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Original poster

Roughly speaking what's the most you would expect to get off an asking price atm?

42 replies

Northernlurker · 10/03/2012 14:35

Assuming you're a buyer in a strong proceedable position and a house has been on the market longer than a month. I know this would vary from area to are but roughly what seems a reasonable percentage to offer under asking and what would be an insult? I'm thinking anything up to 20% or would you push past that?

OP posts:
Earlybird · 10/03/2012 14:39

Do you have any idea what comparable houses in the area have sold for in the last year or so? Can you find out? I'd use that information to gauge what your offer should be.

noddyholder · 10/03/2012 14:41

15-20% even though i believe houses are about 30% over valued. I think the recent news about banks raising mortgage rates will have an effect too.

Lilymaid · 10/03/2012 14:44

Just sold a house that had been on the market for 3 months at 99% of asking price. Buyer in rented accommodation with majority of equity in cash. Definitely depends on area and level of interest.

Original poster
Northernlurker · 10/03/2012 18:34

Wow!

Well the house I'm speculating about has been on for over a year and is hard to value because everything on the street is different. Going by something similarish though 30% off the current price would be the right price. I was just wondering if anybody had got that sort of reduction recently really.

OP posts:
RandomMess · 10/03/2012 18:35

Depends of the £250k stamp duty comes into the equation. Very difficult to get over £250k around here unless your house is worth nearer £300k

noddyholder · 10/03/2012 18:36

How long can you wait? I have offered roughly 15 - 20 off a few houses in the last 4 months All refused initially all still for sale and 3 of the 6 have got back to me and said they would accept it now. But now I think mortgages are going to soar and become harder to finance so I plan to wait a few more months.Wait if you can until after the budget to see if that changes anything Good luck

RandomMess · 10/03/2012 18:36

Just offer and see what happens!

PotteringAlong · 10/03/2012 18:41

We've moved today :o

We had an offer of £170,000 accepted for a £200,000 asking price

(we were very surprised!)

noddyholder · 10/03/2012 18:46

Well done that sounds a good deal!

wannaBe · 10/03/2012 18:47

the average is just 9% below asking.

There are lots of factors which come into play, stamp duty threshold etc for instance. But it does generally depend on where you are. We moved to kent in August last year and I managed to knock just over 5% off the asking price having gone in at 10% below. But looking at the other houses we looked at, we were lucky, as the majority have ended up selling at or very close to the asking price.

I don't think that changes in mortgages will affect house prices, I think rather that it will affect availability of property because everyone will be in the same position and will choose not to sell rather than not be able to get a mortgage.

PotteringAlong · 10/03/2012 18:50

It was a cracking deal. I love it :)

RandomMess · 10/03/2012 18:53

That was still less than 20% off though wasn't it? (Trying to check maths)

NeshBugger · 10/03/2012 18:54

Depends on how fairly you think it is priced. Not all sellers have their houses on for ridiculously high prices, realising the state of the market and assuming the house they will buy will also be similarly reduced, unless moving into a more buoyant area. Can you tell I have my house on the market? Grin I have an offer on the house at just 4% under the asking price (but their sale is now held up) and rejected one at 15% off (it was the first viewing and in hindsight should have gone with it)

Otoh, yes, you do see houses still on at way too much, but you can tell they are punching above their weight by just seeing what similar houses are really going for.

noddyholder · 10/03/2012 19:04

Some people will be forced to sell because they have relied on low rates too long. It is happening already

Mandy21 · 10/03/2012 21:04

I also think it depends on the price of a house. If its on at £100k, then an offer of 15-20% below asking price is somewhere between £80-85k. Probably not unheard of. I think when you get up to say £300k, an offer at 20% under the asking price would be £240k. Where we are (popular area of NW), you'd just be laughed at making an offer that low.

londonlottie · 10/03/2012 21:33

Check with the agent and see what they say - there just aren't any hard and fast rules because even aside from the area you're talking about, it boils down to the vendor's individual circumstances. I've always asked the agent up front how much room for negotiation there is on the price - not really in the agent's interest to lie (or is there...? )

Franky I'm surprised so many people think 15-20% under wouldn't be an insult - I certainly would take it as one, and since the average is 8-9% or thereabouts under asking, I doubt that any more than an extremely small percentage came in that low.

gaelicsheep · 10/03/2012 21:35

Just a pointer. If anyone is thinking about getting anything off the asking price for MY house when it goes on the market they can think again. We're already in a offers over system where nobody offers over anymore. I think people thinking they can get a 20 or 30k discount on a fair asking price are taking the p*ss. I really don't think estate agents are over-valuing anymore - certainly not here.

Rhubarbgarden · 10/03/2012 23:37

We made an offer of 15% below asking price in December and it was rejected. The house has now been on the market since last summer, so I'm hoping that eventually they might reconsider our offer.

Personally I don't think any offer is an 'insult'. If you don't want to accept it, just say no. It's a financial transaction, not a marriage proposal.

noddyholder · 10/03/2012 23:40

It depends on a lot of things. You shouldn't,t be insulted its only a house you can say no. I have only ever bought at least 15% off and can only be done in a falling Market. I offered 240 in jan for a house at 299 they did say no but 7 weeks later the agent rang us to see if we still wanted it. So it wasn,t worth 299 A house has no inherent worth it is worth what someone will pay and what the bank will lend in the current economic situation which I do think we are all about to find out. Lovely houses in good school catchments are still selling here but anything else is just sitting there.

myron · 11/03/2012 00:44

Properties priced to sell will get viewings and will sell quickly even in a falling market. You won't get a massive discount if it's priced to sell in the first place. Prime locations will always sell due to limited stock - unlikely to get a 'bargain' in such areas. 2 houses we viewed went to sealed bids! You'll more likely to get a 'bargain' if they have been on the market for months and there has been little interest (probably due to being overpriced in the first place!). I have never even bothered to go to view vastly overpriced houses. Know your market well. Never imagined that we would have paid asking price for our present house (strong position as a proceedable no chain/cash buyer) but we did and we had to beat off a slew of other asking price offers. We viewed on Day 2 and the agents already had 3 offers in (house on sale for the first time in 35 yrs and on a road that rarely had houses on sale). Very happy despite dodgy wiring/plumbing and original 70's decor. There is a lot of competition out there for the good housing stock so knowledge is power.

nocake · 11/03/2012 09:44

This question is asked regularly on here and it's a question that has no answer. A house is on worth as much as someone will pay for it but unless the vendor agrees with that value it won't be sold. Asking prices aren't set at x% above the actual value. They may be set at a realistic price if the vendor needs to sell or they may be ridiculously high because the vendor has high expectations, or somewhere in between.

So, decide what you think the house is worth and offer that, however low that may be. If you can't strike a deal with the vendor, walk away.

alabamawurley · 11/03/2012 10:25

londonlottie Given the amount of anecdotal evidence of people paying at or around asking price (e.g. this thread) and given the average reduction is 9%, then by definition, a similar number will be enjoying 15-20% reductions.

northernlurker I would wait and see how the market pans out over the next 3-6 months before making any offers - the FTB stamp duty holiday is just coming to an end and evidence suggests it has been providing artificial support for the market by pulling demand forward. Also, the governments mortgage indemnity scheme for buyers of new-builds kicks off in April which will reduce demand for pre-owned homes further. The recent news of lending costs rising will be spooking many buyers and sellers and its hard to see how all of this won't put more downward pressure on the market.

Levantine · 11/03/2012 10:28

It really is case by case isn't it? Anything sensibly priced and in catchment for a good primary here (London) is going for asking price within a few days.

Some stuff is coming on at hugely inflated prices and then being reduced by 20/30/50k or more.

So both are true in a way. I think you have to track the market and see what it is like in your area, it's the only way of knowing

AuntLucyInPeru · 11/03/2012 10:34

I would always offer at 10% under. More than that and the house would have to be a real state and/or have VERY motivated sellers...

londonlottie · 11/03/2012 10:58

alabama no disrespect but I don't think 'anecdotal evidence' eg. from this thread sufficiently supports that notion...