Another 'what should i offer for this OIEO house' thread.

[Ponocky]

I'll try to keep this brief so I don't bore everyone, but please do ask for more details if you need them and I've missed something crucial.

I've found a beautiful house that has been on the market since November 2017 and is listed as OIEO £425k. My maximum budget is £430k. Can i go in at the base price citing that it's been on the market for ages and that's therefore a reasonable offer?

Have a chat with the agent first and see if they'll tell you whether any other offers have been turned down. In your position, if you think it's worth it in the local market, I'd consider making an offer at your max and telling them it's your absolute max and you can't go higher so no negotiation from you. You can leave it on the table until a specified date and keep looking if they don't accept straightaway or say they really want more.

I think you base any offer on what you think the house is worth whether in excess of or not. You can offer whatever you want. Admittedly if you offer 250k they are unlikely to take you seriously and the pricing to me suggests they won't accept less than asking price but who knows. I always think that if they accept first offer it was too high. Even if you feel it's priced low offering more than 425 would be crazy.

Thanks for your advice! I will give them a call when they open and have a chat as you suggest. I did think perhaps they'd been turning down offers and maybe have time on their side. It's definitely worth £425 - £430k but I don't think it's worth more, realistically.

Good luck. Don't tell them that 230 is your max though, imply it's lower 'very close to their bottom line' . I reckon you are going to strike a deal.

430 even

Thanks Tea! I hope you're right! If they say no I'll be disappointed as its one of those rare houses that ticks every off 'must have' and 'would like to have' item on our list. Watch this space!

You'll be fine, it's been on a few months 425 is their bottom line is how I read it, they are being honest about that through OIEO and it sounds priced to sell from what you are saying at that level. It sounds like a perfect match of what you value it at and what they do.

Mine was listed as "Offers Over", we accepted an offer only £1.5k over that price as we needed a short flexible chain (as we are buying a new build) and the buyer was happy to work with us on an open ended completion date.
Ideally we wanted £5k over but the flexibility over time was worth more to us than a few grand.

I think if its been oieo for that long then the oieo no longer applies! But it all depends on three sellers position. They may be happy for a long wait. I'd offer below. You can go up but not down after all. Sounds like you won't have competition so if they reject it wait a couple of days before increasing.

OIEO really gets my goat. I'd start at 10% under on principle!
(Not helpful...)
But yes, forget the OIEO bit and offer a little less than you think it's worth, to give room to go up. Unless you REALLY want it in which case you could go in at 430 as a no-messing best-and-final offer

Thanks for the further advice everyone! I've just noticed on Rightmove that the price was reduced on the 30th of March down to OIEO £425k. Makes me wonder what it was before but it must have been overpriced to have not sold in all this time?

I did phone and speak to the agents but they've been a bit rubbish. Called them at 9:30am yesterday, have chased them twice since and yet I'm no closer to viewing the house. They're not instilling me with confidence as an agent and it's putting me off potentially buying the house. They don't seem very organised or knowledgeable and I can't imagine they'd be much fun to deal with for months on end! Bad first impression for sure.

You can probably see the price history on zoopla or www.home.co.uk/

Also for chrome desktop browser there is an add on called property tracker that adds a little arrow to rightmove listings with price change history. It's pretty cool (see attached image).

Also make sure you have checked zoopla and www.houseprices.io for their (often admittedly crude) price guestimates (although these may not take into account improvements since last sale)

If the agent is t being helpful knock on the door of the house. We had the exact same thing when we sold out house. The agents did t organise a viewing for the potential buyers so they just knocked on the door as asked if they could arrange a viewing directly. I let them in 5 mins later (had to have a mad tidy up) and they offered there and then and the sale went through. If you do this you will also strike a relationship with the sellers and it will give you a better insight into their position and what what price they would accept.

Essentially though I'd ignore the oieo just offer what you want as long as it's not taking the piss.

I didn't have the guts to go and knock their door. In the end I waited for the agents to book me in, which they did yesterday. When they called me back though they got my title and name wrong. It's like they're really not trying to impress potential buyers! They didn't ask when I could view, but instead told me that it was 11:45am or nothing as their Saturday was now fully booked. Very rude considering I'd been chasing them since Tuesday

If this does come to anything I'll be letting my agent deal with them as they sound rubbish! Still putting me off!

I've been doing research based on your links Tulip. My thinking on the price is along the right lines. I couldn't find any previous price listings info though, just sold prices. If it were half a mile up the road it would be worth £50k more, which could have influenced their original, higher prices potentially? It's one of those areas that people on the outskirts of claim to be in as it's drsirable.

Sorry i was being a silly person and putting the wrong address in the current house prices link! No wonder it wasn't coming up Also I typo'd and meant to put that it would be worth an extra £25k in my last message, taking it up to £450k, not that it would be £50k more. Sorry, it's been a long day!!

So originally it was up for £450k. That ties in with my theory very well though!

The agent sounds awful to the extent of slightly dodgy tbh.

That's the weird thing though, Tea; they have been established in the sought after village half a mile up the road for 50+ years and have a stellar reputation. Can't understand why they're so feckless?! Unless they've already decided they don't want me to buy it based on the info I gave them about me over the phone and are trying to deter me?

I wonder if they know someone who wants the house or something along those lines. It is also possible that the vendor is ill or something which makes viewings difficult.

I'm not saying I hope the vendor is ill but I hope it's them and not me, in the grand scheme of things!