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

chinatown_2

Thanks all for your replies, sorry Im back to this late.
We're going to still have a look tomorow nd talk about it. Think we'll try the £85k offer and say 'sorry but it looks like thats all we cn get', if we get it great if not well we'll discuss it later.

Jorgan_2

Nenen wrote: »

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

We haven't seen any achieved price increases/decrease in the area I cover for at least 18 months. So taking into account inflation, prices may have fallen back slightly.

This is why I 'love' the media, they talk about increases & decreases in house price as if they affect every area at the same time & by the same amount, when they clearly don't.

Running_Horse

chinatown wrote: »

Thanks all for your replies, sorry Im back to this late.
We're going to still have a look tomorow nd talk about it. Think we'll try the £85k offer and say 'sorry but it looks like thats all we cn get', if we get it great if not well we'll discuss it later.

If the offer is rejected, try to find out what they would accept.

WTF?_2

tanith wrote: »

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.

With a slow moving market like property there's always a period of stagnation as it takes a long time for it to change direction. However, few people can afford to hold on to an expensive, depreciating asset for very long. Especially if they are still owing money on a loan that they used to buy the asset, as is often the case with a house.

It'll take some time for the reality of price depreciation to sink in with would-be sellers. After all, never-ending property price increases are now well ingrained into the psyches of most owners. Especially anyone who can't remember the property market in the early 90s.

merlinthehappypig

We've just arrived back from our 48 hour proprty viewing trip. There are four that we might consider offers on (though only to buy one, of course!).

I'll be offering around 15% under asking price and will report back!

worldtraveller

merlinthehappypig wrote: »

We've just arrived back from our 48 hour proprty viewing trip. There are four that we might consider offers on (though only to buy one, of course!).

I'll be offering around 15% under asking price and will report back!

IMHO, for the reasons stated above, don't hold your breath that it will be accepted in the current market. However, in 2-3 years time I personally believe that you will be asking yourself why the hell you agreed to buy at a price 15% below asking, when the price for a similar property is then 30%, or more, lower than today.

merlinthehappypig

worldtraveller wrote: »

IMHO, for the reasons stated above, don't hold your breath that it will be accepted in the current market. However, in 2-3 years time I personally believe that you will be asking yourself why the hell you agreed to buy at a price 15% below asking, when the price for a similar property is then 30%, or more, lower than today.

Depends entirely on the house and the seller's situation.

We have been offered three houses that we have viewed at 20%+ off asking price, but we didn't want them. Equally the sellers of some of the houses we have viewed are sticking out for pretty close to the advertised price. Others are somewhere in between.


We have to start somewhere. If we offer too much then we lose any negotiating position. Based on our experience of the last few months looking at houses we feel that around 15% below is enough not to be insulting to the seller and a decent base for us to negotiate around. The agents we have spoken to this weekend reckon that 10% or so off for a house that has been on pre-Northern Rock is achieveable. Houses that have come on the market more recently should be more sensibly priced.

Two we looked at this weekend have already been reduced - one from £560000 to £525000 and one from £600000 to £495000, so some decent reductions before we start, assuming they were correctly priced to begin with, of course. Typically we didn't rate these two!

I agree with you about the long-term prospects for prices, but, sadly, we can't wait that long. All we can do is get the best deal we possibly can and borrow as little as possible.

One thing I can guarantee is that prices will drop as soon as we buy. Keep your eye on the 'merlinthehappypig index' for more details:D

shelly

chinatown wrote: »

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?

Start at 85-90K as others have suggested. If that is rejected I'd ask for another viewing and ask the vendor directly what sort of offer they would accept. We did this and it saved alot of time and phone calls.

merlinthehappypig

Just to add more information about price reductions, the agents for one of the houses we viewed rang us this morning to say that the asking price had just reduced from £475000 to £415000 and that 'the sellers would take just under £400000'. At say £399000 that's a 16% drop.

It's on a house we had already decded against, of course..............

dubsey

The current house we are in was originally £225000 (way over priced), dropped a few times to a guide price of £195000 and we originally offered £175000. Offer was rejected so we offered £180000. They rejected this and the agents told us to get closer to £190000, but we were not in a rush (we'd sold our house and had moved back in with parents) and honestly didn't think considering the amount of work needed that it was worth it, so we said no thanks, but keep sending properties because we're obviously still looking. A week went by and they called again to ask if we wanted to re-think our offer, we said no. Agents tried telling us they had lots of viewings booked but the vendor would remove it from the market if we went to £190000. A few days later we had a call to say £180000 had been accepted :j

We have also made the mistake of buying in a hurry, we'd sold ours and were almost at exchange when our purchase fell through. We needed to find a property and move in within four weeks - BIG mistake. The morning after we moved in I realised almost immediately I hated it, needless we didn't stay put for long.

It really comes down to how desperately you want that particular property, if you are willing to risk losing it then offer low and see what happens.