At the lower end of the house market, would you view a house that was already competitively priced and £10k over your budget?

[FinallyLearntToBudget]

A novice house hunter here. That amount may not sound a lot if you're looking at houses £200k plus. But we're looking at houses around the £140k-£160k bracket.

Do you think it's worth going to see a house that is ten grand over your budget, in the hope that sellers might accept a lower offer?

The problem is it was originally on for £15k over our budget and it's already dropped by £5k. So I can't see the vendors willing to drop it by a further £10k.

It's a gorgeous house with way more pluses than others on its street or nearby (off road parking, South facing garden, 4 bedrooms, original Victorian features) and needs no work.

Just worried about going to see it, getting hopes up and no point doing so.

It's already very competitively priced. Would you bother to go and see it?

[shovetheholly]

I would go, but go prepared for the offer to be rejected, i.e. do NOT fall in love with it.

Clearly they want to sell quickly, or they wouldn't have reduced the asking price. You sound like you're a first time buyer, so no chain, which is a big plus. They may just go for your offer if they are looking for a quick transaction. You don't know if you don't try.

Is there any way you can raise just that little bit more to offer £5k below asking? If it needs no work, you could easily save that back compared to a house that needs a great deal doing to it.

[FinallyLearntToBudget]

Thanks Shove that's good advice. I've never bought a home personally though my husband has, so unfortunately we are selling, but we do have an offer and if all goes well, may rent shortly.

Unfortunately, neither set of parents can help so I just can't see where we'd get the extra £5k from (maybe should buy a lottery ticket ).

It's so painful being just £10k off our dream house. This is why I was very strict about the settings on our Rightmove search, but somehow, this one landed on our radar.

[PlainHunting]

If they've had to drop the price once already and it still hasn't sold then they may well be open to offers under the asking price.

I would view but don't set your heart on it.

[FinallyLearntToBudget]

Thanks Plain, yes, I think that would be the way to go. Glad people are saying go ahead and view, as the viewing is this evening in a few hours.

Was wondering whether to just call the estate agent and cancel to save heartache!

[momtothree]

You have no idea of the sellers position ... maybe they have been left a house, maybe they have lost their job or sick, could have their dream house in the radar and need a quick sale or could get a discount on their next purchase, they may want to move abroad. You can offer and if rejected ask that the offer stays on the table so if they dont get a better one yours is still there. Good luck

[EvaBee]

£140-£160k is still a lot of money to pay for a house - but you are obviously lucky that you are living in an area where stupid house price inflation hasn't gone bonkers.

I'd go round - you never know the sellers' circumstances. We don't know what area it is so don't know how well houses are selling. There are so many variables that could be involved in this.

[DancingDinosaur]

No harm in looking. They may need a quick sale. Maybe ask the estate agent first, then they will know what your limit is.

[IssyStark]

Definitely go and see it.

Our house is in that price range and I've been keeping an eye on the market locally (south of England) to get an idea of what we might be able to get if we were to move. It is not uncommon for houses to go at £15k or more under their asking price.

If you do offer, make sure your first offer is below your top price as then you'll have room to move. So for example, offer 15K under and then be settle for 7.5K under (which may be 2.5K than you say you can afford but i you can squeeze out another 3k on your budget try, over the lifetime of your mortgage it is barely noticeable).

Good luck!

[FinallyLearntToBudget]

Thank you all, those are very good tips and good to know that at this price range it's not out if this world for properties to go for £15k under asking. I have a feeling that they do want to move quickly as they dropped their original price just 4 weeks after going on the market.

Will report back after viewing!

[FinallyLearntToBudget]

Eva yes thankfully, houses round here do seem much cheaper than the national average.

[formerlyofLadysmith]

Another one who would go. We only found our house by the for sale sign - it was out of our budget when searching on rightmove, but they accepted our offer (had been on for a while at £190, we offered £150k)

[Kbear]

Yes I would and I did - and the vendors liked us so they dropped £10 grand off the asking price! Yes, I couldn't believe it either but they were in a rush and we were ready to move so job done and we moved in in 6 weeks. Good luck!

[SaulGood]

Oh how exciting. You never know, worth going and seeing.

We're nearly finished doing up our house and doing the maths right now, we're going to have to buy something which needs work and quite a bit of it to afford the number of bedrooms we need. We've spent 4 years practically rebuilding our current house and I desperately don't want to buy a project. So, on rightmove I keep slightly increasing our probable budget. Another 10-15k and I wouldn't have to live on a building site. The temptation is vast. DH keeps telling me to stop looking and dreaming. That's the problem with this end of the market. 10k makes a massive difference.

[FinallyLearntToBudget]

That's very encouraging Ladysmith and KBear!

Saul good luck in your search too. £10k does indeed make a huge difference at this end of the market.

[Spydra]

Go and look (you might not like it, and then no dilemma!)

If you do like it, put an offer in and tell the agent it's your absolute max. Don't set your heart on it. They may well take the offer, and you won't know unless you try it!

I got mine 15K under asking this way (I could have gone up another 5 but didn't need to!)

[Bearbehind]

If they've dropped the price once already and have been on the market for 4 weeks the vendors are unlikely to be expecting the asking price anyway- so hopefully it's just a case of how much under they'll go.

Good luck with the viewing- let us know how it goes

[DownWithThisTypeOfThing]

Go, view it and if you like it put in your best possible offer. Explain to the agent that you're not game playing but you can't go any higher. If the offer is rejected ask if it can be left on the table for the sellers to come back to if they don't sell as quickly as they hope.

Alternatively, speak to the agent first, explain your maximum budget and ask them if it's worth going to see the house.

Sounds lovely by the way.

FWIW our first house we dropped the price by £6k after a few days as we felt it was overpriced. We got an offer straight away £2k under the new asking price - we accepted because we'd found a house we wanted and were prepared to take a hit to make sure we got it. This was 2002 at the start of the bubble.

[SquinkiesRule]

Just offer what you are willing to pay all they can say is no and if you are lucky you get a yes.
We made a cheeky low offer and got 20,000 off my Mums place.

[FinallyLearntToBudget]

Thank you all for your advice, it's very gratefully received as I'm due to view it in an hour. Leaving the house shortly with trepidation.

Will definitely report back!

[FinallyLearntToBudget]

Down it is lovely. Would post it here if I wasn't worried about the competition .

[bilbodog]

It is very common for houses to be over-priced as owners always want to get the most out of their houses particularly if they are moving 'up'. I always search above my budget when house hunting as I know this and you never know how much they will negotiate until you try. Good luck.

[FinallyLearntToBudget]

Gah. It was gorgeous. Even better than I thought it would be!

[NHSmadam]

The other thing you can try is talking to your lender to see if they will actually lend a little bit more on that particular house. It has been known.

[momtothree]

Make that offer .... did u speak to the agent?

[PlainHunting]

You've nothing to lose by making an offer.