Cheekiest offers on houses

[Screamer1]

We're in London. House prices are clearly still astronomical but have fallen and the market definitely seems stuck.

We've seen a house that needs work. I don't think it's anything too major, but there's been some structural issues that have now been sorted (insurance certificates etc). Plus it's VERY dated, suspect electrics may need redoing.

What do you think the lowest possible offer we could make, as a percentage of the estate agents valuation, would be without causing offence (given the work needed and current state of the market)?

Go for half its asking price

I thought the valuation took current conditions into account?

Work may put people off, but likely a good profit to be made so may be property developers interested too.

I would offer what I could afford/be willing to pay.

Offers made and accepted on both sale of my parents house and onwards purchase. Leeway on both sides was 3%.

^today!’n

We offered 10% less than asking price, went up slightly. How long has it been up for sale?

It’s been on for 4 weeks. No offers at all.

About 5% is fair.

Four weeks at the worst time of the year is nothing.

Ok thanks all. Good advice.

House was on for 180, reduced to 170 we paid 155.

My brother just bought his first house. It was on for 260, were in Yorkshire, he offered 230 and they settled at 238.

I dintvthink there's a general rule. It may be priced to reflect all the points you've raised and vendors will be cheesed off at anything less than asking. They may also have ignored all EA advice and put it on at massively optimistic price.

When we last sold we wanted a quick sale (we needed to move area) and put it on at 5% above what we wanted and instructed EA to immediately reject anything more than 5% below. We had 1 set of buyers that offered 20% below but then upped to 15% below, then 10% then 5%. Eventually got into bidding war with 2 sets of buyers (one of which was the couple who offered 20% less to start with). They actually offered more but We went with the other couple just because the 20% under ones had tried to mess us around.

Depends on the price. Being London I expect it will be high. I think around 10% less wouldn't be cheeky at all. Four weeks is no time at all. It depends on so much. Some sellers aren't in a hurry and just sit and wait till somebody offers what they want for their house. Others are after a quick sale especially if they have their eye on a property themselves. It's all a bit smoke and mirrors and guesswork. IMHO.

We got our London flat with £10k off, about 1.5%

We were cheeky and started with an 11% reduction. We would have been surprised if they accepted it, but gradually negotiated back to what was an acceptable price for the vendor of a 6.5% reduction in asking price.

Especially in a stagnant market like London, I wouldn't think 10% below asking cheeky, merely normal. You can always increase it. But of course so much depends on the local market, how long the property's been up for sale, how anxious the vendors are to move, whether it's been 'optimistically' priced, etc. Also whether there are factors probably putting other people off, e.g. old fashioned k or b, decor, etc.

Not long ago a dd offered slightly over the asking, but that was because the house had been priced to sell, i.e. rather lower than similar nearby which weren't as nice.

It does depend on how the house has been priced in comparative to others around, but I’d say 10% was a reasonable starting point. If it was over-valued then I’d reduce by more. If the market was quick and there was lots of interest then less. I’m not sure on the current London market, but 4 weeks with no offers would have been ages when we bought so I wouldn’t be inclined to rush in with a high offer.

I’m just outside London and we offered 10k below for ours and settled on halfway between.

I'm in London and we have accepted 4% off the middle of our asking price range. That was our buyer's first offer, the agent thought they might stretch a little bit that was the figure we needed so didn't feel a need to push really. We would have taken a little less but not much.
Our area has new transport links which are keeping prices high, the house needs no work done and we priced very competitively compared to other things nearby.
We made a cheeky offer on a property at well under the asking which was accepted. We just said we weren't intending to cause offence but it wasn't quite the location we needed for transport so while it might be worth more than that for someone else it wasn't to us. Our buyer then pulled out and we lost that one but have found something in a better location.

Thanks All this is really helpful. I'm only judging that the house has been overpriced by the fact that it's had no offers yet, I think I might go in at 10% less as a starting point.

I'm about to put my house on the market. For the area, it is quite dear and it needs a small amount of work. New kitchen, bathrooms, double garage tons of parking good décor downstairs needs some work upstairs and huge gardens. I would be happy with 10% below the asking price as an offer and I would certainly not be offended. I would expect it.

Sometimes it depends upon what you are buying. We are seeking to downsize. If someone had a smaller immaculate house and were seeking top dollar for it and would not budge, then of course we couldn't drop huge amounts. Generally I just want to be mortgage free with a bit in the bank.

Your house is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it though isn't it? My dh has said he would not go below x amount and that is a figure 10% below asking. We picked the middle price valuation as well, one agent valued £100,000 more and another £25,000 more. One valued £50,000 less and we knew it would sell quickly but what could we buy?

Offer what you feel comfortable with op. Some people get offended, but a friend of ours bitterly regrets not taking a lower offer some time ago on his house which has now been on four years. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Thanks Elsie really good advice!

It is strange how an offer of 10% below asking is generally considered 'cheeky' or even 'outrageous' or 'insulting'... yet a vendor with an asking price that is 10% 20% or even 30% or more above other recent comparable sold prices barely raises a murmur of disapproval.

We accepted an offer of 4% less than our asking price and the vendor of the house we bought accepted our offer 7% less than their asking price.

I would say that as long as you explain why the offer is below asking i.e. needs work doing etc then a vendor will consider it.

Good luck!

@sall74 preach!