What would you consider a reasonable offer?

[GuinefortGrey]

Just that really. House we are interested in is on the market with a guide of £695,000. It has been on the market for over a year (as far as I can work out) and has already had some significant reductions in price (agent mentioned it was originally on for 800k but I do take what they say with a pinch of salt).

What do you think would be a reasonable offer? Is it worth a cheeky one? If so, how low can I go without being offensive! Vendors not desperate to move as they plan to rent initially, so.no chain waiting or anything.

Haven't definitely decided anything yet. Need another viewing first but need to think about finances. House is much smaller than we need for and would need an extension to work for us. Price is high due to having land.

How does it compare to other similar properties nearby? Can you look on zoopla to see what comparable things have sold for?

It sounds as though you could make a low offer - only thing might be that it's been on the market so long because the vendors are holding out for asking price, even if that's not realistic in the current market.

Nothing really comparable on Zoopla unfortunately. It's a bit of unique property in the sense that whoever buys it would buy it for the land, rather than the house itself which is pretty meh.

Apparently the vendors did receive an offer a while ago (not sure how long ago) but it was less than they wanted and by the time they decided to accept the offer the potential purchasers had found something else. Of course infuriatingly the agent can't tell us how much less than the guide that offer was!

It also seems, from my googling, that the current asking price is only £50k above what they paid for it nearly 10 years ago. That worries me because either they massively overpaid back then or house prices haven't risen much in that area and I start wondering why not!

It also seems, from my googling, that the current asking price is only £50k above what they paid for it nearly 10 years ago. That worries me because either they massively overpaid back then or house prices haven't risen much in that area and I start wondering why not!

Lots of places haven't recovered up the 2007/2008 peak post global financial crisis - so if they bought in 2007 and it's not London or other hotspot that wouldn't be a huge surprise.

Much can change in a houses condition in 10 years also. If they have done nothing to the house maintenance wise then there's a chance it hasn't gone up in value by much simply due to it needing a bit of updating.
I would say, work out how much it will cost to make it your ideal house. If you had to sell it the next day what could it be worth and work out your offer price accordingly.

What does it need doing to it in your opinion? I'd base an offer on that.

Anything else is just playing Phil and Kirsty in my opinion. As a seller you will listen to a fair point, if it's just being cheeky because you've read somewhere you should that would just annoy a seller.

As for what they paid/price increase. A house is a home if you can afford it and love it and have no plans to try and turn a profit why does it matter?