Offering £30k under asking

[whatsontonight]

Viewed a house which we love, it needs a bit of work doing to it such as new paint throughout, carpets etc. It has a new ish bathroom and an ok kitchen. We offered £30k under asking, it is priced at 210k. The estate agent seemed completely shocked we had offered this and now I'm wondering if this was a CF offer

But not all properties are on the market for accurate prices.

Exactly! I have never had the same valuation from different EA on what I was selling. Speed also influences price.

I always say offer what you think it's worth. Perhaps a bit under your maximum so there is room to go up. Well done OP - you don't ask you don't get
I've offered 100 under once. But this is London and the property was on for quite a bit more. They didn't flat out reject it either!

If it’s only carpets and paints needing redone it’s a pretty cheeky offer too be honest. Although if it’s been on the market a very long time and the owners are desperate too sell you have a slight chance. I would think if someone offered me £30k less than my house is valued at that they were a total time waster and tell the estate agent that while refusing the offer.

www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/55737448?search_identifier=621fd58589149f42b40990197d87fb35

So this house was reduced by 250k in 3 months so clearly not the right starting price? And it still looks expensive so damn right I wouldn't be offering asking price.

You don't want to antagonise the seller if they think offer is an insult. The seller may just choose another buyer because that person offer more first time and was more ''respectful'' - depends on their circumstances too.

So this worked out for the OP but many cheeky offers just annoy the vendors.
It can work but it depends how long it's been on the market.

@Fundays12

If it’s only carpets and paints needing redone it’s a pretty cheeky offer too be honest. Although if it’s been on the market a very long time and the owners are desperate too sell you have a slight chance. I would think if someone offered me £30k less than my house is valued at that they were a total time waster and tell the estate agent that while refusing the offer.

But how would you know if the seller had put their house on the market at the valuation price?

@whatsontonight

Thanks, it last sold of 147k in 2015. It is reasonably priced in terms of the size of the house for the area but inside it is pretty shoddy, the carpets are filthy and need ripping up and the paint is patchy and chipped in every room. I will wait to hear back from the estate agent. Their reaction completely shocked me, it was as if we were asking for a £100k reduction

Well it is a CF response isn’t it? Most houses don’t come decorated to your taste and it’s hardly going to cost 30k for a bit of paint and some carpet- even if it was for 15 rooms!

If I was them I’d reject it.

@wonble

https://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/55737448?search_identifier=621fd58589149f42b40990197d87fb35

So this house was reduced by 250k in 3 months so clearly not the right starting price? And it still looks expensive so damn right I wouldn't be offering asking price.

That’s over 1m, the OP was on about offering 30K under on a 200k house. Slight difference.

It’s sorted now but fwiw my daughter sold her house last summer and a young couple, first time buyers, wanted it but had obviously been advised by parents to go in low. There was no way the offer was going to be accepted, but they continued to barter just going up a bit each time. Someone came along on day 3 of the saga and offered asking, cash so the young couple lost out. If they’d made a sensible offer to start with it would have been accepted and that would have been the end of the matter.

Why does the price matter if you buy into the asking price is correct?

Well done! A house is only worth what someone is prepared to pay for it and the EA / vendor will be out to maximise price, you to minimise.

It’s a game that’s gone on forever. You won 🙂

theory!

30k off a £210k house is a big reduction. I would expect that off a 400k house but not one that cheap. I would have offered £20k belie as met at 10k.

I worked for an EA. There will be a local going rate for that kind of property. If the bathroom & kitchen are slightly dated compared to other properties with high spec ones people prob offered £5k less. Carpets & wall colour don't really affect price. You'd only offer ,£30k less if it was a v v dated mess. Properties are priced to sell quickly not linger, because everyone knows the going rate from website searching.. Also where I lived every desirable properties had 20 people after it so if you offered low you had fat chance.

Well done Op, being brave in house buying can certainly pay off!

I find the concept of offers under asking being 'cheeky' ridiculous. Sellers can decline if it's not enough for them. No one is under any obligation to offer more than they think the house is worth. I'm sure if the offer is so cheeky and the house clearly worth more, the sellers will be inundated with higher ones anyway.

Lots of people horrified at the idea that someone would offer less than the asking price. The asking price is a rough guide. There is no set price for how much houses are worth - it's not like FX rates or the price of gold.

A house is worth what someone is prepared to pay for it. No more, no less.

If your house is priced at £500k (say) and people are only offering £350k then that is how much it is worth at that time. They're not CF, you're overly optimistic. Now, there's nothing to stop you hanging on and hoping you get £490k offers - it's your house and your choice. But it's really not cheeky to offer what you believe something is worth.

It depends on whether this is a genuinely reasonable offer because there is a lot work that needs to be done and the house was over-priced for the area in the first place or whether you offered this simply to match your budget...

If it is just because that is all the budget you have rather than based on something concrete, it is likely the offer will be refused.

@NewHouseNewMe

So this worked out for the OP but many cheeky offers just annoy the vendors. It can work but it depends how long it's been on the market.

Maybe it will work out for the OP, but the journey will have got off to a bad start and there are many hurdles to go

We refused to sell our house to a CF er (20k below asking price ,house in mint condition) even when they came back with the asking price. We sold it to another couple who offered very near the asking price. First couple were furious and even put a note through our door saying we were missing out on £1500 and why would we do that. Contacted them back and said because you took the piss and it was on principle (or words to that effect)

Our 30k under offer was accepted! You never know!

They've been very generous with you and I'm glad it worked out for you. We had someone do this with a house we were selling one time and we outright rejected and instructed the EA not to entertain those buyers at all again because it struck us a cheeky and time wasting and really didn't want to deal with game-playing buyers. It's a risky strategy.

Congratulations OP!

We put an offer in £140k on a house years ago that was on the market for £165k.

The estate agent told us that was an unacceptable offer for a turn key ready house. The kitchen had subsidence and they had recently wallpapered over black mould, both of which was pointed out by a tradie friend of the family.

We withdrew all interest from that day on because the estate agent was so rude and clearly had no idea of the issues at hand as the house was very over priced for its condition.

It was on the market for six more months before being lowered to 150 and sold for about 142.

All they can do is say no. A house is a business transaction, not a nicety contest. You offer a price you deem acceptable and they agree or counter.

I don't understand why anyone would be offended by someone making a low offer. Maybe it's my line of work or maybe cultural but I expect bartering.