AIBU to offer 15-20k under asking price

Don’t ask don’t get

wou” you pay £200 if need to ?

An offer of 10% under isn’t unreasonable. Go for it… they they can refuse or counter offer.

Decide how much you are actually willing to pay. If someone else is willing to pay more, so be it.

Everything comes down to seller motivation
I might put my house on the market in April just to see if we get any bites
If somebody offers me the price that I want for it, I might move
But if they don’t, I won’t

it’s a cheap house. others will be looking. how much do you want it?

offer what you want but dont be surprised if it’s bought very quickly by someone else. houses are flying where i am at the mo. youre in a good position if youve not got property to sell but i doubt they will discount it that much.

It fully depends on the local market and how houses are selling in your area, also how long this house has been on the market. £20K sounds like quite a discount on a £200K property that has been priced to reflect the level of modernisation needed. Not to mention they have already done the roof and windows. It also depends on how much you want the house. I would go with £10K under and see the response. If the house has been sitting for a while then I’d offer £20K under.

A new kitchen is going to cost more than that.

I always think it's worth a try. We made a cheeky offer that was £25k under the asking price, thinking there was no way it would be accepted, and it was as the sellers were on the verge of losing their onward purchase due to a buyer pulling out before us. Just bear in mind that if you proceed and there's any further issues found with surveys later down the line, it's unlikely you'd be in a position to negotiate further money off.

Worth a go. I am selling a house atm and would accept that sort of offer on it. The market in the area I'm selling is dire though.

The housing market seems a bit slow here at the moment so if they want a quick sale and not had much interest from anyone else then they might be more likely to sell.

In some areas, house prices are falling and there is nothing wrong with offering below the asking price. It is normal to start a bit lower as asking prices are often high.

You will get some sellers - like some of the replies above - who think it is insulting to receive offers lower than the asking price and act like it is a personal affront. I do not understand it as surely it is equally bad to be a greedy seller trying to extort as much as they can from struggling young families. Especially as they either got the house for free (inheritance) or paid very little for it themselves. But anyway, you have can’t control who the seller is, so be prepared to walk away.

Agreed. I'm confused as to why you think they would accept a lower offer when it's clearly already been priced for reflect that it needs some work?

That doesn't mean you can't offer, but realistically why would they consider accepting your offer when the £200k price acknowledges it's not in perfect condition.

I also don't for one second believe this house needs to be completely re-plastered.

It sounds like it’s correctly priced for its state snd you shouldn’t expect to make a profit on installing a new kitchen which you might if you get it even less than advertised

but conditions are tough for sellers

This is such a load of nonsense. Plenty of properties come to market overvalued particularly ones that haven’t been on the market in a long time. Our housing quality in the UK is very poor value for many & often poorly maintained.
Some people are so weird when it comes to selling & buying property & interestingly it’s never considered cheeky to over inflate the value of your property or to question the general burden we put on younger generations.

Depends how long it has been on the market?

I agree with PP that it sounds like it's been priced to reflect the condition, but you can of course offer whatever you want. It depends on the area, but where I am, "do-er uppers" or partial do-er uppers go for more than just the difference between the cost of the work and a house already done. This is because some people are willing to pay for the opportunity to put their stamp on the work, ie have it done exactly as they want as opposed to living with the previous owner's design that doesn't really justify changing because it's reasonably new.

It has a new roof. So therefore it's already had money spent on that.
How long it's been on the market will be a big factor. If it's only just come on I'd say no but if it's been on a while then they're more likely to accept.
Don't worry about offending anyone. Offer what you like but don't be surprised if it doesn't get accepted.

I sold a probate house. Priced to sell as it needed work. Got an offer in a couple of weeks considerably under and i said no. They came back a few days later with a better offer, but I still said no and then they offered asking price. If it had been on a few months I would have accepted.

Make your offer but be prepared to go higher if it's the house you want and the asking price is still in your budget as you may end up paying that

Yabvu. The house will be valued in it's current condition. Taking off what it would cost you to upgrade it is very very cheeky & an insult to the seller. Please don't do this.

It sounds like it’s being priced appropriately if houses that are done up sell for 20k more. You can offer what you like, and the seller can either agree or disagree. However you can’t go lower once you’ve offered higher, so start low and be prepared to offer up.

It already has a new roof and where does OP suggests it needs rewiring?
decoration is personal taste and sounds like it’s already priced to reflect it needs a new kitchen.

OP I’d discuss with the estate agent that you’re looking to make sn offer but below asking price and sound them out.
id probably go in at £190k with the expectation the owner will want to negotiate up a bit more.

New roof, rewiring, kitchen, bathroom, complete redecoration will cost way more than 20K - probably more like 50K.
Plus the risk of finding other problems in a house last renovated in the 60s.
I'd probably start 30K below asking & explain why. Be prepared to negotiate up but have a hard ceiling price- building & renovation costs have skyrocketed in recent years. You may not be able to live there during all of the work and you have to have the cash to pay for it.

Buy one of those rather than squeezing more money out of someone who is dealing with the loss of their father

What a load of nonsense!

Look at the market OP, in many areas it’s a buyers market & reductions are happening frequently. It’s quite normal to offer under.

Has it just come on the market? If so I think they'll be unlikely to accept £185 at this stage. If it's been on the market for a while and you've only just viewed it then it's more likely.

Buy one of those rather than squeezing more money out of someone who is dealing with the loss of their father.

come off it @Lurkingandlearning the OP doesn’t owe this person anything for their loss!! Why do people do this on MN.. you’re trying to make them feel bad?!

It’s a bidding process.If no one else bids and the seller accepts the £20k under bid, then the OP hasn’t “squeezed money” out of them - that’s what the market said it was worth.

honestly! I had to say it, we need to stop making people feel bad on here for no good reason

Sounds like it's been priced to sell , you've done the maths yourself. I can't see an offer below 190 being entertained.

While you are justifying costs a builder will step in at 190 - 195 renovate the whole house for less than 15k and put it for sale in a few months for 230

A lot depends on the market. Some towns are v slow for property, but I'm in Manchester and good houses (even ones that need modernisation) are still selling super quick, a lot going to best and final.