To lowball homeseller?

[suffolkgeorgiantownhouse]

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/170771690#/?channel=RESBUY

Hear me out.

This is truthfully a 1 bed flat, by the way, but is advertised as 2 because technically the kitchen could double up as a sitting room, but a very small one.

Seller listed flat 1 year ago in Sept 2022. Home has had zero offers in that time and a 25k reduction. Originally listed for 375 when the downstairs flat, which has 3 beds, sold for 378k recently.

The flat has no central heating.

The seller paid 300k for the flat in 2022 when there was an inflated huge post-covid rise in home values.

Am I being unreasonable to offer 275? I think she massively overpaid. It's always devastating to overpay on a property and lose it upon selling, I really feel for her. I unfortunately lost 15k selling my first home so I know how this feels.

Average 1 bed flat in Bury St Edmunds is about 160k and the avg 2 bed is 180k.

Additional question: is a flat like this suitable to raise a child in down the line? It's 95sqm. No I don't care there's no garden. I don't want to spend time maintaining something I will use for maybe 20 days out the year.

EDIT: I know this seems a strange purchase but I am a strange person and so it does fit me, my needs and tickles me in the right places. I have very specific period feature desires that this ticks all the boxes of. But I'm not prepared to overpay just because the owner did.

all you can do is put the offer in and remember the seller has the right to say “no thanks”

True.

I'd look for somewhere else rather than put someone in a negative equity situation. Couldn't live with myself.
I also don't understand why you would buy it if its much higher than the local average price for a flat as you'll be in the same situation she is when you want to sell with not finding anyone who wants to buy it apart from people who want to lowball you. I would never bring a child up in a flat either if there was an alternative option. Babies need a lot of stuff and children need room to grow and play and you've not even got a garden to spill out onto. Your future baby might like a garden. Yes you are being unreasonable for a few different reasons.

My first home put me into negative equity, it happens.

Doesn't make it right to do it to someone else though does it? Like I say couldn't live with myself. I just saw the square footage you mentioned and that does seem generous for a flat but again practically first floor with a baby is not good. How will you get the pram up and shopping on your own unless there is a lift. I'm guessing not in a period property. Think practically not with your heart on this one if serious about kids. You will curse yourself later.

I was grateful that that couple took that property off my hands and put me into negative equity, it became their problem. How will i take shopping up...? Probably with my fully functional arms and legs.

You'll know what I mean when you have kids. So you're going to leave the pram and the shopping downstairs while you take the baby up but then you can't leave baby on their own while you go back down for shopping and pram that will need folding up. Anyway you seem like you aren't open to advice, even though you came on the internet and asked people who are older and wiser than you to give it.

Absolutely fine spacewise for a child.
The living room would become a play room/ bedroom and you'd get those kids sofas they build things out of it (we have a pair of them) so you can hang out there.
I wouldnt want a baby somewhere with no heating though.... a 10yr old yes fine... a 10 months old... no.

I really like it has good regular sized rooms.
The bathroom is a bit of a space waste but you can dry laundry in there which keeps living space clutter free.

The price is too high probably but uou.need to understand sales are rarely rational. Its highly emotive.

I'd go in to the EA and say you want it and want a clean sale but only at 275 - can they guide you on how best to position it?
Ie better to be straight no nonsense explain you want a clean purchase (eg you wont renegotiate and gazunder) its your best and final offer Orrrrrr does the buyer needs to hear a higher price and you can chip it down post survey etc?

The person who makes a low offer is doing more to help than the person who makes no offer.

You aren't putting them in negative equity, they can always say no. If they say yes they're choosing to go into negative equity, because for them, it's better than the alternative.

We lived in a 1 bed flat with our baby & it was hard work. Like a pp says, unless you have a ground floor flat it’s hard with a baby. We couldn’t leave the pram downstairs so always had to take it up. It was fine if I just had the baby but if I had shopping if it was tricky, I had to leave the baby upstairs on their own to go back for the pram & shopping.
We moved to a house when the baby was 8months old. You’ll be surprised how many things they have especially as they get older. Race car tracks that take up so much space, bookshelves etc
The no heating would be a deal breaker for me.

You are not the Salvation Army, it's not your responsibility to make sure that nobody ever makes a loss on property. It's worth what somebody is willing to pay and if nobody else is willing to pay more than 275k then 275k it is. Otherwise its value is effectively zero as nobody will ever buy it, and that doesn't seem particularly helpful to the seller either. Plus how on earth does the previous poster know how much equity the seller has anyway? You've nothing to lose, go for it.

Our landlord was selling the house we rented. We put in a lowball offer of 60k less than asking price fully expecting an instant decline and maybe a "meet in the middle" situation. He accepted without any debate for a quick sale and we saved 60k. Definitely offer. The worst they can say is no.

They're unlikely to accept a low offer for a quick sale as they have a tenant they'd have to get rid of. If you did have a child there, how would you get the pram and shopping and baby up the stairs at the same time? When they were too old to sleep in with you, where would they sleep?

It's a beautiful flat - the bathroom alone would sell it to me.
BUT no central heating would be an issue. What does it have, storage heaters or something? Being freezing in winter is no fun, especially if you're planning a baby.
First floor not ideal if you're thinking of babies, but plenty of people have to live in flats that aren't on the ground floor.
All you can do is make the offer. She'll only be in actual negative equity if her mortgage is more than £275K, although she'd be making a loss overall obviously. The housing market is terrible at the moment, but if it's really been on the market since 2022, it must be overpriced.

You can offer what you like - they’ll either take it or don’t. Given how much the 3 bed sold for it does seem overpriced, but it is a very generous square footage for a one/ two bed flat (although a lot of space is wasted in the bathroom).
I would not have a baby in an upstairs flat without a lift (or parking, for that matter).
Tricky with pram, stuff, baby, when really pregnant, after birth… also, as a family, you will outgrow the flat in no time… first year, baby is in with you - after that, you’ll lose the living room…

The would-be purchaser doesn't put somebody into negative equity. The seller, if they are in negative equity, is there because they overpaid when the market was buoyant. I mean it's not very good following the logic of a previous poster to not only be in negative equity but to also be lumbered with an unsellable property. The seller is not obliged to accept the offer either.

I've lived up steps in a house in a hilly city so a bit like an upstairs flat. Hauling a very large baby up and down the steps let alone the pram and nappybag was a nightmare. We were lucky the first was a very early walker and was going up steps at a bit over two with us handholding and we didn't need a pram much after the first year. We sold the place when we were planning a second.

Carrying a baby up a flight of stairs isn't a horrorshow for most able, non-obese people

It's possible they may take umbrage and not want to work with you, but offering thousands of pounds more of your real actual money, just to reduce that risk would be disproportionate to the point of insanity. More likely you simply won't find a price you are both happy with, so I don't think you have much to lose - if, and only if, you are prepared to walk away.

I'm not sure I'd pick it with a baby. Outdoor space is a life saver between about age 1-2 and 7ish. You may not care about outdoor space but toddlers don't tend to get that memo. There is buckets of space indoors but the massive bathroom, though stunning, is taking so much footprint that you have kind of lost the second bedroom to it. It's not obvious to me how you would make it work long term without splitting the bathroom, or one of you sleeping in the living room, which is a hell of a compromise for a £300k flat when most flats this size will have 2 or 3 bedrooms. So personally I would not pick it out for a home with a child. But if you love it you could make it work with a small dining table and adult lounge area in the dining room and a kid's bedroom cum playroom in another room.

A house with no central heating isn't necessarily uncomfortable, just that it probably costs a lot to heat. You can essentially rig up central heating digitally with electric heaters controlled by smart plugs and an app. But there are so many other flats you could buy that just have normal, much cheaper heating. Yes I think there is a risk of overpaying especially if the ground floor flat has a bigger footprint.

If you have a car, one option with a buggy is to keep it in the car boot and use a sling to help with transfers.

Negative equity is a complete red herring. It's highly unlikely she had zero deposit and has built up zero equity in repaid mortgage capital since. You probably don't even know if it's mortgaged.

Thank you for this, best reply.

you asked the question. People say to you that this flat is not suitable for baby and you are being rude. Quite a few of us here are not obese and had babies and speak from experience. If your functional arms and legs are so great and you know it all, then don’t ask for advice.

Of course you can offer whatever you like on the property.

Do you actually have a baby / are pregnant ? ' is a flat like this suitable to raise a child in down the line? '

and as you have ' fully functional arms and legs ' then being on a first floor with a baby / toddler / child in the future won't be an issue for you as you are a ' able, non-obese ' person.

Clearly you carry the baby in one arm and any shopping in the other, take it upstairs then come back down with the baby in one arm for the next bag of shopping and go back up again etc.
Or just shop very frequently and only ever buy what you can carry in one hand.

Then when baby is older s/he can carry shopping up the stairs with you.

I would never buy a grade II listed property you can’t do much to it without planning permission and that often includes internal alterations

That view! And that’ll be one heck of a soundscape of bells on a Sunday morning. You’d be close to all those grounds and gardens. It’s an amazing location.

Less sold on the heating situation. And the 2nd floor aspect. And the not-actually-two-bedrooms situation.

I’d put in the low offer, yes, and see what the seller comes back with, and with what kind of demeanour.

Its gorgeous. If it were a terraced house you might consider that price.

But a flat?

In SUFFOLK?

Fuck that

yanbu