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

Depends on how busy your local
Market is. When we last sold we had an open house and multiple asking price offers. One man went £20k under to start and then was hugely surprised that we didn't go with him when he brought his offer up to asking price. In retrospect we should have gone to sealed bids but my husband works in sales and gets overexcited about closing deals so we sold to a nice couple who offered asking price outright.

@whatsontonight

We have said yes to the 197k and agent is going back to seller to confirm ok to take off market 🤞🏼

Well done whatsontonght

We made a similarly low offer of 30K off the property we have just bought. It took them a few days to agree but I think it was a fair price. It was a probate property and we had the added evidence of next door and 5 doors down (both in better condition) having been sold 2 months earlier for the same price we offered. They couldn't really argue with that. Arguably we should have offered less but it had the advantage of a very dodgy extension with a large footprint which no one would ever get planning for today

I think this thread highlights the differences between markets around the country. I know that in some areas asking price is basically code for 'offers over'. But where I am (it's a good area but nothing like the South East) no one would ever expect to achieve the asking price. It's just not how it works. You offer what you think a house is work, the vendor says yay, nay, or counter offers. I know people take it very personally but at the end of the day it's a business transaction.

Congrats. Well done negotiating!

@Cadent

We offered 30k less than asking price and offer was accepted. 5 years on we are selling and one of the estate agents has said we will likely sell it for what we paid, which is depressing.

Wish I'd asked for 40k off!

What have you done to improve the value of the house?

Did you get the price wrong when you bought or has the market slumped?

@Apple40

Sorry if I was selling and someone offered that much under the asking price I would be insulted and would turn it down, houses round my way are going for that and more over the asking price. My sister in law and had someone offer a way below asking price to then up offer to full asking price as they were desperate for the house, then just before contracts being signed changed there offer again to £30k below asking price as they wanted to Xyz to property and could not do it with paying full price . They lost the house completely as my sister in law pulled out of sale.

This behaviour is what would put me off a low unjustified offer. Friends have had it happen and it’s a costly risk both financially and stress wise.

Yes some houses are overpriced. One near me is massively overpriced. It was obvious as soon as it went on, it was a 3 bed semi which they’ve converted the garage and extended above it. All done to a good spec but whereas a 3 bed in same condition on the same street is going for 210 in 2 weeks, there’s is on at 330 with no offers in 6 months. If I were to offer on that I would go no higher than 250/260 because that’s what the market signals it’s worth. If I add buying one of the 3 beds priced at 210 I wouldn’t go in at 180 unless it needed kitchen and bathroom, again because that’s what the market shows they go for.

When putting an offer on a house I’ve always gone by what is the house actually worth (from viewing and looking at recent sold properties) and what can I afford. I knock a few grand off just to see if I can keep a bit but not 30k. It’s paid off for OP but it is a risk if you can actually afford much higher, really want it and most importantly think the asking price is justified.

Sounds like good news OP.

FWIW 'in my day' (I'm 48!) most houses were a bit shabby. We had to rough it for a bit and work hard to improve it over time. Now that the market is flooded with new builds it seems to me that a lot of FTB expect their house purchase to be in mint condition.

I am rambling. My point is thing:
Don't rip the carpets up until you are sure that they wouldn't be greatly improved by a professional steam clean.
Clean clean clean everything. Light fittings, skirtings, windows etc
Redecorate room by room as and when required.

We all want it immaculate throughout from day one but as my occasionally wise MIL said doing it gradually over time is part of the fun.

And is it just me or is it boring to read though 100 posts that tell us each PPs in depth history of their individual house purchases?
They had it on at A
We offered B
They came back with C
D months elapsed and then they only got E for it... TMI!!

I'd have laughed in your face if you offered me £30k under the asking price, but my house is move in ready.

New paint and carpet at a push £5-10k, not sure where the other £20k is going.

House's are generally priced to sell.

It's a very CF offer imo as theres no way redecorating and flooring justifies that great a percentage reduction.
You may drop lucky if they're desperate but equally you may have greatly insulted them.

Its all well and good saying it's a business transaction but people can be very emotionally connected to their houses and very low offers can cause great offense and make vendors not want to deal with you.
I've known of plenty of people do this on principle as they don't want to deal with people they perceive as rude or trying to rip them off, and they worry about their integrity down the line.
I think if you really want a house going too low is risky, just offer what its worth to you.
If you're not that bothered either way no harm in trying your luck.

I think you were reasonable. Decent flooring (if you’re putting in wood) can be £9-10k (in a smallish house). Decent painter (if it’s a 2/3bed house) could easily be another £7-8k. The costs rack up quickly.

Also, just because a kitchen is new doesn’t mean it’s good quality! I’m house hunting atm and the number of ‘new kitchens’ that look like crap is mindboggling!

Tbh house prices haven’t increased that much since 2015 for them to be asking 60K more!

One potential issue you have is that they may not put the offer forward at all. I’ve had that happen in the past,

@whatsontonight

We really like this house for the size of the garden and the bedroom sizes. It is at the lower end of our budget but we can't find anything with this size of plot, it is just outside of the location we hoped to buy it, none of this relevant to the vendor. Hope we can meet at 195k however we would probably still buy it at asking. Hope for some kind of deal though

If you'd made me a ridiculous offer (£30k for paint and carpets?) and you later came back at a more sensible price, or even the full asking price, I'd suspect that you were planning some kind of stunt just prior to exchange of contract. I'd be looking for another buyer.

You know how valuable a good-sized plot is, and large bedrooms — and you still offered 14% lower than asking price? On a house worth £210,000?

What have you done to improve the value of the house?

Not much, admittedly. Paint, new carpets etc.

Did you get the price wrong when you bought or has the market slumped?

There were no homes to benchmark against so I always wondered if we overpaid, but the agent says the market has slumped.

* Offering 30k less is no cheekier than marketing a house at 30k more than it's worth.

OP said she would pay the asking price if necessary, so it looks like its worth the asking price.

A while ago we offered initially 35K under asking price of 180K. The estate agent told us not to bother going under 160K as they had already refused that from someone else but that was when it first went on the market. We eventually got it for 28K under asking price. It needed alot of cosmetic work and it was overpriced. I think k some of the vendors / estate agents are CF for the prices they expect.

Surely a house is worth the highest someone is willing to pay for it. In this case £197k.

@tobedtoMNandfart

Sounds like good news OP.

FWIW 'in my day' (I'm 48!) most houses were a bit shabby. We had to rough it for a bit and work hard to improve it over time. Now that the market is flooded with new builds it seems to me that a lot of FTB expect their house purchase to be in mint condition.

I am rambling. My point is thing:
Don't rip the carpets up until you are sure that they wouldn't be greatly improved by a professional steam clean.
Clean clean clean everything. Light fittings, skirtings, windows etc
Redecorate room by room as and when required.

We all want it immaculate throughout from day one but as my occasionally wise MIL said doing it gradually over time is part of the fun.

Yes, I've noticed this too! People seem to be willing to pay a lot more for cosmetics rather than valuing a house in terms of structural condition layout and location.

Good lord, there are some sensitive people on this thread. It's a business transaction! I put my house on the market at an optimistic £240,000 last year but always would have been happy with £220,000.
In the end sold it for £228,000 to the only person who viewed it...it was perfect for them so they paid more than it was strictly 'worth' and still felt they got a bargain. Conversely we overpaid by 13,000 for the house we eventually bought because the vendors had undervalued it - we paid £273,000 rather than £260,000.
People were pushing notes through their door, offering over asking...but we were so desperate for it that we carried on until we got it.
It was still totally affordable for us and I would say still undervalued but their estate agent (one of the cheap online ones) said they felt like they'd won the lottery.
It's a process based on many variables...but in the end a house will sell for what it's worth to someone. Take the emotion out!

Just because you have a new kitchen it doesn't mean your house has gone up by 20k or whatever.
Just because you paid 400k for it 2 yrs ago doesn't mean it's now worth 450k.
Just because Dave sold down the road for 400k doesn't mean you will get 400k.

Prices move up & down sometimes with no material changes because it depends on the market.

However not many seem to be able to tolerate reductions in quite the same way as gains!

I have no problem with my house increasing by 400k in 5 yrs but equally I except that figure may reduce.

All depends on the circumstances of the area really. If I were the seller and you have started with a very low offer, it might create the impression that you are quite an opportunistic buyer. Which is fine, but if there finish up being more than one buyer they may pick the one they trust more to complete at the agreed price.

@unbotheredbutbewildered

I think you were reasonable. Decent flooring (if you’re putting in wood) can be £9-10k (in a smallish house). Decent painter (if it’s a 2/3bed house) could easily be another £7-8k. The costs rack up quickly.

Also, just because a kitchen is new doesn’t mean it’s good quality! I’m house hunting atm and the number of ‘new kitchens’ that look like crap is mindboggling!

Tbh house prices haven’t increased that much since 2015 for them to be asking 60K more!

I'm not sure most people would spend that much on flooring and decorating a property of that value. If OP is an exception that's up to her, but it's not up to the vendor to subsidise her taste.

OP said she would pay the asking price if necessary, so it looks like its worth the asking price.

But equally the seller may have taken less then 197k. It's normal to negotiate.

With no knowledge of the local market, on the information you have given I would be fairly confident that the seller was looking for £200k. If no major work is needed I would be a bit gobsmacked at an offer seeking to knock off more than 10% and would certainly not entertain it except from a cash buyer if I was in a hurry to sell.

Lol exactly what I did almost. My house was on for £210k and I offered £190k. They counteroffered and I agreed £197k.

House had been on market ages and seller was in mortgage arrears. Silly man had it listed higher previously and refused offers higher than mine but by then he really needed a buyer! He was an arse though and left loads of junk in the garden he had agreed to shift. I did him a favour agreeing £197k as the mortgage valuation came back as £195k.