If this was your house would you accept the offer?

[JustWondering125]

I'm a FTB and have seen a house I like, it's on the market for £195k and has been on the market since January 2020. Other houses in a similar but very slightly lower price range are selling like hot cakes just now but not this one.

I went to view it last week and really like it but know for a fact I can't stretch to to the asking price. I could get to 190 as an absolute push but 185 would be much more reasonable. It needs some things updating such as the bathroom is the original and doesn't even have a shower. The owners haven't done any work to it by the looks of it since they bought it 14 years ago, all the windows, kitchen and bathroom are what the property was built with 20 years ago - not sure if that's relevant. But it would certainly be liveable it's not in a state of disrepair it just needs a refresh.

So if this was your house and a first time buyer came along and offered you £175k (as a very hopeful starting price) would you refuse to deal with them any further or would you negotiate? Or accept?!

Thanks everyone this is really helpful, I wasn't aware you could negotiate again if surveys cropped up with anything once the initial offer was accepted!

I do not understand this hand wringing I’ve seen on Mumsnet that if your opening offer is too low then the sellers will refuse to engage further. I have never seen this play out in reality. I’ve put some embarrassingly low offers in on houses, it’s a starting point and you negotiate upwards. The sellers have never said no we won’t sell to you. They just say no and counter offer. OP go in at what you think it’s worth, show you have done your research on sold prices in the local area, explain your position as a FTB. Good luck!

@JustWondering125

Thanks everyone this is really helpful, I wasn't aware you could negotiate again if surveys cropped up with anything once the initial offer was accepted!

Anything significant op. All surveys come up with something. Any house you’d expect a few things. It’s anything significant that wasn’t apparent at survey.

No one should put an offer in they are not wishing to actually follow through on.

You can’t really bank on renegotiating after survey - that is really for significant works that aren’t obvious from viewing, e.g. needs a new roof, the electrics are dangerous. A bathroom that is clearly old is not part of that discussion. We agreed under asking price on our house based on it needing a full rewire and replumb, and some minor structural work. We did a full renovation but the antiquated decor and bathrooms were not part of the negotiated cost.

@TitusPullo

I do not understand this hand wringing I’ve seen on Mumsnet that if your opening offer is too low then the sellers will refuse to engage further. I have never seen this play out in reality. I’ve put some embarrassingly low offers in on houses, it’s a starting point and you negotiate upwards. The sellers have never said no we won’t sell to you. They just say no and counter offer. OP go in at what you think it’s worth, show you have done your research on sold prices in the local area, explain your position as a FTB. Good luck!

I have! When we were selling my mum’s house we got a very lowball offer (it was a good house in a great location but was quirky in its layout so not ideal for everyone). It was clear that person had no intention of offering anywhere near what it was worth (and got in the end but it took some time) and we did tell them to get stuffed.

But you can offer below the asking price because it needs new kitchen/bathroom, and it’s already on at the ceiling price of the road. They just don’t have to accept

@Foxyloxy1plus1

Presumably, the OP was selling a property with siblings as part of an estate. If she hasn’t bought a house before she’s a FTB.

Yeah I see that now.

Not always completely true though.

If one of a couple have owned before, the other person who has never owned is not a FTB.

@BarbaraofSeville tbh the kitchen and bathroom are liveable yes. A shower will absolutely need to be installed though. The windows are a bit more of a concern as they're wooden and starting to show signs of rot, it was flagged in the home report.

@TitusPullo that's reassuring, it's something I'm quite worried about as really don't want to get it wrong and obviously I've never bought before but I really like this house!

I understand that no one on here is going to be able to tell me what this particular seller will do but it's good to get perspective from others who are impartial in the situation with different experiences.

Yes you can renegotiate but it has to be significant. Not just small things. Hence my examples of the roof needs doing or structural work. You cant rely on that though, the house may be fine.

Its like anything in negotiation, you just have to justify your position robustly. Go for it. Buying a house is a PITA IMO, but actually getting the keys at the end on walking in is an amazing feeling.

@EmptyOrchestra - how did you know that? All you had to say was no we want £x, not just get stuffed. Why narrow your selling pool. People are too emotional about house selling.

For a house thats on the market for over the market average, tbh id expect a modern kitchen/bathroom and definitely wouldnt expect rotting wooden windows.

OP, I agree with PP on negotiation after survey. They only time we did it was when the surveyor found some structural work that was urgent in the roof space. We would never have seen it on viewing. We said no to dropping the price on a property were were selling as the survey said the carpets were getting worn, something easily seen on viewing.

Fair enough re. surveys, I doubt there would be anything substantial pops up which hasn't already been noticed, I'd be quite surprised if it did considering the age of the house. That could be famous last words of course, maybe the roof is on the verge of caving in.

Tbh honest, in your position, if something significant enough to warrant a price reduction comes back in the survey then look for another house. It's already too much trouble. You're a ftb ready to go. One of those other house sellers in similar, cheaper properties, will bite your hand off.

@Letsallscreamatthesistene thank you I was thinking along the same lines! I think the windows do still have a fair bit of life left in them but they'll need replaced in the not too distant future.

If the house is overpriced, this will come up on the survey for the mortgage. So, for example, you offer £185 and its accepted, then the survey comes back with a valuation of £180, I’d revisit the offer and reduce it to the value on the survey. We’ve done that twice.

You can only really renegotiate post survey if it shows up something that you can't realistically see for yourself. So not for the dating issues you've observed.

I'd go in at £175k. It's been on over a year, why not?

One thing that hasn't been mentioned yet is what the sellers paid for the place. They may have an expectation of selling for more than they paid. Also don't be surprised if you are told by the agent that it's been priced with the updates needed in mind.

Anyway - when you make your offer, be positive about the place, be polite about the work needed and remember that what you would like to do in terms of taste is irrelevant to the sellers.

Put in the offer the most they’ll say is no. We put in a low offer on our current house and ended up getting it as it had been on the market a long time, we were chain free and the vendors had found a house. So circumstances can make a difference.

@IstandwithJackieWeaver I had a look on Zoopla it looks like they bought it for £160k but that isn't always 100% accurate.

Okay - remember they bought in a rising market shortly before the last recession.

And it was new build, which are always overpriced.

Someone buying a newbuild at that time could have been left with significant negative equity and not much capital growth since if they're outside London/SE where prices are around the same as the mid 2000s pre crash.

From a purely psychological emotional perspective, I’d say £175K feels cheeky because it’s almost exactly 10% under so feels like a ‘I might get away with it’ offer i.e. not serious. So I’d offer £178K (feels ‘considered’) and note you’re a FTB with no chain, ready to proceed etc and that the price offered reflects the condition. Then you can go up to between £180-185K without much trouble but not get pushed further.

@NoSquirrels

From a purely psychological emotional perspective, I’d say £175K feels cheeky because it’s almost exactly 10% under so feels like a ‘I might get away with it’ offer i.e. not serious. So I’d offer £178K (feels ‘considered’) and note you’re a FTB with no chain, ready to proceed etc and that the price offered reflects the condition. Then you can go up to between £180-185K without much trouble but not get pushed further.

that's what my line of thinking is just now, a bit more than £175k but still under the £180k

@BarbaraofSeville

And it was new build, which are always overpriced.

Someone buying a newbuild at that time could have been left with significant negative equity and not much capital growth since if they're outside London/SE where prices are around the same as the mid 2000s pre crash.

it's not in London, it's actually N.E. Scotland where we're still coming back from the oil industry crash a few years ago, our house prices are weird!