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AIBU?

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Original poster

to ask about the offer somebody made on my house?

58 replies

sweetmoonbeam · 17/05/2012 18:16

Hi,

My house has been on the market since the end of April. It is a nice 'solid' three bedroom property, semi detached with a big garden, but it's dated inside (e.g. no shower, very 70s kitchen) - this is reflected in the price of course, as it was when I bought it.

It's on the market for £130,000 and to give an idea, a more up to date property on the same street sold for £155,000 recently. At any rate, a man (and his dad and grandad!) came to look at it last week and then again yesterday. Yesterday they looked very thoroughly - in the loft and in the cupboards and so on, I don't mind this but then they made an offer this morning - of £110,000.

I was/am taken aback by the low amount offered. There's no way I'm going to accept it - my property doesn't have a mortgage and so whatever I get for it dicates what I go on to buy (I am moving to cut down my commute.) Properties in the area I want to buy in are a similar price and I wouldn't be able to buy anything at 110! So I said a (firm) "no" and that was that.

Now he wants to visit AGAIN. This involved a visit at around 7 in the evening and I get in at 6:30 so delays my meal, means him poking about for a good hour or so, stresses the cats out (!) - I don't know whether to say to the estate agents that I feel he's wasting my time and please don't bother with him, or if I should grin and bear it again?

Thanks!

OP posts:
Kellamity · 17/05/2012 18:18

How much do you want to sell? Have you had much interest apart from him? Is property selling in your area?

RandomMess · 17/05/2012 18:18

They clearly are interested but are trying to get a bargain. If you want to sell then you have to put up with people coming view.

Can you arrange a time that suits you better - during the day with the estate agent or a weekend?

Seabright · 17/05/2012 18:18

I would let hm come. If he wasn't interested, he wouldn't have made he offer. Suggest a later time, maybe?

rhondajean · 17/05/2012 18:19

What's the least you would sell for? Is he realistically likely to go up that amount?

Btw read in our local paper today houses here are selling for 25 per cent under asking price. Was back looking at all the houses I'd ruled out as unaffordable!

ATruthUniversallyAcknowledged · 17/05/2012 18:19

FWIW, I don't think the offer is that low. It's relatively normal to knock off 10% for a first offer & sounds likes he's rounded that up (down?) and chanced his arm. First offers are often a bit on the cheeky side! What would you accept? I'd be straight with the estate agent about that & say if he's willing to pay that then its worth hol coming round. If not, no point.

HOMEMADECHUTNEY · 17/05/2012 18:19

Grin and bear it, I'd say. Many people put in a very 'cheeky' low offer when they're interested in a property.

If he knows you've rejected his low bid, yet still wants to come round then surely it means that he's thinking about putting in a better offer?

Vinomcstephens · 17/05/2012 18:20

I think you need to grin and bear it if you want to sell your house! He's made you an offer which you've rejected - if he wants to come round again then it stands to reason he's considering a new offer so I think saying no because you want to eat your tea earlier would smack of cutting your nose off to spite your face!

mysteryfairy · 17/05/2012 18:20

I would let him come again as he may be building up to a serious offer and buyers are in short supply. Could you ask the agents to do an accompanied viewing and just go out for something to eat that night? No idea how to sort the cats though.

Olympia2012 · 17/05/2012 18:21

Stressing the cats? Delaying your meal?

Are you serious about selling?

rhondajean · 17/05/2012 18:21

Actually. - thinking again - if the offer was only yesterday and he wants to comeback right away, he's interested properly. Otherwise he'd wait to see why happened and come back with a not much better offer in a few weeks.

Orrrr he thinks he's spotted a problem and wants to point it out to you to haggle?

Graciescotland · 17/05/2012 18:23

TBH it sounds like he's looking for a bargain. If your not willing to go as low as say 120 it's unlikely you'll come to an agreement and I'd say no to the extra viewing.

DublinMammy · 17/05/2012 18:24

Well, you either want to sell your house or you don't.

ivykaty44 · 17/05/2012 18:25

You are selling your house - so sorry but you have to lump your tea time routine.

He is interested in the house - otherwise he wouldn't want to come back and view it again.

Giving a firm no, isn't going to encourage anyone to up and offer and negotiate with you.

Are you really expecting to get full asking price?

Will you offer full asking price for a house you are viewing or will you offer under?

I would smile sweetly and offer him a cup of brew and keep him sweet. ou may not see anyone between now and September for all you know.

I put a silly offer on a house years ago - they gave a firm no and then 6 months later got back in contact to see if my offer still stood.... I had knocked 50 k off the asking price and that was 17 years ago, they wanted to take my offer as a property is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it.

NoraHelmer · 17/05/2012 18:26

In this market I think you're very lucky to get an offer at all. We've been up for sale for the best part of 18 months. We had one cheeky offer £50k under the asking price. We tried to make it work but the chain fell apart anyway. We haven't had any more offers, and are now considering taking the house off the market as we feel really dispirited.

You might want to ask the EA if his offer was his best and final, or whether there's some room for negotiation without frightening him off.

ivykaty44 · 17/05/2012 18:26

If you have any sense you will play the game and when he comes round tell him sensible offers are always so much nicer

Original poster
sweetmoonbeam · 17/05/2012 18:28

Olympia I should have added a smiley really. I wasn't completely serious (although the way my cats run around with an expression of utter terror on their faces puts people off, I'm sure! So annoying!) However, it isn't convienient. I am serious about selling of course but not to people time wasting.

A number of people have looked around the house but I think are put off by the dated interior.

I would accept around 122, but no less. I bought the house last August for 125 and really cannot afford to make a huge loss on it, because as I said before, I also need to find somewhere to live myself and I can't do that without a sizeable sum of money.

OP posts:
BarredfromhavingStella · 17/05/2012 18:28

Decide realistically what price you are looking for then tell estate agent to tell him you wont accept under that amount so if he's not willing to go to that then no point him coming for another viewing. Will add though that 10% off asking price is the norm.

claudedebussy · 17/05/2012 18:29

i think a 10% under the asking price offer is reasonable at the moment, which would be £117 000.

what are you hoping to get? i very very much doubt you'll get the asking price.

claudedebussy · 17/05/2012 18:30

sorry, x-post

noddyholder · 17/05/2012 18:30

It is worth what someone will pay. Property has no intrinsic worth it is all market and sentiment driven. Looking at the news re greece and spain I think UK banks will need to re capitalise by means other than QE and if you look at the press today they are all predicting mortgage rates to rise so maybe down teh road this will look like a good deal

Original poster
sweetmoonbeam · 17/05/2012 18:31

Thank you.

There are not many properties this cheap in this town - mine is about the cheapest you can get for this size of property and in the area it is in. Cheaper properties are flats.

If it doesn't sell it will have to come off the market but there's no way I can afford to take that sort of hit and come out of it financially secure - I'm sorry others have had problems selling but I do need to think about my own future rather than just grab at the first offer which comes along.

I would need the man in question to offer around £12,000 more, and even then I'd be selling at a (slight) loss.

OP posts:
Original poster
sweetmoonbeam · 17/05/2012 18:32

10% off the asking price - well yes, but £20,000 less is significantly more than that!

OP posts:
SparkleSoiree · 17/05/2012 18:36

A buyer usually has more than one offer in them so I would let him come round again for sure.

10% under is where I believe offers usually start.

You have to be prepared that you may not get a buyer at the price that you need to sell at but more a price that they want to pay. They have a figure in mind, you have a figure in mind and somehow you have to negotiate to where you are both happy.

If you don't have a lot of scope in price movement is it a possibility to update something inside the property to reduce the amount a buyer would have to spend to update it? Buyers look around and they price up in their head how much it will cost to update certain things then those costs are reflected in their offers.

MarasmeAbsolu · 17/05/2012 18:37

If the kitchen is indeed dated and putting people off, I'd advise you to swap the cabinet doors for newer looking ones (cheap ikea white with nice looking handles).
These do not cost much and make a big difference (it helped us sell, for sure). You can find some on Gumtree / ebay - as new (prob from cosmetic redevelopments, most of the time)
Same if you have dated looking tiles - consider sticker solutions, or even tile paint (not great, but some tiles are unforgivable)
For the bathroom - have you got a shower over bath?

[I guess you are in England - so this would not be an offer over price, but more like a price in the region of? ]

ivykaty44 · 17/05/2012 18:37

But then you are sweet to him and tell him how much he wants to give you more money for the house Smile

If he is coming back for a second look then he is likely to have limited funds - so make sure you stretch those limited funds by making him love the house at a higher price Wink