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Original poster

Quick offer advice needed!

35 replies

Becaroooo · 15/10/2011 09:12

OMG!

Think we have found the perfect house!

Trouble is, think its a bit overpriced - as they all are atm

Its on for £185k

I would pay £170k (which is 3 x dh's salary)

Too much of a price drop for the vendors?

Its no chain.

We are no chain.

Arrrrgghhhh

OP posts:

AlpinePony · 15/10/2011 09:18

I have never in my life offered (or accepted) full asking price on anything secondhand, be it house, car or horse.

I thought you were supposed to bargain?

pinkytheshrinky · 15/10/2011 09:24

I have just had an offer of 250k accepted for a house that was originally advertised for 282,500k - it has been months in the negotiation but we have got there eventually.

Depends how long it has been on the market and I would start at 165k and then go up - you have nothing to lose and you are in a good position.

HoneyPablo · 15/10/2011 09:32

It really depends how much they want to sell.
Try your offer, you never know. You are in a very good position with having no chain.
It is quite unusual to get full asking price where I live.

mylovelymonster · 15/10/2011 10:14

Right - time for some assertive action!
Do you have your financial information/ability to stump up the cash/mortgage AIP with your solicitor?
When you make your offer, verbally at first with the agent, then also make it in writing and send to agent and direct through vendors door - stating your wish to purchase their home, that you offer such and such, that you are in a no-chain and in principle, financed and ready to go, that you are in rented and can therefore be accommodating (to a point!) with their plans/circumstances.

If your solicitor has your financial info, they can demonstrate your ability to proceed by sharing this with the vendors solicitor - not the agent. Their solicitor can feedback to the agent without details. Your solicitor can also estimate period by which you would hope to exchange.

Chose your starting offer wisely to allow some negotiation and have a very clear point at which you will not go further. Don't bid against yourself.

Be cool and professional. You are in an excellent position, Becaroooooo, you know it. The agent will know it. They will try all sorts to get you up to their asking price, but you have to be firm. They will want a sale, at the end of the day. Just depends on the vendor's circumstances, how long they've been on the market, and how keen they are on selling. Other than that, if they hold out for more, then not much you can do, I'm afraid, apart from make sure the agent retains you details and can maybe get a deal done after they've tested the market a bit longer/are happier to proceed.

How long has it been on the market and have you been for a viewing yet?

Let us know how it goes.
Best of luck.

Slacking9to5 · 15/10/2011 11:43

Have you got your mortgage in place, Becarroo? Agreement in principle is vital and is something we have demanded of any byers recently.

Original poster

Becaroooo · 15/10/2011 14:46

Hello!!!

Ok, so got some more info for you!

Viewed it at noon.

Its great.

It was originally a 4 bed detached with garage but they have lived there 18 years and done a lot to it...

Its now 3 bed (so 3 large bedrooms) and has a downstairs WC and utility area. They have also converted the garage into a room too (which we would have done anyway). It also has a conservatory. The bathroom was new last year, and the kitchen is fine (if a bit small) with integrated appliances.

Off road parking for 3 cars and a smallish garden at the back.

The couple are part ex on a new build in another village so its being marketed by the building company!!!!!

Am going to get dh to ring and get an AIP. We have a 10% deposit. We also have solicitors.

Is there anything else I need?

OP posts:

Original poster

Becaroooo · 15/10/2011 14:47

We are the 1st to view btw! (only went on rightmove yesterday)

OP posts:

Akandra · 15/10/2011 15:05

If it only went on the market yesterday you might have to hang on and bite your nails a bit. Theres no way I would accept a low offer after one day on the market. I expect anything under 180 would be rejected this early.

But, if you're willing to play the game a bit, heres what I would do.

Put in a lower offer. When its rejected, up it a bit. Then stop. Tell them it remains on the table but you can't offer any more at the moment. Stress the great position you are in. Ask them to keep you informed. Depending how urgently they want to move they might come back to you. If theres some left in your pot, you can always up the offer a bit later. In fact, I would reserve some for just that reason.

I would say its highly unlikely you will get it quickly at 15k under the asking price, but that doesn't mean you won't get it.

Slacking9to5 · 15/10/2011 18:50

Do you know if you can get a mortgage with 10% deposit?

Tizwozliz · 15/10/2011 19:02

It is less than 10% so it's possible, it depends on how fairly it's priced in the first place. I think it's highly unlikely they'll accept a low offer if it's only just come on the market.

We were in a similar situation in that we viewed a house first day on the market, liked it but knew it was overpriced so waited 8 weeks to make an offer

The only real risk is if you think someone might put an offer in for less in that time and have it accepted, at least if your offer is on the table when they get a lower offer they'll get in touch with you. If someone puts in an offer for higher than your max then it doesn't matter whether you'd offered now or later.

Tizwozliz · 15/10/2011 19:03

We bought the house after we made the offer 8 weeks later btw, just in case that wasn't clear. 15k under asking on a much cheaper house than you're looking at.

befuzzled · 15/10/2011 19:25

We had a similar issue (though sadly not in the same part of the country as you are as your prices sound incredible!) - we saw it soon after came on market (after being on with another agent since March very overpriced), first to see it. Really wanted it. We are no chain, vendor is no chain. We are renting, 20% deposit, mortgage agreed in principle.

We saw it begning of August, put in, frankly, a p take offer (85K under asking price), then a couple more (-60K, -50K) over a period of a few weeks. Then stopped, said we really want this house, offer remains on table, as suggested here. It cooled off for a bit, another buyer came in with slightly higher offer we continued looking with the same estate agent and others. We held back but continued to assert it was the house for us. September came and went. Other buyers chain collapsed. Estate agent indicated they would sell if we went up 15K to what they had, in fairness, been consistently saying was the bare minimum vendor was willing to consider (35K off asking price). We went to that early October and they ummed and aahged. Came back after the weekend and did the old "just 5K more and she'll go for it" routine.

We said no that's it, we're stopping here as we know we are comfortable with a mortgage for this amount, anymore and we dont want to risk comiting to it and then having finance issues. Handily, we had seen another property we liked with the same agent that weekend so we put a semi-serious offer in on that (as plan B really). This worked well as I think they knew we weren't going any higher, really wanted the house but could stand to lose it. Next day they said vendor doesn't want to lose you as a good purchaser (not many out there at moment I don't think!), you can have it for the last offer of -35K which was about 6/7% off.

So in short, if our experience anything to go by, it is possible in this market, but you may have to stand your ground and hold your nerve a bit and wait (and be prepared to lose it).

Shakey1500 · 15/10/2011 19:26

The house we're in the middle of buying was up for £187,500. Our first offer of £167,500 was rejected but our second offer of £172 was accepted. I'd have gone up to £180 personally because although it needs a lot of work it is mainly decorative and worth an easy £250 in a good market.

BUT it had been on sale for just over a year and they were pretty desperate to sell by this point. Good luck!

alabamawurley · 15/10/2011 20:39

If it was a private sale I would agree entirely with the others who said wait a couple of months before making an offer. Think about it, if you jumped in now, the vendors think something along the lines of: "oooh an offer so soon, perhaps we've priced it too low, reckon we could even get asking price. Let's hold out for the other offers that are bound to come flooding in".

Now, if you were selling and hadn't had a sniff of an offer for a couple of months and then someone comes along with an (actually quite reasonable) offer, it would be very tempting, wouldn't it?

However you say this one is being marketed by developers as part of a part-ex. These will have a much better idea of the current market conditions than your average vendor and I would suspect be more likely to accept your offer this early, particularly if they need cashflow. So I would be tempted to go in quite early; if they say no, they say no - there'll be other homes.

Shakey, careful with your logic there - the house may have been worth £250K when banks were throwing oversized mortgages at anyone with a pulse, but given the results of that lending behaviour, do you think it's likely to return anytime soon?

Original poster

Becaroooo · 15/10/2011 21:08

We can get a 90% deposit, but obv it does limit us and we will pay a higher rate

I have some experience with part ex houses - we lost out on a house purchase in the summer (our buyer started playing silly buggers!!) and that was a sale from a building company on at £185K and they accepted our offer of £172K - and prices have gone down since then!

So, am hoping that will be in our favour i.e. they have no personal feelings re the property and just want to shift it!

It will mean a large mortage (£153K) but thats 3 x dh's salary which is pretty normal AFAIK???

I just need the guts to go for a tracker (we have been on FR for years and paid through the teeth for them as we are very risk averse)

OP posts:

cowboylover · 15/10/2011 21:49

We just had an offer accepted of £125k on a house that was up for £159k so it can be done.

Be clear of your position and firm with your offer so the builders will put pressure on to accept as they will be paying any fees and this is the nearly the latest you can go on the 'be in before Christmas' push.

Good luck

Original poster

Becaroooo · 16/10/2011 09:44

Congrats cowboy

Dh and I were talking last night. We have been looking - on and off - at houses in this location for nearly 2 years and this is the best one we have seen.

We have a lease til end of Jan BUT we dont mind paying for 5/6 weeks if we arent here as we can use it as a storage base and take our time moving and cleaning it ready for the end of the lease.

I would imagine the builders would accept our offer of £170k if we make a big thing of beig serious, having a deposit and AIP and are able to get in by xmas??

Might even offer £165k!!!!!

OP posts:

tawse57 · 16/10/2011 10:32

RoxyRobin · 16/10/2011 11:12

Hello, Tulip. I thought you lived on HPC?

Original poster

Becaroooo · 17/10/2011 12:55

Quick update:
Have put in an offer of £165k.
Will see what happens.......

OP posts:

ChippingInToThePumpkinLantern · 17/10/2011 13:04

Oooh - this is as good as a live birth thread

Slacking9to5 · 17/10/2011 15:25

Have you got your mortgage arranged? Fingers crossed but lots of vendors are not accepting offers unless AIP, especially with a low deposit. Sorry for pissing on your chips but it's a helluva bloody market right now.

Original poster

Becaroooo · 17/10/2011 15:29

Offer refused (unsurprisingly).

Have offered £168k and made it clear we are in a very good position.

Dont want to offer more...so its not looking good

OP posts:

Slacking9to5 · 17/10/2011 15:33

Hold your horses and calm down. Do you have a mortgage offer? If not it may well be that rather than price.

If I were you I'd leave it there for now, get the mortgage deal done and then come back. You don't know exactly how much you can borrow yet which will be a deciding factor as to where you can go offer wise.

You have to play these things very cool, you have to put yourself in the best possible position.

Slacking9to5 · 17/10/2011 15:36

Yes, you are in a great no chain position but without evidence of a mortgage it's unlikely a vendor will take their property of the market.

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