FTB Putting offers in on a house

dolcevita

................125k..............

strongboes

sounds like they would accept less than that, i'd personally offer 112k, but then thats me, start at 125 and they think ah knock you back you'll offer more, over much less and your going to really put some pressure on them

halia

If you want a non offensive figure go for 10% less, most people expect this as the first offer and to settle on 2-5% less in a sellers market or 5-7% less in a buyers market.

So on £139,950 offer £125 or £126 (if you are prepared to go to about £132).

What about other negotiation points? is there any work to be done - is the roof sound, wiring up to date, gas appliances serviced and checked.

Estate-Agent-Expert

Halia makes a good point which I touched on too in my last post - is the property in need of any work? When making a lower offer it always helps to be able to justify it with either comparables or by suggesting that the work needed will cost at least the difference between your offer and the asking price.

If you simply make a very low ball offer it could just get the Vendor's backs up. Especially if they have offered already on their onward purchase - they probably have a price point below which they are simply unable to move to, depending on their mortgage and deposit for the new place. So you need to find out what their bottom line is - what price was it under offer for 6 months ago?

I'm assuming you have all your finance in place? Make sure you have a really good solicitor (not necessarily the cheapest)who will COMMUNICATE with you by telephone - because by promising speed and security of sale in exchange for accepting a lower offer you are really hanging all your hopes on your solicitor and your broker! Believe me, sales fall out of bed every day because of poor solicitors. It's worth asking the agent to ensure that the Vendor has a good one too - if they were already under offer with a previous buyer then a good deal of the paperwork should already have been done, saving time again.

Bargainhunter20

Hey the property we are looking at is only 3 and a half years old. Also it comes with a Guarantee which has 6 and a half years left. Their is nothing wrong with the property where we would need to spend more money on it when we moved in.

Is offering 10% less really a realistic offer?, don't want to come across to cheeky as they are a really nice couple. Is this what most people offer initially then gradually work their way up?

Thanks again for all replies its all really helpful!

Update
After all that Someone has put an offer in on the house and apparently its quite close to asking price although i don't trust EA's! The vendors have accepted Should i ask if the people buying are in a chain and say we are first time buyers and offer 136,000?


J x

Estate-Agent-Expert

The Vendors have clearly been gagging for an offer so they can get moving on their onward purchase, and as I said before they probably needed an amount very close to asking price in order to be able to afford to move on - a motivated buyer usually drops the price to a level they are prepared to go to with only a very small margin for negotiation. Always remember that people usually trade speed for price!!!

So you have two choices - look for something else or make a higher offer. It doesn't matter if the agent is lying to you or not (unlikely) - if you want the property you'll have to throw your hat into the ring at some point very soon. You are not in a chain and if you have all your finances in place then you are in a strong position. If the other buyer is in the same spot then it is only price that will separate you. Vendors will rarely jump ship for only a grand or two, so you'll have to go a little higher than this - do you know what the other offer is? Be prepared for them to match or exceed your offer too.

The biggest lesson you should learn from all of this is do not believe that the current market is dead in the water...all the dreadful press does not mean that every property on the market is a "bargain" and that you can just make low offers simply for the sake of it. You must always know your own benchmark on value based on CURRENT research and CURRENT comparables. Never depend on land reg figures from three months ago or the Daily Mail to tell you what a property is worth! And let's face it if you plan on staying there for a number of years who cares if you end up paying a few grand more - know your limits though and don't go higher than you can afford. What is it worth to you?

Good luck again!

Cardinal-Red

Bargainhunter20 wrote: »

Thankyou all for your replies much appreciated! x

We are First time buyers and the people who own the property we want were let down 6 months ago by a buyer in a chain which fell through 3 days before they were due to move!

The house they wished to purchase 6 months ago they are still currently the highest bidder on.

Since we are first time buyers with no chain i think we are in a good position and a lot less risk to these people who have already been let down once.

Is it just me reading this as "been on the market for (at least) 6 months with no offers..."

I'd be wary of how you proceed. I'm not wanting to tar all EAs with the same brush, but when we were buying in summer 2005, we offered £155k on a property listed at £165k. There was a "near full valuation" offer on the table as well, which mysteriously disappeared when we walked away. Settled on £154k just after that.

Bargainhunter20

We are just going to wait and keep checking if the house has been taken off rightmove, as it hasn't as yet although the survey has not been done yet.We plan to ring the Estate agents up next monday and make an offer see what happens then i suppose...

Doozergirl

Bargainhunter20 wrote: »

We are just going to wait and keep checking if the house has been taken off rightmove, as it hasn't as yet although the survey has not been done yet.We plan to ring the Estate agents up next monday and make an offer see what happens then i suppose...

How exactly did you find out that another offer had been made? Did you tell the Ea that you were thinking of offering?

I too am a little dubious that a house that's been on the market for the second time for over six months suddenly has two interested parties at near asking.

See if you can get another viewing. That should establish whether or not it has genuinely been taken from the market.

Bargainhunter20

Thanks Doozergirl i'm also a little dubious after reading other posts in this thread. My OH rang up the EA yesterday and said i want to put an offer in, and the EA said an offer has already been made been accepted,she also went on to ask what our offer would have been and then said the other people's offer was very close to the asking price.