What would you do?

[monkeytree]

Hi

This could end up being a long post so I'm going to keep it as succinct as possible.

I need to move away from where I live. I have identified two areas both of which are rural with little housing stock that have reasonably good schools and tick other boxes.

Now a rare property has just come up in one of the areas that might be suitable but is out of our budget. We have looked at two others in this area below budget but which are not suitable. We are desperate to move to get dd into catchment area before she starts school but obviously don't want this to be obvious. The cost of the property concerned I (and our budget) is way above national average but we cannot go beyond this amount. There are two other sizeable properties in the area one unsuitable and one way beyond our budget that have not sold so sometimes property does stick in that area.

What would you do, sit back for a while - how long - then hope it doesn't sell and put in your best offer.
Or look at the property and act vaguely interested - ask estate agent to inform you about any offers whilst casually saying you are looking at other areas and hope they are truthful about any offers and not trying to force a sale? Could they do that - inflate or create a bogus offer? This couple who are selling are elderly and probably in no hurry whereas we are. Stressful! Have you ever bought an expensive property if so, what percentage were you able to knock off the asking price (if any)? I have been in this situation before and ended up with having little choice about which house to buy - sacrificed for decent school, I hate that I find myself back there again. It is too complicated to explain and will open up a whole new debate but I really do need a change of scene for the sake of my sanity.

Any suggestions/advice greatly received,

Anyone?

Incidentally best offer is probably 10% below asking price.

What do you call "expensive"? £250k? £500k? £1mil?

If you want the house, there is really no harm in going to view. Just be realistic that you might not get it. If you're in a rush then I don't see the point in sitting back and waiting.

If you like the house, put your offer in and your position. There's nothing more you can do, you can't magic up more money.

Thanks oogle had thought about the direct approach - this is our max etc buying houses usually involve a bit of game playing unfortunately though don't they?

Don't want to disclose exact amount but above 500 k

I would view the property to check that it really did meet all my requirements. Then I would give the EA a best and final offer, explaining that I was serious but this was as much as I could realistically afford. Then sit back and wait, perhaps also asking the EA to keep me up to date on the situation, and to bear me in mind if similar properties come onto the market.

Keep looking for alternative properties

They will either accept another offer, and you will need to find somewhere else, or they will accept your offer and all is well

I wouldn't bother. If they accept a low offer and then the survey throws up issues you won't have any budget left for repairs and they won't want to drop

If it "might be suitable" just go and have a look, then take a view of what to do after that - perhaps it won't be right anyway, perhaps it will but on viewing you'll discover the couple really want to move quickly to be near family/pursue retirement dream/are realistic types who'll take an offer.

But best just to go and look, and don't say anything much about being desperate to live there!

Buying a house isn't like haggling over a car or a new TV; vendors understand that you have a maximum budget and for most people that amount is not flexible. If you think the house is worth your max budget then act very rather than vaguely interested, make a firm 'best and final' offer and try to sell yourself as a buyer on other points - readiness to proceed, not being in a chain, or whatever applies.

Is there any chance that you could rent for a year or two - which would get your child into the school - and give you time to look and wait rather than feel panicked? Have looked thru RM to see how many properties get sold in the area each year? This will help you be realistic about how often a house comes on the market, maybe how long they hang around and how close to the asking price they achieve. I doubt renting over the next few years would be dead money as imagine that housing market is flattening out --- so take your time.

Go and see it - houses often look very different in real life compared to on line. You might find it isnt as good as you think. On the other hand it might be your dream home and then you can start negotiating. It may be over priced and if there is no other interest they might take your offer. You dont say what your position is - if you are a cash buyer with nothing to sell that puts you in a very good position.

Go and see it,definitely.
Then decide how much you want it and if they'll accept an offer.

Just because they are elderly doesn't mean they arent in a hurry, I would think they would like to get their affairs in order.

Thank you everyone for taking the time to reply. We are not cash buyers but live in a very popular area (particularly this bit) and houses usually get snapped up fairly quickly once they go on the market - could actually attempt a private sale - that is how we bought our house.
In a way I would actually quite like to downsize but with two fairly young children this is not an option at the moment. My dream would be to have two smaller properties - one on the coast and one in this area but this isn't realistic either - my husband is due to retire in 5 years but we have had our children later in life, I love them to bits and would never ever be without them but it has left us a bit out of sync as to what I would quite like to do and where we actually are. We are no strangers to hard work and have always added value to our properties but I sigh at the thought of having to modernise a property all over again. It is all about compromise though isn't it and when you are tied to good schooling etc I find you have limited choice - and this is what I'm finding now. As I say, I have personal reasons for a moving although I am not looking forward to the enormous upheaval it is bound to create (even if we only move along the road to the next village).