whats the lowest offer we could reasonably make?

[friggFRIGG]

fallen in love with a house over our budget.
we were going to just leave it,but i cant help wondering....

it's been on the market for 2 months,it's £172,500.

the owners want to move to the countryside,i not sure how urgently they want to move,
but we are first time buyers,living in rented,we have met with the bank ,and have the deposit ready,all we would need to do is put in the offer.

so,what's the lowest offer you would put in,that isnt going to be insulting?

It's difficult to put any percentage difference/actual figure as but depends on many, many factors. For instance, make sure you find out what comparable houses have actually sold for in recent times (not the same as asking prices). You can find this info out on zoopla or houseprices.co.uk

Does it look expensive, or reasonable compared to others basically?

However the old adage that if you aren't embarrassed by the offer yourself, it's not low enough is a good rule of thumb. Pretty much all houses are hugely overpriced, no doubt about that IMHO.

hmm its hard to say...
its small for a 3 bed (clearly a 2 bed turned into a 3 bed by dividing up one bedroom) and the bathroom is accessed through the master bedroom,
but it's nicely renovated new kitchen,and has a small 'summer house' shed at the bottom of the garden with a river running through it....

so its more expensive than some larger 3 beds,but they lack the 'character' IYSWIM?!

Put in an offer 10 grand below your budget will allow. If they refuse, go up 5k. If they refuse again, go to your max. If they refuse again, forget about it. The only thing I'd say is under no circumstances overstretch yourselves

I think I'd start at £150K but I don't know the local area etc.

Aren't you concerned about the layout with the bathroom through the master bedroom? Is there an extra loo elsewhere?

hmmm, the bathroom access would put a lot of people off

Sounds awful. You can add a lot of character to any house - get something bigger that you would actually want to live in long-term.
Agree with coccyx - that would be a real issue if you wanted/needed to sell at any point (presume not your forever home?).

A river running through garden? Flood risk? Subsidence? Damp? Where is the natural course of the water after a prolonged period of heavy rain? Risk to any children that may come into your lives? Check out the Environment Agency website.

I agree with coccyx and mylovelymonster on this.

Unless I could put a door in to the bathroom from a communal area it would be a deal breaker for me.

Be very aware of flood risks, my Mum was flooded several times and it was devastating.

What can you afford, realistically?

If you could offer say 165K then offer that and walk away if they say no, they want higher. If you could offer max of 150K then offer that but don't be surprised if they laugh at you!

Hope you get what you want

Sidge - you must be an agent. £165k for a two bedder with it's own water feature and compromised facilities!! What planet?

In all seriousness, frigg, you are in a great position to negotiate on and buy your first home, so don't go falling in love with something that is a bit pokey, a bit compromised, and very expensive.
You owe it to yourself and your future to get your first purchase right - you will have too long to regret if you do the wrong thing. Do your research, have a bit more vision and don't get emotional.

mylovelymonster heck no, definitely not an EA!!!

I wouldn't pay anything near that but I don't know where the OP lives - if it's on for 172,500 then it might be a dearer area so 165 may be entirely reasonable. It's pointless speculation really, these threads, as offers are entirely dependent on supply, demand, the sellers circumstances, the market for the area etc etc...

I posted on Frigg's other thread - I wouldn't touch a house like that with a bargepole personally (insurance costs alone would be huge I imagine) and the bathroom access would be an instant turnoff for me.

I too wouldn't touch anything with a bathroom that was accessed through the master bedroom.

Could just about accept it through a smaller 3rd bedroom if house was perfect in other ways, so have two bedrooms and a study, bathroom accessed through study. Accessed through the master only is weird, I'd expect a house arranged in this way to be substantially cheaper than similar properties with a more normal arrangement.

Agree with MLM and others....you have to think of resale...that bathroom issue will put ALOT of people off and weould cost a lot to sort out (i.e. resite)

Ditto river...flood risk? Damp?? Remember what looks great on a summer afternoon might lose its appeal on a freezing january morning!!!!

hello everyone,just logged back on.

would it help if i linked the house?or would that be a silly thing to do?

we are in the south,but a small town,not v expensive area i dont think.

the river is low,and right at the bottom of the garden,i dont think it has flooded in recent history.
it will be easy to put in a gate to stop the DC running straight for the river.

there is a WC downstairs so all and sundry wont be traipsing through the bedroom (just us and the DC)

there is scope to extend into the loft,we'd probably do this when the DC need more of their own space.

is it really silly to have fallen for this house?

as for re-sale,i would extend into the loft to create a bedroom with en suite,knock down the wall between the two smaller bedrooms,and maybe create a corridor to the bathroom through the bedroom IYSWIM...

You really need to know the local market- mylovelymonster round where I live you couldn't get a nice 2 bed near a river for much under double what this house is on the market for! So it's a bit weird to accuse someone of being an ea for suggesting an offer of 165. Again, round here, unless a property is massively overpriced, you are unlikely to get it for under asking price at all! Context is all - op you need to find out (via local gossip not speaking to an ea) what kind of % of asking price houses are fetching inthe immediate area. How fast things are selling is also a good indicator - if they are off the market within a fortnight they probably went for the asking price, or above. If a house has been on the market for a year, on the other hand, then an 'insulting' offer is the way to go!

This property bee entry is a good indicator of how unappealing properties with a bathroom accessed solely through a bedroom are.

On the market since November 2009 and with 2 other agents as well
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-13563399.html
Thursday, September 15, 2011 8:16:23 PM

* Brief Description changed: OFFERS IN THE REGION OF.......£120,000........Move Move and Save are delighted to offer this THREE bedroom COTTAGE semi detached family home, presented in excellent decorative order, deceptively spacious, briefly comprising of lounge, dining room, modern kitchen, to the first floor there are thre three bedrooms bathroom, and separate wc. Benefits (cont.) 

Saturday, June 18, 2011 9:04:31 PM

* Brief Description changed: Move OFFERS IN THE REGION OF.......£120,000........Move and Save are delighted to offer this THREE bedroom COTTAGE semi detached family home, presented in excellent decorative order, deceptively spacious, briefly comprising of lounge, dining room, modern kitchen, to the first floor there are three bedrooms bathroom, and separate wc. Benefits thre (cont.)  
* Price changed: Offers Over in Region of £120,000  

Friday, March 04, 2011 7:59:37 AM

* Price changed: £124,995 Offers Over £120,000  

Thursday, July 22, 2010 8:59:45 AM

* Price changed: from '£129,950' to '£124,995' 

Thursday, June 03, 2010 8:06:29 AM

* Price changed: from '£135,000' to '£129,950' 

Thursday, May 27, 2010 6:46:28 PM

* Title changed: West Street, Hucknall, Nottingham  

Sunday, May 02, 2010 8:19:07 PM

* Title changed: West Street, Hucknall, Nottingham  

Monday, March 29, 2010 3:13:50 PM

* Brief Description changed: Move and Save are delighted to offer this THREE bedroom COTTAGE semi detached family home, presented in excellent decorative order, deceptively spacious, briefly comprising of lounge, dining room, mod modern kitchen, to the first floor there are three bedrooms bathroom, and separate wc. Benefits (cont.)  
* Price changed: from '£139,950' to '£135,000' 

Monday, March 08, 2010 5:42:23 PM

* Price changed: from '£144,950' to '£139,950' 

Friday, March 05, 2010 9:06:23 PM

* Title changed: West Street, Hucknall, Nottingham  

Friday, February 26, 2010 5:42:26 PM

* Title changed: West Street, Hucknall, Nottingham  

Wednesday, February 17, 2010 8:50:40 PM

<strong> Brief Description changed: </strong><strong>*</strong><strong>*</strong><strong>*</strong><strong>*</strong><strong>*</strong><strong>*</strong><strong>*</strong><strong>*</strong><strong>*</strong><strong>REDUCED FOR A QUICK SALE</strong><strong>*</strong><strong>*</strong><strong>*</strong><strong>*</strong><strong>*</strong><strong>*</strong><strong>*</strong><strong>*</strong><strong>*</strong><strong>*</strong> Move and Save are delighted to offer this THREE bedroom COTTAGE semi detached family home, presented in excellent decorative order, deceptively spacious, briefly comprising of lounge, dining room, modern kitchen, to the first floor there are three bedrooms bathroom, and separate wc. Benefits include UPVC double g mod (cont.)  
* Price changed: from '£149,950' to '£144,950' 

Thursday, November 12, 2009 10:25:32 PM

* Initial entry found.

re the flood risk, have you checked the Environment Agency maps? (sorry, I don't have a link but I'm sure you could find it easily.)
Lots of places flood these days that haven't flooded before, the map will tell you if it's safe.

I wouldn't consider this house unless I was absolutely certain it was possible to reconfigure the rooms. You don't want to end up stuck with somewhere you can't sell when you're ready to move on.

The fact that it has these issues means I would not be embarrassed about offering well below the asking price even if you think the price is reasonable compared with other houses in the area. I think Cheryl's suggestion to base your offer on what you can afford (and start below that) rather than the asking price is a good one.

Libelulle - my response is out of consideration for Frigg, and nothing else. There was no information about area, prevalent pricing structure etc, apart from she did mention she could probably get more space for less money
here:-
"its small for a 3 bed (clearly a 2 bed turned into a 3 bed by dividing up one bedroom) and the bathroom is accessed through the master bedroom,
but it's nicely renovated new kitchen,and has a small 'summer house' shed at the bottom of the garden with a river running through it....

so its more expensive than some larger 3 beds,but they lack the 'character'"

• which would already suggest that it may well be overpriced for that area.

Sidge was plain wrong (apologies Sidge) to mention/recommend any sort of amount as there is insufficient information on which to base it.

Fail to see weirdness.
The decision ultimately is for frigg and her family, and I don't want her or anyone to fall in love with a property and spend a great deal of money on it unless she has done all her research and is absolutely sure.

Don't give a fig about where you are and what you can get for the money - what relevance?

I didn't recommend any sort of amount!

I asked her what she could afford and then wrote "if you could afford say 165 then offer that". I also wrote "It's pointless speculation really, these threads, as offers are entirely dependent on supply, demand, the sellers circumstances, the market for the area etc etc..."

I mentioned the market where I am because you seemed to be suggesting that it was inherently ridiculous to think about putting in an offer at 165 for a house priced at 172. It clearly isn't - in some parts of the country (mine for instance), that would be an eminently reasonable offer/asking price ratio. As you say, we have no idea what the local market is. It may be an overpriced house, it may not be (and 'character' does command a premium).

We're all giving advice that we hope will help the OP, not just you. You can of course disagree with it but there's no need to be so snippy. No need to ask sidge what planet she is living on and accuse her of being an estate agent (!), or tell me you don't give a fig where I live. This is hardly the place to pick a fight!

thankyou everyone,it's all good advice,and im glad to have many different opinions

tyler,thats crazy! i cant believe that house hasnt sold at that price
where did you find it?

sybil,i will go and check that out now...

Good luck frigg.

An estate agent tried to persuade me to go look round it. It was actually on with another estate agent (so that's 4 at least they've been with) who had a floorplan. I the EA no way, wouldn't ever consider that layout, she was unaware of the bathroom off the bedroom. I notice now that none out of the 3 agents include a floorplan, I wonder if they think the viewers won't notice the layout?

I viewed a dormer bungalow, 3 double bedrooms (great, think i with 2 teenage kids). 3rd bedroom was accessed THROUGH the bathroom, and there was just no way to change the layout!!!