Offer is 14% less than listing price - is this reasonable?

junebug87

Posting on behalf of my FIL. First time seller and looking for advice. 

Terraced house, on for 725k, located in London. Been on for a couple of weeks. 

He's had two offers of £625k.

Should he hold out for a better offer/negotiate or is this reasonable in the current market?

Appreciate this will be hard to answer without surveys/viewing etc, but as the seller has zero experience, any advice welcome - even if it's just questions that need to be asked to the estate agent. 

My personal instinct was that it seemed low, but conscious I also have no experience in the area of selling property and this may be the norm! 

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/145338179#/?channel=RES_BUY 

TheJP

How did your FIL come to the price for the property? Has there been any research on comparable prices for similar recent sales in the area. On first glance it does need quite a bit of modernisation and if there are house of similar size that have been extended and modernised then that will affect how people bid.

cymruchris

junebug87 said:

Posting on behalf of my FIL. First time seller and looking for advice. 

Terraced house, on for 725k, located in London. Been on for a couple of weeks. 

He's had two offers of £625k.

Should he hold out for a better offer/negotiate or is this reasonable in the current market?

Appreciate this will be hard to answer without surveys/viewing etc, but as the seller has zero experience, any advice welcome - even if it's just questions that need to be asked to the estate agent. 

My personal instinct was that it seemed low, but conscious I also have no experience in the area of selling property and this may be the norm! 

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/145338179#/?channel=RES_BUY 

Seems a bit low - it does need modernising. There seem to be two flats sold on the same road recently (the upstairs/downstairs of a converted house) which went for over £400k each but were more modern - so to have a 3 bed house up for £725 seems fair - and although it needs carpets/curtains/kitchen bathroom to be more up to date - I'd say that £625 would be too low - but that's me. I think I'd be expecting £690-700 having had a quick look based on its proximity to the tube station. Is there a rush?

junebug87

Selling price was recommended by the agent who has sold similar properties in the area - he had a few quotes from multiple agents and this was the joint highest. He is not necessarily expecting to get asking price but feels like this seems low. 

Theres no rush as such, so maybe best to hold off for a higher offer for now then.

Wasnt sure if it was worth negotiating but if people are offering at 625 its probably unlikely that they'll go up to 680-700?

Newbie_John

There's similar house nearby for £700k, same agent:
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/143129243#/?channel=RES_BUY

It's been on sale since December.
So I believe agent thinks it's a possible price - now question to you/them - are you in a rush to sell? Maybe these offers are from chance seekers, hoping to find someone willing to sell quickly and accept any offer.. if you happy to wait, wait and reduce if no offers.

swingaloo

Looking at the other options for sale at 725 in the same area I think its over priced due to the amount of work it needs.

dell12

While Dexters do tend to overprice, £625,000 looks way too low based on other houses sold recently (ish) on the same street. While all three are certainly in better condition, none are perfect, so in my opinion you shouldn't be acheiving £150,000 below these. £700,000 should be comfortably achievable, if not a bit more.

Completed September 2022 for £750,000

Completed November 2022 for £770,000

Completed May 2023 for £785,000

Hoenir

What has the EA said? 

annetheman

That does seem significantly lower... I would personally offer to meet them at a price more comfortable, depending on what you'd be happy with/need to settle any mortgage and move on.

From a buyers' perspective, if choosing between yours at £725k or this one at £678k, I might go for the latter because it seems I'd need to put the same amount into modernising both anyway, and the distances from amenities/transport are very small. It also has an upstairs bathroom (I might factor that into the amount I'd need to spend on yours) and bigger sq ft but not significantly.

But as a seller, definitely I would wait, especially if there isn't any rush to move. Give it a few more weeks/months until you get a higher offer or agree higher negotiated price with the interested parties who sent their offers.

junebug87

Thanks all, really helpful advice.

user1977

Didn't the agents offer him any advice along with the offer?