Estate agents say offer well below asking price and be cheeky!

chinatown_2

Hi I was just wondering if any of you have any advice?
We're looking for our first home to buy (been renting for 6 years) and we can only afford around £100k yet the houses in our area are way above this.
We found a 3 bedroom house in a lovely street within the area we really wanted to live and its up for £108k. However after looking inside it needs a lot doing to it, fair enough most people paint/put new flooring down but this needs all new bathroom/kitchen etc, and has an old heating system etc. At this price we couldnt afford to do it up do we told EA it was no good.

Shes since told us on 3 occassions that we should offer well below the asking price, knock 10k off or more and be really cheeky, she said after all its worth a go as the house has been up for sale for ages with no real interest and no offers.

We're going for a second viewing tomorow with my dad whos a builder, who hopefully can advise a little bit as to what needs doing or can be done to improve it and what seems just cosmetic.

So 'if' we decided that at the right price it would be a great house for us, what do you think the EA means by a cheeky offer and how much would you offer?

BettiePage

Perhaps start around £85 - 90k and work up from there. If you're not embarrassed by the offer, it's too high

She sounds sensible (for an ea ), has she been in the job long?

tanith

BettiePage wrote: »

Perhaps start around £85 - 90k and work up from there. If you're not embarrassed by the offer, it's too high

She sounds sensible (for an ea ), has she been in the job long?

I was going to ask the same question:rotfl: ..I also think £85k would be a good starting point..

dolce_vita

BettiePage wrote: »

Perhaps start around £85 - 90k and work up from there. If you're not embarrassed by the offer, it's too high

She sounds sensible (for an ea ), has she been in the job long?

Couldn't have put it better myself.


But I will add.....

The ea is probably worried about losing her job so is desperate for a sale.
And don't be talked into paying too much.

SerenaGoode

BettiePage wrote: »

Perhaps start around £85 - 90k and work up from there. If you're not embarrassed by the offer, it's too high

She sounds sensible (for an ea ), has she been in the job long?

What she said.

Also, bear in mind the EA may know something about the vendors' situation (eg maybe they need to move fast) that she is too discreet to mention. If the EA is encouraging you to offer low, you have a real chance of getting a decent reduction, as they may also be putting pressure on the vendors to drop price.

jaype

Agree - any commission is better than none, as far as EAs are concerned. They're not having much fun with the current standoff between sellers trying to get an extra 15 per cent on last year's prices and buyers who now just won't pay what they see as silly money for a bog standard home. Expect pressure on sellers to drop their price this Spring, I think? Any EAs care to comment?

Jorgan_2

jaype wrote: »

Agree - any commission is better than none, as far as EAs are concerned. They're not having much fun with the current standoff between sellers trying to get an extra 15 per cent on last year's prices and buyers who now just won't pay what they see as silly money for a bog standard home. Expect pressure on sellers to drop their price this Spring, I think? Any EAs care to comment?

Sellers need to be realistic, whether prices are dropping all over the UK, I don't know, but in my area the actual selling prices are remaining static. Comparable evidence of what has actually sold & the condition it was in, how long it was on for is paramount.

We agreed a sale on a property yesterday for £1000 less than the same style of house nine months ago. The property was on the market for 24 hours, so there are still some buyers out there.

WTF?_2

chinatown wrote: »

Shes since told us on 3 occassions that we should offer well below the asking price, knock 10k off or more and be really cheeky, she said after all its worth a go as the house has been up for sale for ages with no real interest and no offers.

We're going for a second viewing tomorow with my dad whos a builder, who hopefully can advise a little bit as to what needs doing or can be done to improve it and what seems just cosmetic.

So 'if' we decided that at the right price it would be a great house for us, what do you think the EA means by a cheeky offer and how much would you offer?

Remember that Estate Agents incomes depend on them making sales.
With a stagnant market, their income stream dries up. Therefore they will act to bring prices down if that's what it takes to shift the property and make the sale.

From the sounds of things, the EA knows that the sellers are open to offers for whatever reason. You'd do well to make a lowball offer and work up to what the sellers will accept.


(Most people believe that the EA always acts to get the absolute highest price and that they are intrinsically acting in the seller's interest. That simply isn't the case - they act in their own interest.)

tanith

We have 3 houses in our road that have been on the market for 6mths or more and are finding that people just won't pay the asking price ... so the sellers won't drop the price and the buyers won't pay whats asked... they are lovely houses and the owners are getting desparate , one couple have already moved abroad so the house is standing empty which is such a shame...... and really its madness holding out when for the sake of a small drop the houses might sell.

Nenen

Jorgan wrote: »

Sellers need to be realistic, whether prices are dropping all over the UK, I don't know, but in my area the actual selling prices are remaining static. Comparable evidence of what has actually sold & the condition it was in, how long it was on for is paramount.

We agreed a sale on a property yesterday for £1000 less than the same style of house nine months ago. The property was on the market for 24 hours, so there are still some buyers out there.

I'm having a bit of a 'wonder' about this but, from what I have read to date, I think I am right in saying that, if prices are remaining static now then, in real terms, (considering inflation) they are dropping in relation to salaries and other goods. Also, for the first 6 months after the first house you sold, house prices went up (the amount depends on the area you're in but probably around 8 - 10 %). It is only in the last three months they have fallen back (and not yet by as much as they went up in the first 6 months). Therefore, assuming this was an 'average house' costing around £200,000, on very rough figures it should have risen in price by around £10,000 in the first 6 months and then dropped back about £1,500 making a total increase of £8,500. Instead it dropped by £1,000 so £9,500 less than one might have expected.
Any financial experts who can confirm or prove me wrong please feel free as it's Friday, I've probably had more wine than I should and might have got it all **** about ***!:D

worldtraveller

IMHO If you are really "sold" on the house and it's in an ideal location for you and you really like it, and there is nothing else anywhere near it's benefits to you, I would put in a very "cheeky" offer and see what happens. However, my personal opinion is that we are nowhere near the point when people realise that they will have to bite the bullet and take a lot less than they actually think their property is worth in a falling market. I think that it has an awful lot further to fall.

If it's really not the "one & only one" for you, I personally don't think that now is the time to buy. You say that you have waited 6 years and I would personally wait a bit longer to see the general direction of the market because IMHO we could be looking at a falling market for at least the next 5 years or so.

My personal view.