Made low offer on property in London- what next??

[akennyg]

Hi All,
We have made an offer of 685 on a property which is on the market for 775. It needs about 80k worth of work, and we can only purchase happily at under 710/715 at the very most. We hoped our offer might potentially be successful for a few reasons-

• the property is overpriced. Clearly above market value. There are similar properties on the market nearby for late 600s early 700s, which we would go for except the lack of buggy access

• we are cash buyers (we can borrow from parents then mortgage later to pay them back),

• we are chain free

• We know the seller is extremely keen to sell - she has already packed up and just wants out for personal reasons

• its been on the market since november with one offer which fell through very quickly. The agent told us this offer was at 770...but she seemed quite shifty when she said that so I'm suspicious it actually wasn't that high...

Especially as the agent encouraged an offer however low as the vendor was "desperate". Then, when we offered yesterday morning the agent took all day to come back and then just said "no". It was a bit odd as she must have told the vendor in the morning but she waited all day to come back to us. she was a bit stuttery on the phone and just said it was way too low and asked if we wanted to make another offer, even though she knows if we offer again it will still be much lower than 770. To be honest it really felt like a game so my husband said we can't really go any higher and we will leave it.

I don't want to miss out on the property, its not the be all and end all and we can wait but its lovely and feels right. I also know instinctively that the agent hasnt been very honest and is playing on the fact she thinks we are chomping at the bit to buy it.

Sorry to ramble! The question is- what would your tactics be in this situation. Do we lay our cards on the table come Monday and hope no other offers are on the horizon, do we stay silent and wait for her to come to us? What's the most likely way to get a good outcome? We are prepared to walk away...we just dont want to if we dont have to!

Any advice very very appreciated on how to act now. Thanks

[IssyStark]

I would go back after the weekend and say that 700 or 710 is your top offer but you have the money available (no mortgage surveys to arrange) and you are ready to go.

It is a game. You are expected to barter.

[MyUserName1234]

Wait until Tuesday at the earliest. If the property has been on the market for a while the seller will be more desperate to sell, then you buying.
The agent will be likely to chase you. Explain your offer if you decide to increase it and site the reasons you have given. A bit of patience will go a long way.

[SantasLittleMonkeyButler]

I would agree with the idea of increasing the offer to your comfortable max, explaining that you could not pay a penny more and leaving it there.

Just to go back to Issy's comment though - please don't buy a £700k house without a survey . Mortgage or no mortgage.

[Artistic]

Make a better offer early next week with an expiry time of 24 hours or end-of-day after which your offer is off the table. Will get the agent going.

After 2 days of 'bidding' against another equally eager buyer & going way above asking price (we desperately wanted the house!) my final offer went with a 15 minute expiry saying I couldn't take it anymore!! It was accepted in 5 & here we are now.

[Mintyy]

I'm not sure what you were expecting OP?

Did you think they were going to bite your hand off?

[akennyg]

Absolutely not! To be honest I thought we would get back some sort of show of cards- "no way below x" or has to be over y". It's my first time doing this and I think I was naive. Its a starting point though, and itll be a steep learning curve!

[shaska]

I'm confused too. You offered £90k under the asking, and when they said no you consider dropping the whole thing?

Isn't it fairly standard practise to refuse a first offer, and presumably very standard when it's that much below asking?

If you want the house, go back with an offer of the money you are prepared to pay for it. That's what I'd do, anyway.

[shaska]

Ah, crossposted, I see.

I suspect the flat 'no' and lack of chase was to do with how far below you were. They might be willing to take a drop, but you've said that's your top offer, and it's a big gap. If I were them I'd probably figure it wasn't going to happen.

[Mintyy]

Yes, I suspect the vendors and EAs feel you are wasting their time.

[akennyg]

I would say the same, Mintyy, if it wasn't for the way the estate agent has played it and the things she has said both before and after our offer. I suppose time will tell and thank you to all for your thoughts.

The plan is to stay quiet, and keep looking at our other options. If EA hasn't been in touch by Wednesday we will call and ask how the ground lays and give her our best and final offer if it sounds appropriate.

[ak2014]

We made a very low offer on a property that had no offers for months in Greater London. The seller was very desperate. Previous buyer pulled out a day before exchange. But there was a mystery buyer all of a sudden making an offer on the same day we made an offer. It felt like a tactic and we didn't get into the bidding war as the other party was ready to pay close to asking price. The house is now under offer so it was not a ghost bidder. Deep down I didn't afford the asking price so was hesitant. Now that the property is gone, its okay. I do feel I let it go for about 20K but I would suggest you offer what you are prepared to pay then walk away. We have found some better properties in the same price bracket in other areas. Its happened to me twice already, offered very low thinking that prices are coming down, when I see seller dropping 50K on listings. But we have missed 2 properties now where people are willing to pay near asking price. May be I'm still fooling myself to get a bargain.

[NoArmaniNoPunani]

Offer 695 or 700 on Tuesday. Explain that you can't go higher but you are cash buyers. Then put it out of your mind and possibly even keep looking at other houses. Don't be tempted to pay more than you think it's worth.

There's a good chance the agent feels the vendor is being unrealistic with the price and wants them to accept your offer.

[akennyg]

Yes one thing that's odd is, if they are desperate to sell why has the property been priced so much higher than it's market value?! Surely if they priced it sensibly they would get more interest?!

[Mintyy]

What evidence have you got that it is overpriced? What are the comparables?

[akennyg]

Well, at present this property is 1 bedroom with a strange layout, so to make it a 2 bed we would need to spend a significant amount of money re- jigging layout.

Around the corner is a 3 bed, same sq footage, garden, terrace, no work required. If anything better for transport. Not right with baby as there are more stairs but absolutely lovely. On for same price.

Also around the corner, is also a 2 bed, more sq feet, garden, terrace, work required but priced 100k less. Also with stairs so not right for us in particular.

all other 2 beds in the area are priced at under 700k. This particular one is in a lovely little cul de sac so could see a little premium on that, but 75k is a bit much. Especially when it has rising damp and needs sig work whoever buys it?!

Or am I missing something?

[RyanAirVeteran]

I am not sure I would discount a house because of buggy access, you could leave the buggy in your car boot, and use a sling.


However if you are planning more than one child with a tiny age gap, ignore me.

[akennyg]

Yep planning to try again come April so with 2 i think id find it too tough (especially now we have the choice!)

[Mintyy]

Would you not consider buying a 2 bed house in a slightly less expensive area? That is a very large budget for essentially a 1 bed flat.

[akennyg]

I definitely would, but my husband has family who need our help so we must stay pretty close. He's also incredibly fussy about area so we are working in small area. It's a good size speaking in sq feet (over 1000), and would make a lovely family home for a few years- I can see us there. But only for the right price, obviously.

[RyanAirVeteran]

Like I said ignore me.

[petalsandstars]

Unless you are planning on keeping the pram in the house for some reason (we did with the first) don't discount the others due to steps. My pram /pushchairs I have 2 live in the boots of the cars and if I walk from home rather than driving first I just have to unfold one on the drive whilst the DCs are behind stairgate indoors.

[akennyg]

It's a bit hard when the flat is flight of stairs inside and one outside, I imagine esp with potential 2 under 2...since we can choose am going for as easy a set up as possible :)

[PennyJennyPie]

Hmm. Our house was on for 495. By our second viewing they had dropped to 475. We started bidding at 435 and moved in 5 or 10 k increments over 2 weeks. We bought at 455 and DP is to this day 3 years on complaining that we gave away the last 5 k. Its worth trying...

[noddyholder]

Yes wait a few days and offer another 10k. London is starting to stall and things aren't selling esp if they were on last year people are waiting for 'new' I am going to buy soon and it will be something from last year which didn't sell. You are in a good position with cash and I would offer the 10 and then back away for a week or so.

[IssyStark]

Apologies, I said mortgage survey to arrange when I meant no mortgage valuation. I would always get a full survey on an old house regardless of whether or not you needed a mortgage.