What should our next step be?

[Scrabble123]

Hi everyone

I'm a long-term reader but first-time poster, hoping for some Mumsnet wisdom! My husband and I are currently living in a flat, and hoping to move into a house. We initially had a budget of a maximum of £320,000 (in the south-east), but there's next to nothing on the market at the moment, and what does come on seems to sell very quickly. That would also be the very maximum we could possibly afford, and if could find something for less that would be ideal as we're cautious of maxing ourselves out.

We decided to go and see a terraced property which is on the market for £279,950 in our preferred area, and were pleasantly surprised. It ticks a lot of our boxes - 3 bedrooms, kitchen-diner, lots of light, west-facing garden, some scope to improve but not too much work (we currently live in no newbuild so haven't bad much practice at DIY!). We had a second viewing yesterday and it was even better than we remembered, so we decided to put an offer in.

The problem is that house prices in that particular street are a fair bit below the asking price of this house. The last 3 properties to sell in the last year went for 225, 230 and 240 (the 225 and 230 were December 2013, the 240 was April 2013). Obviously the market is rising, so with this in mind we made an initial offer of £241,000. We didn't expect this to be accepted, but hoped it would be enough to start negotiations. A couple of hours later we had a call to say that the vendor has already rejected £262,000 and that the agent was rejecting the offer on the vendor's behalf.

I know the market is going a bit nuts at the moment, but we haven't got much experience with offering on houses and aren't sure where to go next. Do we up our offer to £264,000, which would be 10% more than the most expensive house that has been sold in the last year, given the rising market, or would it be silly to consider this given that the street must have a ceiling price and we may end up in negative equity? We could afford full asking price but don't feel that the property is worth that, even in this market.

Any help would be much appreciated!

What a house is worth is so very subjective, and changes so much with time... It's almost completely meaningless in absolute terms. If you're buying as a short-term investment, then you need to get it right, but if you're buying to live in the house for a good few years, then maybe it only matters how much the house is worth to you. If you got the place for £264k, that leaves a lot of flexibility in your budget to make it the perfect home for you.

Which part of the south east are you in ?. I am in Berkshire and I know how quickly prices have escalated around here. We purchased s three bed in need of decorating at the end of Nov for 250k, we completed on Friday and the agent said we could flip it and get 280k (he knows we are investors) without lifting a finger. So the increase in price between then and now might be realistic in the current market.
The agent must pass on your offer to the vendor and shouldn't reject on their behalf. Have you looked at comparable properties and what they are being marketed at ? are they comparable in price ?

If you are looking in the south east our house is just about to go on the market.

2 bed detached character cottage. Will be going up for close to £300k, but so long as we get over £275k or there abouts we would be happy.

Things are definitley moving fast so we are not expecting it to sit around for long as its immaculate.

We asked to view a slightly larger 2 bed detached cottage which went on the market on Friday.
By Saturday it had sold and the agents had to cancel 9 other viewings that were booked already! Went for £300k.

This is in Thame and the surrounding villages

HaveToWearHeels - we're in Bucks, and things do seem to be rising quickly. We viewed a house on at 312,500 in very good condition 3 or 4 weeks ago, another identical house has come up in that same street this weekend at OIEO 325,000 and it needs completely modernising!

There have been two other (larger but still terraced) properties on the same street marketed at 294,500 and 299,999 which are both sold STC - wish we knew what they have sold for! We don't want to cut our nose off to spite our face, but equally as it isn't going it be our 'forever home' we don't want to overpay. We'd probably be thinking of staying there for about 7 or 8 years or so, all being well...

scrabble123 I think we might end up fighting for the same houses!

Beaverfever - whereabouts are you looking? There's not much coming up at the moment is there, so frustrating!

Shabbington, Long Crendon, Great Haseley, Cuddington, Chearsley, haddenham, Brill, Easington, Chilton, Lane End, Freith, Skirmitt, Hambleden, Looseley Row.

Pretty much any bucks/Oxfordshire border village.

We only need a 2 bed too!

Good luck with your house hunt! We're looking a bit further east than that...keep pondering Lane End though, can't decide if it's too far from work for us. We don't have children yet but are trying to bear catchment areas in mind, it was only the school that really put some doubt in my mind. Don't know much about the village itself though! Have you had much of a scout around that way?

if you like that house and youre planning to stay in it id offer what it took to get it. nobody can predict what the market will do by the time you want to sell. leave it too long and someone else will snap it up.

I think prices in the SE have risen a lot since April 2013 so I really do think you'll have to offer close to asking price.

Neighbours house went up from £248k to £260 between November & Feb - that is a huge jump when you factor in the need to pay the additional stamp duty...

OP if the market is moving quickly and the others are on for the same sort of money then I think you are going to have to pay upwards of the 262k that was rejected. have you had a www.ourproperty.co.uk/ for sold prices

We're beginning to think we may have to suck it up and offer nearer to the asking price...although that website shows the average sold price for the street to be £210,000 and the average in the street in the last 12 months is £232,000. We're worried that we miss out on this one and then end up having to pay much more for something else anyway a few weeks or months down the line!

I work in the village down the road from lane end.
It's got some lovely scenery nearby.
Lane end is much cheaper due to the m40 being so close and the not so idea catchment area.

However, we don't have children yet either and wouldn't stay there longer than about 5 or so years so although we are planning babies soon, it's not too big a problem.

There are lots of amazing places nearby that are out of our price range, which makes lane end seem like a good buy for what you get.

We are in Thame now and just can't afford what we would ideally want.

*look at

Beaverfever - we can't afford what we would ideally like either. Back in the beginning of our search, we probably wouldn't have given this house a second glance! Lane End sounds worth another look.