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.

It's a good job you're not obese, otherwise you wouldn't be able to get inside

That is such a bizarre perspective. It’s a business transaction. Each party should act honestly and in their own best interest, anything else is just stupid.

Why so rude to PP who was making a solid and helpful point? A cooperative baby is fine. A 20lb baby and/or a toddler, or twins, and six bags of shopping, or 3 tins of paint, a stepladder and a flat pack changing table are tricky. Of course people have babies in flats, but month after month of playing a vertical game of the grain, the hen and the fox doing multiple trips to keep everyone safe and not screaming too long gets pretty old quickly IME. But hey obviously my fault for eating too many biscuits.

I personally couldn't but I honestly am the emotional one.lol My husband would do it in a heartbeat and he is a kind man but very practical in the business sense. He got our home for a bargin and it is now worth a lot. Again I leave all that to him as I get way too anxious.

Aren't you concerned about all the cracks showing on the various walls?

You can offer what you want they can say no but it is up to them what it is worth not you but they can just turn the offer down if they want

Oofff many people are not obese and have children- that’s VERY. judgy 😳🤭🥴

BTW I’d never buy a property without central heating, but that’s just me 😁 HTH

Is there another flat above it?

Also, how long would it take to get the tenant to move out?

I think it's one of those quirky quite pretty properties with one huge talking-point feature (the bathroom) that very few people would actually want to live in. Especially with no central heating 😯. No wonder it's struggling to sell. The shopping bag and dog lead (?) hanging on the front of a kitchen cabinet (the tiny kitchen that's been shoe horned into a reception room) is not a good look and suggests lack of storage.

I think it's not a good purchase and that's why she's struggling to sell. By all means offer low if you're so certain you want it op. She might be so "insulted" by your offer that she wants nothing to do with you - that's one of the risks you take.

This OP. Dealing with a wriggling baby, shopping bags and a buggy is no joke, especially up stairs. Unless you have three arms !

With all the online views the property will now get from us nosy lot her agent might advise not to accept your lowball offer ;)
It is beautiful and I can see why you are tempted.

It's stunning.

Your best comparible imo is Flat 6, The Old Post Office which sold for £315k in May, it has the same square footage, is within half a mile, but that property has 2 bathrooms, If you look at the historical price they paid more for it a couple of years ago so there does appear to be a basis for believing the market has dipped. If you are getting any mortgage on the place, a desktop valuation from a bank might use this as the upper end of what they’d value the flat you’re looking for at - particularly as it has an extra bathroom.
Probably, £300k ish is a fairer price, but if you think it’s worth £275k to you then that’s a fair offer.

I wondered if they were some decorating feature😄

It's not a 1st floor flat, 2nd floor so 2 flights of stairs to carry that baby, pram and shopping up and down every time you nip to the shops.

It is a gorgeous flat though.

As someone who currently lives in a listed Georgian house, I can tell you that having no central heating could be seriously problematic. You’ll end up freezing in winter, spending a fortune on electricity bills, or probably both.

If you have a child, would you be happy to give up the living room for their bedroom? It would make the one communal living space a bit limited. Would you be moving in with a parter or on your own?

Do you have a car? Parking situation seems a bit hellish, but perhaps you don’t drive in which case no problem.

Otherwise, if you really love it, just offer what you think it’s worth/are willing to pay. It will come down to how desperate the owner is to sell. If it’s only recently been reduced/re-listed they’ll be more likely to hold out for a better offer though.

This is weird - vendors have agency, they don’t have to accept an offer.

I say go for it OP - I’m a bit astonished at the replies telling you you will suffer in a flat with a baby, I did okay with the stairs (used a sling for the first few months which helped) and my children weren’t scarred for not growing up with a garden (there was a park just down the road which made up for it).

The cracks are the first thing that caught my eye. If it was a decorating issue surely you’d of sorted this before putting it on the market?

It’s a beautiful flat short term. Unfortunately, the lack of lifts, heating and bedrooms will render it useless in the long run for if you’re considering starting a family.

Your buying with you heart not your head.

It’s lovely. Maybe for someone downsizing and wanting to live in town. Not great for a young family. Listed buildings always make me a little nervous as any maintenance costs can be very high.
Anyway. Re price. I know a couple of people who got massive reductions. It’s pretty common knowledge now that flats are losing value, 2022 was the peak, anything compromised in any way (such as no CH) is just sticking as buyers have to be cautious. So £275 is a very decent offer in those circumstances.
I’d go and speak to the EA. Explain what you’re looking for and that you’d love it at £275 max and SSS if the vendor would be interested. They’d know the circumstances and whether to encourage a formal offer.
Against you is that vendor is likely to be one of those who is delusional about the value and not desperate to sell so will reject immediately. But if they eventually need to sell you may be their only option.

Just to clarify about the obese point, I was 8 stone and the baby was so large in proportion to me that people thought he was adopted. And just to forestall things about big babies he is perfectly average in size as an adult. Yes, once is fine but if you do it several times a day, 7 days a week, it wears thin. First you take the pram and bag down to the car, then back up to fetch the baby. When you come back you have to repeat the process in reverse plus another trip for the shopping. It is even more problematic if you are on foot. But hey, you obviously know better.

You sound utterly insufferable.

It has cracks in the ceiling and wall, it is a second floor flat, not first floor, it is a one bed flat not two bed - that estate agent has serious credibility issues, one might almost call them liars.

It's a beautiful flat, but I wouldn't buy a 1 bed, 2nd floor flat with no garden if I was planning on having a child. I don't understand your comment about only getting 20 days use out of a garden, are you allergic to fresh air and sunshine?

What "period features" does it have (other than the building its in and the sash windows)? It looks like its been largely modernised.

Anyway. Its definitely way overpriced at 350. We bought in 2022 and got a semi-detached victorian cottage with front and rear garden and separate garage in a London borough for the same money!

If you like it put in an offer and see what happens.

I'd make the offer. They can only say no and move on if they don't want to accept it!

I lived in a similar flat until DC was one and something I'd never thought about is lot's of children/ babies exclusively nap in the pram and if they are asleep you have to wait with them outside until they wake up or risk by mistake waking them taking them upstairs. It was very inconvenient in winter! I also hate gardening but now having a little patio for a toddler to run into is a big help. Hope that's useful as I wish someone had given me this advice.

It does say in the description that it has "electric fired heating".
I think the issue with unique properties such as this is that there isn't much to compare them with. This means it is harder to value.
Someone will only pay what they think it is worth.

How many sellers question the morals of putting young buyers into massive debt, 30 year mortgages etc? 🙄

And how would you know the seller will be in negative equity? You don’t know their mortgage amount.

The first thing i thought when opening the link OP was that it was overpriced.