What offers made and why?

[starfish4]

We last bought 14 years ago and made an offer of £79,000 on our £80,000 house. We offered £1,000 less as we wanted to see if they would accept, but wanted to secure the it quickly as many properties coming onto the market at that time were selling within 24 hours.

We are now looking to move again and have our eyes on a £250,000 property which has been on the market for five months. This really is the top end of our budget. The only way we can make the property work for us is by putting dormer windows in upstairs instead of the velux ones as there's no headroom for wardrobes. We also think there's a couple of others things which would cost us money in the next year or two (electrics not working in one room) and boiler. If we went for this the max offer would have to be £230,000 but feel it's a bit of an insult to owners. At the same time, lack of wardrobe space could be why it hasn't sold and won't unless they bring price down.

[offblackeggshell]

Have you been watching your local market long enough to know how quickly other properties sell, and what relation selling price has to marketing price? I know there are huge variations across the country just now. Where we are selling stuff can take a year or more, and go for 10 - 15% below valuation. Where we are buying, it's going within the week, for sealed bids. (yes, )

[lalalonglegs]

If it's been on for five months then it's either overpriced or the owners don't want to sell (forced sale due to divorce, one party very reluctant to move out or whatever). I think £230,000 sounds fine given the amount the time it has been on the market.

Good luck.

[TooMuchRain]

About 18 months ago most of the houses in our area were sticking for a few months and then selling at 10-15% below the asking price. They are moving much faster now, but if your area is quiet it's always worth a try.

[starfish4]

Thanks for your replies. Four similar priced properties of a similar size sold within two weeks, so we think the sticking point on the house is the lack of headroom for wardrobes. We know the road well as it's two mins walk from home and walk past house about 3x a week so know it's okay there.

[orangepudding]

Have you asked the EAs if they have rejected other offers?

[MoonlightMerrimentandMistletoe]

Forget about the whole - this is where you really, really want to live now aspect and treat the whole thing as a business decision. You can't personally insult someone you don't know by offering them not far off a quarter of a million for their house...

If they haven't rejected any other offers, as mentioned by orangep then sounds as though you are in a relatively strong position - if they haven't had any other offers I'd start around 220k (so 12% below) and work up to your 230k (8% below) offer if you have to.

If they have rejected other offers, then guess you'll need to consider at that point - would you pay more and live with some of those 'wardrobes on wheels' things for a while? If yes, then it's probably the house you want and you may as well push for it. If not, then it's probably just 'the house you currently like' and you'll find better.

[Mandy21]

I think it is good advice to say treat it as a business decision, but I don't agree that you can't insult someone with an offer - unfortunately, most people don't see the sale of their home as a business decision.

Unfortunately OP, despite Moonlight giving good advice about your position depending on what position the vendors are in, you have no way of knowing if offers have been made / level of offers etc unless the estate agent is willing to tell you and then tells you the true position and pigs might fly!

I'd still go for it and see what they say!

[starfish4]

Thanks for your further replies. When we first spoke to the agent, we made it clear our max was £230,000, and they then went on to give us details of this property, so am thinking they must think the vendors may be interested in offers around the £230/235,000 mark. Also, they've moved out so I guess they want it sold.

[AndWhenYouGetThere]

I'd start a bit lower (£215 maybe) so you can work up to your £230 max. They then get the satisfaction of feeling they got "a little more" when you offer £230, and you still get the house you like for your ideal price. At least, in an ideal world.

[hanette]

Have you any recent sale info to back up your offer? Ie sale same road a couple if months back was for £230 so that's why you are offering that amount? Makes it look straightforward logic and therefore not insulting

Mind you saying that I did just that and the owner rejected my offer (it's up for a ridiculous price for a 1999 built house, owner is asking £120k more than the last sale on same street which was 2 months ago - you could get a full sash window dream house for what he is asking)

Another way of looking at it is that you are offering 92% of asking price - after 5 months on the market that's pretty good

Agree with perhaps starting a shade lower than £230 though so you have some slack

Best of luck!

[balckbumblebee]

the other thing to consider is how you would feel if you lost it. We went straight in at asking price when we bought last year. I am sure we could have knocked some off the asking price, and i still wonder if we should have tried. However, the house had everything we wanted, and actually didnt think we could afford, so we went for it. This was a year ago. there has not been another house on the market within the same value that i have liked. I therefore remind myself that if we had made a cheeky offer, and lost it, we may still be in rented !!!! so on balance, i think this was the best choice for us.

[misshoohaa]

The owners will have a base price in mind that they will be looking for, to meet their next move, mortgage costs Etc, so offer your maximum and have no regrets.

If you want the house paying 5k or so over what may be the cheapest price they are after (which coincidentally you'll never know) wont matter over the years you spend there.

Offering 215 on 250 is pretty bloody cheeky though and as a seller would piss me off and likely to opt for another buyer if it got competitive.

Playing bargaining games in house buyer is pointless, they know what they need and will most likely look favourably on a chain free buyer etc, but that will tend to be the extent of the decision making on accepting an offer.

230+ seems reasonable.

[UmpireHalfTimeKids]

Definitely agree with andwhenugetthere start at 215 then u can go up to 230.
Id never feel i couldnt make an offer because its too insulting!!! They just say no.
Your first offer should be an insult.

[UmpireHalfTimeKids]

Yes check property price register.

Often vendors think an offer is insulting but they r wrong!

[specialsubject]

it is business, not a party.

offer what you think it is worth to you. They say yes or no.

[MrsTaraPlumbing]

I totally agree with those who say start low and offer what you are really happy to pay and then move up to your top price.

For a sellers POV
My own house was on the market for ages is currently not up with an agent and we may put it up on the market again soon.
I would not be offended by any offer. I think that is what they want to pay or what they can afford to pay.
If a really low offer came in from a GOOD buyer at the right time for me I would take it - that may be true of those sellers.

On the other hand - I may hold out for a really high price for my house because I do not have to move and may be wanting a really attractive offer to persuade me.
You will be surprised how much people are willing to drop by.

I've known a few houses be on the market for between £250-£300,000 and drop by about £50k.

[UmpireHalfTimeKids]

plus, the thing with an offer, any offer is that the agents then say to the next viewers, "they've had an offer but they turned it down"

[Aethelfleda]

Our vendors held out for almost asking price BUT that was because they had already dropped their selling price substantially. They put the house on at an eyewatering price, it didn't sell, they then dropped it to a moderate overvalue (conpared with similar in the area). They then brought it into line with others, but by that point jist didn't want to drop any further. So offer what you like and then go up to your genuine maximum. They can always say no but you may get what you want!

[Lucylouby]

We've just bought a house. It was up for £200,000 and needs nothing doing to it. Our ea advised us to go in at £180, which was then pretty much laughed at. I jumped to £190, they wanted £195, I offered £194 and we met in the middle. I thought all along we would get it £195. Offer what you want to pay, they can only turn it down and you can either offer more or walk away.