Offering on a house....where to start?

[CJMommy]

We are in rented, mortgage agreement in place and are looking at properties. Not FTB and have just completed on our old house so ready to move with no chain.

Have seen a house, very good condition - wouldn't need anything doing to it on for 289000. It was a new build in 2009 and brought for 245000. Now, Zoopla has valuation at 268000 and Nationwide at 260000 - am so confused as to where to begin [buconfused] Do I start with an offer of 10% under or would it be worth offering 250 (to avoid stamp duty?). It's only been on market for 2 months.

I've looked at lots of other threads on here but all around 2012 so could do with someone in the know about current housing markets to offer some advice.

[BackforGood]

If the vendors put their home on the market only 2 months ago, expecting to get almost £290 000 for it, I can't see that there is any way in the world they would accept £250 000 - I mean, would you ?
I'm generally of the opinion it's always got to be worth putting an offer in, but I think you need to keep it realistic.

[CJMommy]

That's what I think tbh. I was thinking 10% knowing that would probably be rejected and working up from there.

[ILikeBirds]

You don't say what area of the country you are in. In this part of the country, new build houses (< 5 years old) sell for less than they were bought for as prices haven't gone anywhere and being 'second-hand' aren't worth the new build premium.

[CJMommy]

Cambridgeshire

[xabiuol]

I always think that if a house has been on the market for more than 2 months it must be priced a bit high.

It's clearly not on at a bargain price or it would have sold quickly.

Asking price is just some made up amount by estate agent/seller (don't be fooled!). Best thing to do is look what other comparable properties have actually sold for to check whether seller has set a realistic asking price.

£44,000 more than 4 years ago seems like quite a big increase to me!

[Crutchlow35]

Do not use zoopla for comparisons. Use ourproperty.co.uk or the land registry for recent sales and take it from there.

[CJMommy]

Thanks crutch. Wasn't aware of those

[flow4]

CJM there are a couple of tools that help you estimate the value of a property based on its actual known sale price in a past year.
www.nationwide.co.uk/hpi/calculator/calculator.htm. I think the Land Registry has one too, but I can't find it...

[Jaynebxl]

Cambridgeshire does seem to be the one part of the country that is bucking the national trend and prices are actually rising slightly, although the fact that it has been on the market two months does suggest it is over priced. I think in your shoes I'd go for a cheeky offer and see what happens. You can always up your offer.

[formicaqueen]

Have they improved the house since buying it?

[CJMommy]

Apart from paint/ wallpaper as was new build, no other changes i.e. kitchen and bathrooms the same.