So, buying a house. Where does a fair offer become taking the michael?

Seen a house I like, but it’s slightly over budget.

How far under the asking do you reckon is too far, should I put an offer in?

just do it, we bought with a pretty cheaky offer and trying to sell now would take pretty much anything to get it moved?

anyone want a flat in chippenham? offers over 50p?

PS dont get attached, if they say no then its still overbudget and you cant afford it….

unless you could just spend that bit more…..

If you don’t feel embraced offering, then its not low enough.

Just bought a place and got 10% off

Just gave my buyer 3.5% off, his first offer was 6% under.

there is no magical % its all about demand if its been on the market for ages and there are plenty like it then of course you should put an offer in

and dont put it in at your max budget either …… leave your self a little room to go upwards

if they are desperate to sell they will.

house next door to me is up for 188k, they’ve told me if somebody offered them 180k they’d throw in the furniture and accept on the spot.

If you don’t feel embraced offering, then its not low enough.

Embraced? What, you want a hug as well?
🙂

yet in glasgow and aberdeen GOOD houses are going over the asking regularly .

as i said no magical figure.

yet in glasgow and aberdeen GOOD houses are going over the asking regularly

scotland is different

yet in glasgow and aberdeen GOOD houses are going over the asking regularly .

Isn’t the Scottish system quite different to what we have here south of the border? (somewhat fairer, IIRC)

and in what way is that ? the sealed bid system ?

dont know anyone in the last year who bought their house using that (including my self)

Lower than you think.

A friend had an offer on his place recently, asking price was £350k

Someone offered him £250k less 10% because the neighbours had been staring at her when she visited and she did not like the look of them.

What she forgot to say was, she had parked on the neighbours drive when she came round to view 😉

yet in glasgow and aberdeen GOOD houses are going over the asking regularly .

isn’t it a totally different procedure in Scotland though with all that offers over £xxx etc?

yet in glasgow and aberdeen GOOD houses are going over the asking regularly .

Guess that’s partly to do with the traditional Scottish ‘offers over’ system.

As far as i know* there isn’t much in Englandshire that’ll go for over the asking price… I’d be cheeky!

*total disclaimer – I know nuffink!

EDIT – Beaten to it 🙄

there is no magical % its all about demand if its been on the market for ages and there are plenty like it then of course you should put an offer in

No, I know. I’m just curious what people’s experiences are, having recently sold but not bought since the tail of the housing ‘boom’ several years ago.

and dont put it in at your max budget either …… leave your self a little room to go upwards

Goes without saying. 😉

What she forgot to say was, she had parked on the neighbours drive when she came round to view

Wonderful. 😆

Have a look at the figures on Hometrack. It varies by area but at the moment houses seem to be going for about 93% of asking price, so if you don’t start at 15-20% below asking price you’re probably not really trying.

If you don’t know the seller I wouldn’t worry about taking the mickey.

The days of over-inflated prices are well and truly over (for the foreseeable anyway).

If you’re a first time-buyer or aren’t part of a chain then offer even less.

Saying that, I do know of two house sales going through at the moment, both of which are exchange of contracts at 10% off asking price.

So starting at 15-20%?

… or aren’t part of a chain…

That’s us.

We bought in May, house was on for £225k then reduced to £200k after a year with no viewings (I think it’s worth £190k ish). We offered £140k, they said no, we offered £150k and said we would complete in 28 days. They said let us think, 2 days later accepted. We were moved in within 3 weeks. Previously offered £150k on an £180k house (it was our first choice) and they said no way, £180k is all they will accept. Go low, nothing to lose.

very area and circumstance dependent

We just bought our first – there were 6 offers by noon on the day it came on the market and we paid asking.

Offers over system in Scotland, so different from below. Offer a figure you’re comfortable with, worst they can do is say no. Best, they accept it or counter offer. What have you got to lose?

I must add further to my cheeky bid listed above, when the house sale was published on Zoopla one nosey neighbour thanked us for ‘devaluing the road & bringing the price of the road down’. 🙂

We once offered 15% under on a house that had been on the market 18 months and three different estate agents.

She turned us down.

Six years on, her house is still on the market and she’s still not dropped the asking price.

Make an offer. They either take it or they don’t.

Everywhere is different, and it also depends why they are selling – and whether an offer of £x covers their outstandings.

We sold in June; asked for £249,950. Had an offer on day 1 of the asking price. Sold.

Isn’t the Scottish system quite different to what we have here south of the border? (somewhat fairer, IIRC)

It puts the advantage on the seller, if that’s fairer?

I must add further to my cheeky bid listed above, when the house sale was published on Zoopla one nosey neighbour thanked us for ‘devaluing the road & bringing the price of the road down’.

😆

Make an offer. They either take it or they don’t.

I know others like that. It’s almost like they feel they should, but don’t *really* want to.

It puts the advantage on the seller, if that’s fairer?

I’ll be honest, I was trying to sell when I first read about it. From the little I read about it and that point of view, yes, it did seem fairer as it left me less at the mercy of buyers. Realistically I would need to know more about how it *actually* works to give a more educated answer.

King-ocelot – that’s outrageous. Fair play to you but seriously worrying for anyone in that road given the availability of info. on the net and all. I’m assuming it wasn’t vastly over priced to start with? I’ve regularly seen offers under the asking but not by that much. There are still some who regularly seek an extra few thousand off the day before completion….. hate that with a vengeance.

Completely depends on area. Down in ‘this London’ a mate just turned down an offer 1% below asking in the first week on the market – they’re holding out for asking price. Another viewed a house where there were 50 viewings on the Saturday (unusual place – in need of *complete* refurbishment) but again, would be surprised if it doesn’t go for above asking.

An odd market – very little stuff for sale apparently.

We sold in June; asked for £249,950. Had an offer on day 1 of the asking price. Sold.

Don’t you wonder if you could have got a bit more for it? (and yes I do get the stamp duty issue, but hey that’s £49.99 you just threw away 😉 )

Its a business transaction, you should just make an offer, at worse they can turn it down.

I’m always cheeky with my offers, but I work in sales and negotiate deals of all sizes. You shouldn’t worry about offending them.

Been viewing a few lately and musing on the same subject.

As others have suggested, I think it depends on how fairly the property is priced to begin with and how keen the owners are to sell. And also what position you are in.

We’ve seen some that I reckon we’d easily get 20% or more off, others which seem priced about right and I think will sell quickly.

From the seller’s POV – when selling my place I certainly wouldn’t be offended by low offers through the estate agent, but I’m unlikely to respond well to potential buyers trying to “play hardball” in person while they’re viewing.

Just because offers over in scotland doesnt mean you cant offer below…..pending area as above chap in that there londons seeing.

I missed out on a gaff in cove in feb this year that went to sealed bids . Up for 215 i bid 217 and it went for over 300k.

a mate missed out last week on a gaff in mingavie that was up for offers over 260 with 276 and it went for 306 – it didnt even get to sealed bids !

Of course dont confuse value with price……

We paid 5k over asking for our current house because to us with what we had been looking at previous it represented good value to us. In an area we wanted to live with the outdoor space we wanted.

2 houses with similar lay out up the street have seen what the couple sold for and have one up for sale at similar prices – but without any garages ( i have 2 ) and without the rear extension. One doesnt even have a drive way !

The only bite that the one with the drive has had is from my mate tryin to knock 25k off to build a double garage in the backie !

This might be of use to some;

Land Registry[/url]

Official version of stuff third parties provide and it’s free. No registration etc.

deepreddave – Member
King-ocelot – that’s outrageous. Fair play to you but seriously worrying for anyone in that road given the availability of info. on the net and all. I’m assuming it wasn’t vastly over priced to start with? I’ve regularly seen offers under the asking but not by that much. There are still some who regularly seek an extra few thousand off the day before completion….. hate that with a vengeance.

The others in the road sell for around the £190-£200k mark. Ours is the only one left in the road with a downstairs bathroom. It was on with 2 agents both who told us this was the reason the house had not sold. I’ve just got plans drawn up to add a bathroom upstairs.

As others have said depends on area abd situation. I would always make a cheeky offer. The seller can only dismiss it.

The house we are buying went on the market last August at £175,000. We saw it in June at £160,000 and offered £140,000
We settled at £148,00 but then the Valuer knocked off £3500 for a non existent damp problem so we met them halfway.

My advice is to be as cheeky as you can, it’s a game your playing and can potentially save you thousands in interest!

Depends how desperate you are to buy it and they are to sell it – my folks have just wasted a chunk of my future inheritance bought a bungalow in our village and their opening offer was only 3% below the asking price – the bungalow has been empty for a year, needs about £10k of work, and my folks are effectively cash buyers with no chain.

Joking about my inheritance aside, I went nuts at them for not going in at 10%-15% below the asking price to test the reaction. They just gave me that pitying look that only your parents can give you.

It’s not like I spend most of my working day talking to estate agents and letting agents 🙄

We’ve just been to look at a house tonight, they’re asking £200k but property bee tells me it’s been on the market for almost 18 months. Plus it hardly had any furniture in it, they said they’d sold it all ready for the move.

We both really liked it so I think I’ll make them a cheeky offer, start around £170k I think which embarrasses me a bit but the first offer should do, yes?

Plus it’s not got a garage which is a bit of a disappointment but there’s plenty of room to build suitable storage/workshop. Big timber one maybe.

It has three showers and three toilets! Who needs that much flushing water?

Estate Agent told us most places we’re going for 5-8% below asking price.

Had offer accepted on property we are looking at at 5% under having originally offered 8% under.

Accepted an offer of 5% under on ours too so seems about right.

1st property we looked at fell through as survey showed major issues with the roof and he vendor refused to budge on price. Lost a 400k sale arguing over about 5 or 6k which amuses me as I drive past it daily on the way to work with a for sale board still outside the empty house.

Estate agents would tell you anything to get a sale to go through in any way shape or form. Scummers the lot of them.
I think it depends on how long it’s been on the market, the condition and the price compared to other similar proerties (with relavent + / – for condition) that have recently sold. I managed to sell our house for asking price, however there’s a lot more demand than supply, and houses like this are restricted to about 3 streets within easy walk of town, so I knew I could hold out. As it happened it sold within 3 days… The house I bought I managed to get 15% knocked off due to the length of time it’d been on the market, the condition and the fact I had buyers lined up for mine within 3 days.
This isn’t an ‘aren’t I great’ post, just trying to give an indication of what made the difference to my purchases.
Just remember, the worst possible thing that can happen if you put in a cheeky offer is being told no, and even then it’s not always no, just a game to see if you’d pay more.