So What Next?

si-mate

We second viewed a property on Saturday and found lots of faults and pointed them out to the agent. The house has been on the market since November and is now on with 3 agents. From what I have been told the couple are splitting up, he is going to rent and she is moving away.

We accepted an offer on our house 3 weeks ago from FTB'ers and although exchange and completion dates haven't been mentioned yet, I'm sure it will be within the next 6 - 8 weeks.

I waited for the agent to call which they did on Tuesday and told them that we liked it but didn't think it was worth the £300k asking price as there is some minor structural work that needs doing aswell as lots of making good where the DIY refurb has been done really badly. I eventually said that we thought it was worth around the £250k mark and agreed when the agent asked if I would like them to put that forward as an offer.

They took two days to come back with a refusal saying that he was looking for £285,000. I said it wasn't worth that and increased my offer to £255,000 then £259,000. This was at 3pm yesterday and I haven't heard anything yet.

The property was purchased in September 2006 for £229500 and was in a state from what I've been told. I've also been told that the vendor has spent £40,000 doing the property up. It is in a desirable village in a good location.
I think that we would need to spend around £20,000 - £25,000 to make it worth £300,000.

I'm sure that they will come back to us in due course and reject this offer, but where do we go then?

dubsey

I think a property is only worth what it is worth to you. If it's the house that you desperately want then you have to consider how much you will go to. Try not to let youe heart rule your common sense though, especially in today's climate. Don't be tempted or pushed to go to more than you can afford. Unfortunately if they reject this offer the ball is back firmly in your court, but I certainly wouldn't jump straight back in with another offer.

Is this a property to be a long term home or an investment opportunity, do up and sell later to make some money?

si-mate

Thanks. We could afford to go to £265,000 which would give us most of the money to do the improvements, but I think he's needs to sell more than we need to buy!

boinging_2

Worst case scenario is they sell to someone else, how would you feel if that happened? If it's not the end of the world then hold tight, as you say they will need to sell soon enough and with 4 months gone and no offer meeting their valuation, it won't take long for them to realise that the valuation is not realistic.

si-mate

I would be inclined to sweat it out. What is the best way of going about it?

I'm sure the agent will be on the phone later today to reject that offer. Should I tell them to leave it on the table or give them a deadline after which we move on.
As I said I would go to £265,000 but I'd rather have the £6,000 in my pocket than his

boinging_2

You need to put the pressure back on the vendor. Best way is to say your offer is final and you will leave it in place over the weekend / next week to give them time to review their options.

Plus it wouldn't hurt to mention all the other properties you are going to view over this weekend.

If you really wanted to play dirty, get a friend to view the property and put an offer in even lower than your original one....

pinkshoes

Don't forget that anything over £250k is 3% stamp duty, so £259k you'll be paying £7770 in stamp duty!

I'd sit tight for a few more days, then phone the EA and tell them that your maximum and final offer is £265k, and you can't go any higher, so if they don't accept, you'll walk away.

If they're splitting up, maybe they've got a loan in joint names for the work they did on the property, so need a specific amount from the sale to cover their debt? Otherwise they'll have to mess around with splitting the loan etc... so perhaps that's why they don't want to accept less than £285k??

Although if they've spend £40k doing it up, and bought it for £230k, then maybe they'll except £270k?!?! At least that would cover their debt.

merlinthehappypig

It's a difficult situation, waiting it out, but it might work.

We've put in 8 offers over the last six months and three of them eventually came back accepting the price we offered after initially turning it down flat. One of them eventually said we could have the house for £65000 less than we originally offered, though by then we had seen better.

Equally we have had flat refusals and no come back from the sellers so there is no guarantee. The best advice is what you have already been given by boinging. If you absolutely love the house then you may have to pay more than you want to. If you can take it or leave it, then make a final offer that you think is reasonable and let them sweat.

We had an offer of £500000 accepted where the seller wanted £585000. We really did have to sweat it out for a few days, but the seller eventually cracked first. The wait is hard, but I bet they want to sell it more than you want to buy it.

Pinkshoes is right about the stamp duty as well. It's significantly more over £250000 and can't be ignored.

si-mate

Thanks you've all confirmed what I was thinking. I'll have no contact with them until early next week then up the offer to £265,000 and give them 24hours to think it over.

What annoys me is that I haven't had any feedback from the agent as to how the offer was received. I don't know whether they are thinking about it or have refused.

I can't see a way around the stamp duty. We have always been looking between £250,000 and £300,000 so we are in tha awkward 'just over' level.

going2die_rich

boinging wrote: »

as you say they will need to sell soon enough and with 4 months gone and no offer meeting their valuation, it won't take long for them to realise that the valuation is not realistic.

So they realise the property market wont get them the value they want so they either drop the price or sit tight and take the house off the market. You only sell for an amount that you can then buy something you want for, else you sit and wait till things pick up.

Running_Horse

si-mate wrote: »

The property was purchased in September 2006 for £229500 and was in a state from what I've been told. I've also been told that the vendor has spent £40,000 doing the property up.

What has the 2006 price got to do with anything?

si-mate wrote: »

I'm sure that they will come back to us in due course and reject this offer, but where do we go then?

Increase your offer or walk away?

You can't force someone to accept your valuation on their house.