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seebeeess
Posts: 5 Forumite
FTB in London. Went to see a property with a guide of 425-450k. Seller told us that he had the house on the market for 3 months and it didn't get much interest, so now it's with this other agent and they're starting to get some viewings. Also told us that they needed to move quickly as they had another house lined up that they want to start proceedings on. This didn't work for us as we don't want to move until February / March next year so that we can use our HTB ISAs, so I emailed the agent basically saying "Lovely house, may have put an offer on if the sellers situation was more compatible with ours, please give my best, various pleasantries etc".
The agent came back and asked us what we would have offered, and we put in £415k. Agent called me back a couple days later and informed me that their other house had fallen through and they were now prepared to work with us and to our timeline, but not at that price. Discussed it with my wife later and we put in £425k - the lower end of their guide price.
The next day the agent emailed me saying that he was "pretty sure they can get it off the market at that price" and later in a phonecall "you've offered £425k which they will be delighted with". Lo and behold, the seller accepts the offer and it's now marked down as Sold STC. But I'm a bit concerned at the confidence of the agent here - the fact that he was pretty sure they would accept my offer makes me think it was well above what they expected to receive and what the property is worth.
The amount is not a concern for us at all - it's comfortably affordable and well within what we can borrow (Our max budget was £460k). But I'm worried that I've been naive here and have ended up offering way more than I should have.
Thoughts?
The agent came back and asked us what we would have offered, and we put in £415k. Agent called me back a couple days later and informed me that their other house had fallen through and they were now prepared to work with us and to our timeline, but not at that price. Discussed it with my wife later and we put in £425k - the lower end of their guide price.
The next day the agent emailed me saying that he was "pretty sure they can get it off the market at that price" and later in a phonecall "you've offered £425k which they will be delighted with". Lo and behold, the seller accepts the offer and it's now marked down as Sold STC. But I'm a bit concerned at the confidence of the agent here - the fact that he was pretty sure they would accept my offer makes me think it was well above what they expected to receive and what the property is worth.
The amount is not a concern for us at all - it's comfortably affordable and well within what we can borrow (Our max budget was £460k). But I'm worried that I've been naive here and have ended up offering way more than I should have.
Thoughts?
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Comments
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How does the price compare to similar properties in the same area? You must know this because you would have checked before you made your offer?0
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A lot of sellers will have told their agents a price that they'd accept, and you offered the lower limit of the asking range. I'm surprised your offer was accepted as most buyers who specify a range won't go as low as their lower limit.But I'm a bit concerned at the confidence of the agent here - the fact that he was pretty sure they would accept my offer makes me think it was well above what they expected to receive and what the property is worth.
TLDR - The vendor wouldn't have accepted a lower offer. Either you think that it's worth it or you don't so you pull out.0 -
You'll only find out (and if it was otherwise a wise purchase..) after 2-3 years. Bit like marriage.0
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It's really hard to tell - there are houses that sold for less by about £10- 15k but are less modern and well maintained than this one and don't have an extension, and there are houses that are about £20k more but have better features, such as a conservatory, larger garden or attic conversion.0
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agree it takes time to know and you have to understand the current market: now is a buyers market, for example...
Check out the advisory as have very useful guides on this
amusing to compare to marriage and agree
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I think you are reading too much into it. I definitely told my EA what was the least I would accept. It had a guide of £425-450k and you are at the bottom end well done.
If you had asked me to wait 6 months to complete. It would be a no from me.0 -
Sounds about right then? Valuation isn't an exact science so a few percent here or there isn't much to worry about.It's really hard to tell - there are houses that sold for less by about £10- 15k but are less modern and well maintained than this one and don't have an extension, and there are houses that are about £20k more but have better features, such as a conservatory, larger garden or attic conversion.0 -
Do you have a link to the general area, not your house just nearby?0
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Crashy_Time wrote: »Do you have a link to the general area, not your house just nearby?
I can't post links but it's a 3-bedroom terraced within 1/2 mile of the postcode RM11 - Zoopla will show it with that criteria.0 -
I can't post links but it's a 3-bedroom terraced within 1/2 mile of the postcode RM11 - Zoopla will show it with that criteria.
Rightmove is showing lots of 25k and 50k price drops for that area, which obviously puts you in a strong position as a buyer....unless you already bought?0
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