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?!

I agree with @NoSquirrels go just under the £180 figure rather than 175 because they may view the 178 as rising to the 180 whilst the 175 is just a chancer (buying psychology - over time I have bought a sold a few houses)

Yes - that's a really good idea. We did that when we offered on our house. It had previously been marketed with a different agent with an asking price of £50k more. It had been on the market for about two years when we viewed. We didn't offer a round number, we made a lowish offer and they countered. We went back with a revised offer that was a weird number - and they spent a fortnight considering before they accepted.

I’d say 175k, I wouldn’t bank on anything on survey that needs renegotiation (I wouldn’t want that either). Have offers been made before? Ever sale agreed before? Just checking you have asked specifically as EA might not want to answer this question.

I was coming on to say go for it, it’s been sitting on the market for a year, either they’ve had lower offers and are hanging on or there’s just been little interest.

Now I’ve read your update I’m nosy OP, I’m in NE Scotland too. Fancy posing a link?

Good luck if you do go for it.

Has it not been reduced in that time? Wierd. I'd work out the cost of the essential works approximately- 10k for a new bathroom and take some off for the inconvenience.

I'd go in between 178-180. Then they can counter offer and hope it brings you out at 185.

Yes I like the 178 idea. It looks like you've thought about it and it's a serious offer.

@DowntonCrabby ah but what if you like it just as much as me and I'm outbid

I think it was reduced in price but only marginally, a few thousand lower.

Thank you everyone for the tips, I'll arrange a second viewing and if I still like it (pretty sure I will) then will put in an offer of £178k and see how it goes!

@DowntonCrabby ah but what if you like it just as much as me and I'm outbid grin

That’s very true

I promise I’m not in the market, well hoping to be at some point soon but we’ll be upsizing a wee bit. You can have my house for £175k

Lots of luck with the £178k offer, let us know how it goes 🤞🏻

None of the posters here have any idea of the seller’s circumstances so how can they possibly comment?

DH and I recently paid 100k under asking -
It represented 13.9% and they accepted. Just offer. They can only say no.

Not RTFT so sorry if it’s been asked but what did they pay for it 14 years ago? Zoopla or the national land registry should be able to tell you.
I ask because I’m curious as to whether they are making a profit. For example. We bought our house ten years ago from a family and paid more than double what they bought it for. We did it up and it’s probably worth a bit more but, at a push, only by what we spent on it. So if I were selling right now, I wouldn’t accept any cheeky offers. If however it was on the market for double what I’d paid ten years previously, then I’d probably happily take a cheeky (ish) offer.

Ah you’re in Scotland!

What’s the blue on the home report?

The sold prices on Zoopla will be accurate, they are pulled from the land registry. It is the estimated values on Zoopla that can tbe wildly out.

Ah ok so I just checked the land register and it was originally sold as a new build for £84k and the current owners bought it in 2006 for £160k and it's now on the market for £195k. I'll just shoot my shot, like others have said the worst that can happen is they say no. I'll come back and update either way!

@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 many times, having worked as an EA at various times in the past.

One arsehole vendor had his house on the market for £425,000 which was ambitious. He got a best and final offer of £415,000 and refused it, even though it was empty and he was living abroad and needed it off his hands.

No one else offered and the house was on the market for at least another year, gradually going down and down in price. It was just before the crash of 2008 too so then prices took a dive after that. Silly billy.

What’s the value on the home report not the blue sorry 🙈

@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!

t Ask any Estate Agent; serial timewasters are a hazard of the industry.

IME silly bids  is only one of the giveaway symptoms of  time wasters who have  no serious intention  of  buying,or moving house at all.  Their  weekend hobby is property fantasy, viewing houses they can't afford.

@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 think the problem with starting offers that are too low is that the buyer gives an impression that they will potentially be a nightmare to deal with, maybe expecting large discounts after survey/at the point of exchange because they believe they have the seller over a barrel due to risk losing onward purchase etc

House buying and selling is a nightmare anyway, a lot of people don't want to add someone with (what they believe to be) unrealistic expectations into the mix

I've had a shockingly low offer in the past and I wadnt offended I just refused it. It's a business transaction and they either want to sell or not and should be open to negotiation. My last house when I bought it the seller refused to negotiate. I should have known to just walk away

OP is showing her inexperience. She's not waiting for a survey.

The Scottish property markets operates in an entirely different way from England and Wales.
Every property put on the market, must have a current, independent Home Report and valuation by a qualified surveyor. The HR is in a set format, very thorough, available free to any person who wants to see it. This is to standardise the quality of surveys and prevent the waste and expense of multiple private surveys. So, if there is anything dodgy about the house needing further specialist investigation like asbestos or subsidence, the HR has already noted it. Why hasn't she read it? .

 The surveyor puts his valuation on the house  ( based on his local expertise and the loca;l property market and the condition of the property). 

  Next. OP says there  has been a  Note of Interest from another viewer but seems  not to grasp what that implies.  There is another seriously interested party waiting for Closing Date to be set , on which to submit their closed bid.  Nobody with half a brain reveals their bid   beforehand.

   OP can look up on Rightmove, the sold prices of all the   houses in that street  over the last 10 years.  There can be good reasons a seller holds out for a better price than neighbours ( his house has the biggest garden, best view, or position). Or he's in no rush   ( about to inherit from his parents,  works on oil rig, lottery win). 

          At any rate, pissing about with verbal offers and cheeky offers cuts no ice with sellers in Scotland.  Most only entertain a  formal  written offer from a solicitor.  

          Before she makes that formal offer, OP needs to have agreed with her mortgage lender, how much she can raise.

@2bazookas obviously I am inexperienced, I'm a first time buyer. I have no experience of buying a house. That's why I came here to ask for some opinions on what was reasonable.

I'm not sure where I said I haven't read the home report because I have of course read it and that's how I know the windows need to be replaced in the not too distant future. I'm not sure why I would need to carry out another survey before making an offer though, surely you get an offer accepted first and then survey later? Why would I go and pay out for a survey on any house I fancy when I haven't got a provisional agreement to buy the house? Or are you talking about the home report when you say I haven't waited for a survey?

Your point about notes of interest I'll take on board, the agent made it sound like it wasn't anything to worry much about, I'll maybe have to ask about it. I did wonder if when I offered they might counter and it would go to closing but obviously I can't predict the future or what their circumstances are.

Also I do have an agreement in principle from a lender as well as a solicitor to guide me, I'm not a complete and utter fool running round making offers on houses without the means to follow through.

@user1471538283

I've had a shockingly low offer in the past and I wadnt offended I just refused it. It's a business transaction and they either want to sell or not and should be open to negotiation. My last house when I bought it the seller refused to negotiate. I should have known to just walk away

Exactly. It’s nothing to do with not being serious. A portfolio landlord and property developer here. We’ll always buy for the right price but always prepared to walk away.

I’d probably piss some MN’ers right off - some you win, some you loose.

Seems a reasonable first offer to me.

A house is only worth what someone will pay for it.. offer whatever you like, they can refuse or accept!

Good luck x

OP I'm in a very similar situation. Property been on since Jan 2020, o/o 210k, have offered 190 which was rejected so going back with 195 tomorrow which is our limit. 🤞🤞🤞 Seller has moved out and no other viewers so hoping they're as keen to sell as I imagine I would be!!