Put an offer in....the waiting game

Skyhigh

So, found a house with my partner - to the deal.

Its up at £130k, supposedly dropped from £135k for a quick sale - but houses on the same estate of the exact same build are all £130k (so it seems average to me, although this house does have a slightly better aspect).

When we decided to make an offer after 2 viewings, I called up and asked for more info on the house - i.e. confirm how long it had been on the market (4 months), how many offers it had had (none!) and also was there a lot of interest (a bit). Also I was told there were no viewings booked in for the recent future.

So I went in at £120k, which to me, seems fair, since NetHousePrices tells me they paid £110k in 2004 when the house was a new build.
They shifted to £128k, so I said the best I could do was £122k (which it is) and that it was an open offer for a few weeks - until we found another house.

So, the actual question about the waiting game...

Do I call the estate agent to get any feedback?
When I made the first offer I had a response in 10 minutes, but since I upped it (yesterday) I haven't heard anything back at all.

If I call, maybe I'll seem too eager...and the agent will tell the vendor to definitely hold off? But if I don't call, then I won't find out if they're *really* not interested in dropping below £128k?



[To me, £12k profit in 3 - nearly 4 years - isn't bad in the current market up North]

:!:

merlinthehappypig

It depends on the seller's circumstances, which you can only ever guess at.

Recent experience for us has shown that almost all the houses we weren't that bothered about came back to us, sometimes after a day or two, sometimes after a couple of months and reduced the price to the original offer level or less.

The houses we like don't seem to want to reduce by much at all!

It also depends on how much you want the house. Personally, as it is on an estate with many similar houses I would wait. They are likely to be much more desperate to sell than you are to buy as there are presumably others the same for sale or, if not, will be shortly.

It's hard to wait, I know, but think how much worse it will be for them. There are very few buyers around at present so use this to your advantage.

How much they paid is irrelevant to be honest - it's down to how much it is worth to you.

Don't lost sight of how much money the £6000 difference between £128000 and £122000 is. Work out how long it takes you to earn that after tax and NI then think again about whether it's worth the wait!

The only risk to you is that someone else might offer more in the meantime, but that is a small risk, I'd suggest and there are other similar houses available anyway.

I wouldn't ring at all. Either that or I would ring and give a deadline for an answer or you will walk away. That may work, but you will need to be genuinely prepared to walk away or you will look daft.

selectcase

If its up for 130k and you offered 122k i would wait and see - that seems like a very fair offer. I am selling a house at the moment - not a forced sale and I took a similar offer/ % discount to get the sale. It sounds like the ea is being honest witht he lack of viewings etc and the ea will probobly try to persuade the seller to accept the offer if they have any sense.

boinging_2

Hold tight! If they have no further viewings planned, I'd leave it a week or perhaps over the weekend (if you can't hold out that long!), then go back and say your offer will expire within 24 hours if you don't get a positive answer.

Monday will see the new rightmove report on the market, which although not a great measure always gets headlines in the press especially if it's not positive!

Running_Horse

Skyhigh wrote: »

So I went in at £120k, which to me, seems fair, since NetHousePrices tells me they paid £110k in 2004 when the house was a new build.

[To me, £12k profit in 3 - nearly 4 years - isn't bad in the current market up North]

What they paid in 2004 is irrelevant.

Offer what it is worth to you today, and stick by your guns.

Skyhigh

I know their circumstances from talking to them at the viewing, they want to move to the city (not The City, just a northern city...),they both work in the city (40/50 min commute each way via train, or 1+ hour drive) and have family there so its all more convenient. So theres some pull for them, its not as if they just fancy a change of house/location.

[I work in the city too, but I can't afford to buy a property in the city or suburbs and during the 40 mins commute each way I tend to work.....sad but true! Plus I love the area: lots of fields, greenery, my family, etc.]

Thanks for the info guys, its hard to know what to do - I think its a bit disorientating with having to research about mortgages, repayment types, ASU, life assurance, etc,etc all at the same time as looking for a house. Thankgod for MSE I'm going to save *a lot* of money over the next few years!

:!:

boinging_2

Skyhigh - hope all goes well. Unfortunately is this day and age you have to view house buying as a business transaction. Play hard ball!

Let us know how you get on and best of luck!

Running_Horse

How did you get on?