How to know what to offer on a house?

ruf_ha11

We have been saving a deposit and came across a house by chance that we really like and has some quite unique features. We have enough for the deposit just however wanted more extra money saved for fees, moving, buying stuff etc. I am aware however we can offer below the asking price but how do we know how much? The house has been up since about September 2023 - valued at 210,000 and they’re asking for 199,000. We met the seller during viewing who was quite open that they really want to sell due to personal reasons and haven’t had much interest at all/ no offers unfortunately and this is why the house is below value. They also said they will accept below asking. The estate agent has also said the house has had only a couple of viewings since it went on the market and nothing serious. Due to this we are considering making a bit of a lower offer to see what happens so that we have more extra money like we wanted but don’t really know what would be low but not unreasonable as don’t want to offend the owner either. First time buyer sounds completely new to this. 

user1977

Is it "below value"? Do you know what the market price for similar properties in the area is? If not then you need to do your research.

Millsandovis

In that scenario I’d go 185 and see what happens 

ruf_ha11

user1977 said:

Is it "below value"? Do you know what the market price for similar properties in the area is? If not then you need to do your research.

Would that be seeing what other houses in the area have been sold for? The value I have is from the home report done by surveyor. The property was last sold in only May 2023 for £140,000 however was in a poor state and has been done up by the current owner (assume why valuation has gone up considerably). I live in the local area currently and it is on the cheap side for this area which is quite affluent but it is also an ex council house and there are very few of them here to compare to. 

user1977

ruf_ha11 said:

user1977 said:

Is it "below value"? Do you know what the market price for similar properties in the area is? If not then you need to do your research.

Would that be seeing what other houses in the area have been sold for? The value I have is from the home report done by surveyor. The property was last sold in only May 2023 for £140,000 however was in a poor state and has been done up by the current owner (assume why valuation has gone up considerably). I live in the local area currently and it is on the cheap side for this area which is quite affluent but it is also an ex council house and there are very few of them here to compare to. 

Ah right. If you're buying in Scotland it's helpful to say so given the procedures in the different UK jurisdictions vary, and people here tend to assume England until stated otherwise. If the Home Report valuation is £210k (and that doesn't change when it's refreshed closer to settlement) then you can rely on that, and it's what your mortgage lender will take as being the value (or the agreed price if lower).

But in Scotland you will normally also get advice from your solicitor about what to offer - haven't you spoken to them yet?

justwhat

ruf_ha11 said:

We have been saving a deposit and came across a house by chance that we really like and has some quite uniqueent features. We have enough for the deposit just however wanted more extra money saved for fees, moving, buying stuff etc. I am aware however we can offer below the asking price but how do we know how much? The house has been up since about September 2023 - valued at 210,000 and they’re asking for 199,000. We met the seller during viewing who was quite open that they really want to sell due to personal reasons and haven’t had much interest at all/ no offers unfortunately and this is why the house is below value. They also said they will accept below asking. The estate agent has also said the house has had only a couple of viewings since it went on the market and nothing serious. Due to this we are considering making a bit of a lower offer to see what happens so that we have more extra money like we wanted but don’t really know what would be low but not unreasonable as don’t want to offend the owner either. First time buyer sounds completely new to this. 

ok "unreasonable as don’t want to offend the owner" that statement or sentiment is going to cost you money.(probably 5-10k lol ) They are not your friend you are entering into a business transaction.

ok you know they are desperate and the have had hardly any viewings. 

it could be   overpriced or not a sought after area. Valuations are not always correct, they are a guesstimate. If you bought this house for 170k today what would the valuation be tomorrow? Valuations fluctuate based on many factors.

I would look to "offend at 170k", that will start the negotiation. Hopefully you will snag it at 175-180k.

if you start at 185k they know you are going to go up an extra 5k.lol

Bigphil1474

OP, we have ours for sale at 190k. We got an offer at 170k which is at around 5k below what we can accept. We weren't offended, we just said sorry, no. If I had the valuation at 210k, and they were selling at 199k, I'd offer 190k knowing that the 9k would pay all the fees and costs. Then again I'm a bit soft. As above you could go really low as they are desperate to sell, but I wouldn't.

When we sold my dad's house last year we got a fair offer and because it was a fair offer we chucked a few extras in for free that they wanted and were talking about paying for (fridge/cooker/bit of furniture etc.) It suited us to leave them there but we would have asked for payment if they'd tried to stiff us on the purchase price. Each to their own of course.

vacheron

ruf_ha11 said:

user1977 said:

Is it "below value"? Do you know what the market price for similar properties in the area is? If not then you need to do your research.

Would that be seeing what other houses in the area have been sold for? The value I have is from the home report done by surveyor. The property was last sold in only May 2023 for £140,000 however was in a poor state and has been done up by the current owner (assume why valuation has gone up considerably). I live in the local area currently and it is on the cheap side for this area which is quite affluent but it is also an ex council house and there are very few of them here to compare to. 

When you say "done up" was this adding space to the property, (extension, loft conversion) or something else of tanigble value (adding a working kitchen or bathroom, new roof, windows), because otherwise a £70,000 markup would buy an awful lot of unterior doors, magnolia dulux and carpets!

justwhat

vacheron said:

ruf_ha11 said:

user1977 said:

Is it "below value"? Do you know what the market price for similar properties in the area is? If not then you need to do your research.

Would that be seeing what other houses in the area have been sold for? The value I have is from the home report done by surveyor. The property was last sold in only May 2023 for £140,000 however was in a poor state and has been done up by the current owner (assume why valuation has gone up considerably). I live in the local area currently and it is on the cheap side for this area which is quite affluent but it is also an ex council house and there are very few of them here to compare to. 

When you say "done up" was this adding space to the property, (extension, loft conversion) or something else of tanigble value (adding a working kitchen or bathroom, new roof, windows), because otherwise a £70,000 markup would buy an awful lot of unterior doors, magnolia dulux and carpets!

Maybe the previous purchase price was well below the valuation

Albermarle

vacheron said:

ruf_ha11 said:

user1977 said:

Is it "below value"? Do you know what the market price for similar properties in the area is? If not then you need to do your research.

Would that be seeing what other houses in the area have been sold for? The value I have is from the home report done by surveyor. The property was last sold in only May 2023 for £140,000 however was in a poor state and has been done up by the current owner (assume why valuation has gone up considerably). I live in the local area currently and it is on the cheap side for this area which is quite affluent but it is also an ex council house and there are very few of them here to compare to. 

When you say "done up" was this adding space to the property, (extension, loft conversion) or something else of tanigble value (adding a working kitchen or bathroom, new roof, windows), because otherwise a £70,000 markup would buy an awful lot of unterior doors, magnolia dulux and carpets!

This is what I thought . It could be the vendor has bought at £140K and spent £30K and now wants £210/£199K.
Maybe they have been watching Homes under the Hammer too much !
Also if they bought in May and put it back up for sale in September, this would strongly indicate they are a developer, and that all this stuff about needing to sell for personal reasons is just trying to soften up the buyer to not come in too low.

Albermarle

Bigphil1474 said:

OP, we have ours for sale at 190k. We got an offer at 170k which is at around 5k below what we can accept. We weren't offended, we just said sorry, no. If I had the valuation at 210k, and they were selling at 199k, I'd offer 190k knowing that the 9k would pay all the fees and costs. Then again I'm a bit soft. As above you could go really low as they say they are desperate to sell, but I wouldn't. Although could well be just a lot of BS for the benefit of an inexperienced first time buyer,

When we sold my dad's house last year we got a fair offer and because it was a fair offer we chucked a few extras in for free that they wanted and were talking about paying for (fridge/cooker/bit of furniture etc.) It suited us to leave them there but we would have asked for payment if they'd tried to stiff us on the purchase price. Each to their own of course.

See comments in bold.