What's the lowest under an asking price you can offer?

[ALittleBitOfMagic]

Looked at a house today . It is absolutely not in walk-in condition and will require a lot of work . It's priced at only 2k cheaper then another house that is immaculate and we wouldn't need to do a thing .

We would prefer the first one for a few reasons , but I absolutely am not paying what they are asking so would like to offer as low as I can . So roughly as a % how low can we offer ? If it helps it's been on the market for nearly two years .

You can offer what you like but if the vendor has a set figure in their head (and rejected other offers in the last 2 years because they want a certain amount) then nothing but the right price for them will fit.

Decide what your maximum is if you really want it. Then start at a lower level and work up. Sometimes a cheeky offer does it if wanting to sell quick. But if still there after 2yrs then the seller appears to be content to wait.

If its been on that long a low offer could go one of 2 ways

They've had low offers before and turned them down so will turn you down

Or

Another low offer will make them realise that is all their house is worth and they will grudgingly accept your offer

The house I live in was on the market for 130k
I offered 100k, gave a list of work that needed doing to bring it up to the standard of a similar house in the area at the same price, outlined my strong position as a buyer (no property to sell, mortgage approved)

I bought the house for 105k

We know somebody who offered 100k less than the asking price (on for 600k bought for 500k) but the seller was desperate in a dead market.
We sold our house for 30k above asking price because loads of people were interested in an area with nothing much for sale. We bought for 10k less than AP but had originally offered 20k under but because they weren't that bothered about moving (downsizing couple) they wouldn't accept it.
You need to weigh up how much they want to sell, their competition to sell, the local market, your competition to buy etc.

That's good advice everyone thanks .

17 - right away it needs a partial rewiring , bathroom and kitchen need ripped out and replaced .
And every room needs the walls plastered and carpets ripped up and replaced (I mean every room before we even moved in they are rotten)
And all three outside doors need replaced .

It's been lying empty this whole time it was an elderly man who passed away his family are selling it .

Ah, I wonder if the estate agent has badly advised the family then? I would write a full list of all these issues and make your offer stating it is taking into account of that work...

They can only say no!

I've bought two houses, both came in at 14% off asking price.

I would never in a million years offer asking price, I was raised to believe houses were like cars & horses - everyone has a pie-in-the-sky idea of what they'd like to get!

We offered 50k under asking of 550k. The market was still fairly flat, the vendor wanted a fairly quick sale. And we were ready to move, no chain and cash buyers.

Offer the maximum you're prepared to pay, stating your reasons for it. There's no harm in asking.

Glad I found this thread as we're planning to buy a house in poor decorative order - stinks of dog and wee. Crack down extension wall. Needs gutting, all carpets, kitchen and bathroom ripping out. There's peeling wallpaper, holes in walls and doors. The garden needs about 2 skips to empty and I don't think the owners will do it. I reckon the ferret hutch (Now empty) will be better to live in. The decking needs finishing, parking space is a bog, and the fence needs replacing at our expense.

It's up for £140k which is about right for an average decorated property in the road. The estate agent suggested no more than £130k and we're thinking of under £120k, max £120k as it's about £10k of shopping plus work to make it habitable (it is currently lived in...) Might go in at lower than that...

We re plastered
Re wired
New kitchen
New bathroom
New heating & boiler
New windows & doors
Landscaped the garden
Roof repairs & insulation

We estimated this at 30k

Also needed new carpets/flooring throughout and redecorating but didn't include that in the negotiations as we would do that anyway

In the end after purchase and all the work (and adding a 2nd bathroom and conservatory) we spent 143k which also included another 3 months rent while we made it habitable
House was valued at 160 after and it was exactly how we wanted it

It is worth getting a wreck and doing it up but don't underestimate labour costs

We are quite handy and only paid for the roof, windows&doors, boiler & plastering
We did everything else ourselves including a complete re wire which was hen signed off by the council and given the relevant building regs certificates -saved us a fortune on a sparky!

It also needs landscaping new windows and new interior doors but I'm not factoring those in because they can wait and be done over a period . Plus it's coming into winter anyway so the garden can be left til summer .

I'm not too bad with labour quite lucky actually . My dad is an engineer and DHs best mate is a joiner , so we have free labour (well labour that costs the same as a crate of beer ) apart from the rewiring they will do everything else .

The main thing that is worrying me is the kitchen it's pretty big so I think it's going to cost a lot of money to buy .

We bought ours for 18% below asking.

Work will always cost lots more then expected. Offer the lowest price you consider to be reasonable after taking in all the work costs.

You can always go and get a kitchen quote prior to offer

Most of the big sheds (b&q) etc will be quiet this time of year

Use the estate agent measurements and you will be able to get a rough price to use as a guide, it doesn't matter about the detail

17 that's an excellent idea thank you !! I'm on annual leave this week so I will price kitchens over the week . Thanks so much for the advice !

We walked round the house, mentally totted up how much it would cost to turn the house into something we would be happy living in (and I mean just even from a decor perspective) and then knocked that off the asking price to make our offer. The last two houses we have bought were very colourful, which is not my taste so we took this into account. In both cases we offered 10% below and agreed at 5% below. If we had had to do more work to it then we would have offered even less.

In contrast, in the position as vendors, we didn't think anything needed doing, as we were constantly doing stuff to the house to improve it or maintain it so it's in v good condition. Hence we refused all offers below asking price and ended up getting more.

Elfycat - if the EA has suggested 130k that means that he will be delighted if you offer that because it will be accepted and the EA will get commission on 130k.

I'd go in well under that. Do not trust EAs. They are only looking after number 1. (apologies to the minority of EAs who are decent)

House price negotiations are a bit of a black art, aren't they? I think you have to have an idea of the value of the house in good, usable condition, and how much it'll cost to get it there. On the other hand, however shitty a kitchen is, no vendor is going to drop a price by £25k just because that's the price of your ideal kitchen. And regarding things decorative, you might knock a bit off for a house that needs replastering throughout, but not because the wallpaper isn't your favourite.

The bottom line is you need to decide what the house is worth to you, and hope that it intersects with what the house is worth to them. If it does, you've got room for negotiation. If not, it won't matter what you've offered... You're not in it to make friends.

Think the price of the other house is a bit of a red herring tbh. You state that you would prefer the house you say needs all the work so offer what you think is a fair price for it. But bear in mind that the relatives may well hang on to get the most they can, no skin off their noses if they are not in a hurry re. any inheritance.