't that expensive and a competent DIY person could easily do it (I have). As for the garden, do it in stages over the next few years. 

It seems to tick a lot of boxes for you; it would be a pity to lose it justbecause it's not all perfect.

Offering 5% less is reasonable - see what happens

MultiFuelBurner

How much does 5% represent on this property?

Sarah1Mitty2

powerful_Rogue said:

Scrappycoco said:

 Looking at a property tomorrow -second viewing. This time taking my son to see.

The bungalow is exactly what I need ( inside)  Absolutely immaculate. Could not have done it better myself. Not many bungalows on the market. 

This is where the good news end. I go in the conservatory and most of the double glazed windows have blown. The back garden is a mess. Never been touched since the current owners bought the property not quite 2 years ago. Needs complete landscaping. Fencing is shot.

Agent states that the owners tell her ‘they are not much of a gardener’. Understatement. Also admit that the gas fire does not work. Tried to tell me that the current owners have updated the property. I said they haven’t. All they have done is changed the flooring and completely neglected the garden. I have access to what the property looked like 2 years ago.

My question is this: The property is on the market at my top budget. If they wont budge from asking price I could not afford to replace windows or landscape the garden(even simply). Is it reasonable to expect them to drop the price siting the windows and garden as a reason. They paid £30,000 less than asking price less than 2 years ago and the property has been on the market for several months.

Just to add, I am able to proceed immediately. No chain.

Was thinking at going in at 5% under asking?

Depends whether the EA factored this into the current selling price. I'd be surprised if they hadn't.

Forget what they paid 2 years ago, makes no difference at all.

All you can do is ask, they can either say yes or no.

It makes a world of difference, borrowing costs back then were many times lower than now. They have no other offers and have been trying to sell for months, the OP should estimate the cost of bringing the house up to standard and deduct it from their offer.

powerful_Rogue

Sarah1Mitty2 said:

powerful_Rogue said:

Scrappycoco said:

 Looking at a property tomorrow -second viewing. This time taking my son to see.

The bungalow is exactly what I need ( inside)  Absolutely immaculate. Could not have done it better myself. Not many bungalows on the market. 

This is where the good news end. I go in the conservatory and most of the double glazed windows have blown. The back garden is a mess. Never been touched since the current owners bought the property not quite 2 years ago. Needs complete landscaping. Fencing is shot.

Agent states that the owners tell her ‘they are not much of a gardener’. Understatement. Also admit that the gas fire does not work. Tried to tell me that the current owners have updated the property. I said they haven’t. All they have done is changed the flooring and completely neglected the garden. I have access to what the property looked like 2 years ago.

My question is this: The property is on the market at my top budget. If they wont budge from asking price I could not afford to replace windows or landscape the garden(even simply). Is it reasonable to expect them to drop the price siting the windows and garden as a reason. They paid £30,000 less than asking price less than 2 years ago and the property has been on the market for several months.

Just to add, I am able to proceed immediately. No chain.

Was thinking at going in at 5% under asking?

Depends whether the EA factored this into the current selling price. I'd be surprised if they hadn't.

Forget what they paid 2 years ago, makes no difference at all.

All you can do is ask, they can either say yes or no.

It makes a world of difference, borrowing costs back then were many times lower than now. They have no other offers and have been trying to sell for months, the OP should estimate the cost of bringing the house up to standard and deduct it from their offer.

They could, and the seller could say no. It's still not relevant what it was purchased for two years ago. Todays market rate is what's relevant.

youth_leader

I understand that developers aren't building bungalows any more, and they do hold their price because of the footprint. 

I bought this 1936 bungalow in March 2021 and realised three of the bay windows were blown shortly after moving in. I've just had a quote of £677 to replace the three units, as well as resealing the other bay windows properly.  I'm using a small local firm that many people have recommended.   

I hope there is a door between the lounge and conservatory at the property.  Running a dehumidifer would help with the condensation whilst waiting to get the windows replaced.   

If your sellers work full time, they may not have time for gardening.  Lots of local firms do garden clearance.  Here in the NE we had 80+ mph winds with Storm Arwen in November 2021, most fences were blown down as well as some walls.  Many people around here are planting hedges instead, which can withstand high winds. 

I personally lost the flat resin roof on the kitchen/lounge extension here - if your bungalow has a flat roof,  I would recommend close inspection of that tomorrow.  

supa34

Be careful. 

I went to view a house at 370, down from 390k 10 years ago. The owner an mid 50s couple purchased it for 350k and spent a lot on doing it all up. 

As soon as I walked in complimented the hallway wallpaper, mentioned how I prefer the nee layout ( I saw the property before they got it but wasn’t successful in buying it). I really liked the property. End of viewing I bid £310k. The man went put to speak to Mrs and came back and accept. He even had a higher offer on the table. But he didn’t like them as they criticised the decor and other stuff in the house and they took that personally. He made a loss and i saved a lot of money. He had gone bankrupt so I don’t know if he thought his not going to get to keep the money anyway or if he just wanted to get rid. But I’m not complaining. 

So sometimes appreciate the property. Be polite and only offer what you think is fair. If they accept then good and if they don’t you won’t have regret as you bid what you thought was worth. 

Scrappycoco

Thanks for all the input. Will see how it goes tomorrow.