What % within asking price have you accepted?

[Shadowboy]

The house we are looking to buy is on for £325,000 because it needs a new boiler, kitchen and re-carpeting we are only willing to offer £305,000 to account for the works. It's been on the market since beginning of November. This works out at 6% off the asking price. Is it too cheeky?

It depends. For me personally, I wouldn't accept 6% off as whenever we have sold, we have been realistic about what the houses' values and got the asking price or very close to it.

Are the kitchen and carpets serviceable, or just not to your taste? Is the boiler working? If they're not, did the vendor price the house slightly lower than comparables knowing that people would need to spend on those items? What is the market doing in your area?

All you can do is make the offer and see what response you get.

Hmm you might have a point with boiler NEEDING to be replaced, but can you say the same about the kitchen and carpets? If you just want to replace them because they aren't to your taste then you are pushing it a bit IMO.

November isn't that long on the market, especially if you take a few weeks off that for Christmas and New Year. Also, how is stuff selling locally and how does it compare price wise with other properties?

I would never, ever pay asking price for a property but you really need to give a bit more info to give us a true picture.

Boiler is 22 years old and is working but at that age I wouldn't chance it. Carpets are ok I should. Worn on stairs and main walkable areas- you can see the tread that the wool is woven into in places.

The kitchen looks ok from a distance but was originally fitted in 2003 and on closer inspection is looking tired/bit rough round the edges.
It actually went up for sale 1st July 2016 sold (no idea how much for) and ended up back on the market beginning of November. It is empty and has been since July.

If you don't ask you don't get. We've never sold, but we got our house for 11% less than the asking price when we looked round. However, it had been reduced already and the price we got it for was 27% lower than the initial asking price. On the other hand some people know exactly how much they want and won't accept a penny less. At the end of the day it's a business transaction so try not to worry too much about people getting offended by low offers if that's all you can manage/all you think the house is worth.

Whats the saying? If you aren't embarassed by your first offer then it is too high! As pdunne says, it is a business transaction at the end of the day and if you don't ask, you don't get.

Boiler fair enough, kitchen seems a bit subjective. If it is functional, regardless of how rough around the edges it might be it seems a bit picky to use that as an excuse to lower your offer. I'd just say that your offer is X as that is how much it is worth to you, and not really go into specifics.

Do you know why it came back on the market?

It depends on area. Where I live if things are priced well they sell within 2 weeks. But those that are overpriced are still on the market so if it was listed in Nov 2016 then it must be overpriced. In my area it normally the downsizers that are not motivated sellers hence the price. But then it could be different in your area.

How much have other similar properties sold for? Do they need the same amount work to them?

The others on the street are all in immaculate condition or are a different size. The most one has sold for us £440,000 and the least was £159,000 so a wide range. Most houses seem to sell fairly quickly- within a couple of weeks from looking at the Ones I saved in rightmove.

No idea why It came back on the market.

Will put the offer forward and see what happens.
We are not able to pay more so it may be we dont secure the property- that's life I suppose.

If you have been looking at similar size properties in the same area you should have an idea if this place is under / over priced or about right. A house is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it and if it's not right for you then you have to take that into account when making an offer. I would put your offer in, explain the reasons why you have come up with the figure you have offered and state that you are not trying to enter a bidding war - this is what you feel is responsible for the property in it's current state and you cannot afford to increase from here. I think it would be better received in that manner than just sticking in a low ball offer.

We accepted nearly 5% off our asking price and for 5% off the asking price for our current house. If you don't ask you don't get. We also made it clear our offer was based on what we had been offered for our house and made our acceptance of that offer contingent on getting the new place at the right price.

A bit of good news- offer accepted! Whoop whoop

Excellent news Shadowboy, congratulations