...to offer this much?

[shiveringwiggles]

Just seen a three bed house we like on the market for 230k. The owners are deceased and the son is selling. It hasn't been updated in a few decades and would need new windows in every room. The kitchen and bathroom are barely functional and would need to be fitted and replaced before we could get to the cosmetic stuff (new carpets throughout etc) and properly 'live there'.

Am I being unreasonable to offer quite a bit under? 190/200k?

(We are first time buyers if this helps).

What will you do if you ever want to move to 2020?

@2bazookas

I've never made a telephone bid for property . Mine are always made in writing, formally via my lawyer.

Same goes for offers from buyers; I won't entertain them unless made in writing, from their lawyer to mine.

Presumably you’re in Scotland? It’s very different there.

In my experience estate agents pressure vendors to accept a low offer. The estate agent wants a commission after all.

Yes, this can be a problem. I had a very low offer made on my property once and I rejected it outright. The agenda responded, ‘So what figure can I go back to them with?’ I said, ‘You can’t - I’m rejecting the offer, not negotiating. We’re too far apart’. She kept pushing and saying, ‘But I need something to go back to them with; what figure can I go back with? I need to give them something so we’ve got a point to negotiate from’. At this point I reminded her that she worked for me, not the buyers, and that I wasn’t interested in pursuing this line of interest any further.

The only time we ever had an offer in writing, it was a handwritten note through our door. Never via a solicitor...is that a Scottish thing?

Normally our agent just calls us and passes on the offer and we discuss.