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Original poster

Would you accept an offer?

20 replies

Cheeseislife · 13/07/2018 19:02

FTB here wondering if it's worth us making viewings on houses at say £350,000 when our max is £320,000 so 9% under asking... A local agent told us a while back we'd get a deal done but obviously don't want to go annoying vendors
We're zone 6 just outside of London and quite a few houses are reducing (one today has dropped to £325,000 from £375,000 listed in February, one went on yesterday at £375,000 and dropped £25,000 in a day!) but the new listings are all coming on at £350,000 regardless of size/condition and I'm sick of waiting...

OP posts:

Royallypissedoff1 · 13/07/2018 19:04

I think it's worth doing but you definitely should not get your hopes up

Original poster

Cheeseislife · 13/07/2018 19:28

Oh yes to be honest I'd let the agent know beforehand we'd have to offer low (although I'm registered with most, have been looking so long!), just I keep hearing it's a buyers market but I'm still scared to try my luck really...

OP posts:

Squirreltamer · 13/07/2018 19:32

Nothing to lose.

When I sold my last house I was getting offers way below asking even though I had multiple offers above asking.

The only one that did annoy me was 15% below asking, had viewed 3 times that week and knew we had offers over ( house was advertised offers over) They even said it was subject to them getting planning on a side extension....

I think as long as you’re in 5-10% of the price I think that’s fine. Any lower and a in the ball park priced house seller will get annoyed tidying house and arranging child care etc.

Squirreltamer · 13/07/2018 19:34

Also if you tell the agent beforehand like you said. Then you’ve got nothing to feel guilty about.

If they don’t inform the seller your max is x% below and the seller gets annoyed. You won’t be getting the annoyed response of the vendor. Just a simple no from the estate agent.

FFSJake · 14/07/2018 00:18

We've just sold for 3% under asking price, zone 3 London. I think 9% is probably too much but if you are honest with the EA they generally check with sellers what's the lowest they might consider and would be able to advise you.

RangerLady · 14/07/2018 21:53

I don't know, we've been doing the same but had offers on 2 houses rejected. Latest was less than 5% below asking price. Despite the slowing market round here no one seems to want any less than the asking price. Even when the price is clearly a bit mad!

NaiceHamble · 15/07/2018 08:45

Have you stressed the other things going in your favour - eg, the fact that as a FTB you’re chain free, mortgage in place, able to move straight away, etc? Sometimes that can be worth a few % if the vendor has to move to a tight schedule for whatever reason.

I have my Rightmove parameters set a little higher than our budget, because several agents have said there are deals to be done in our area. I think the important thing is to be polite and reasonable about your offer, not just go in at a cheeky level for the sake of it.

BuildingThings · 16/07/2018 09:08

We've been doing this! Had 3 offers rejected so far

I think it really depends on the vendor. If they need to move quickly and you're the only offer they've had, it'll be very hard to refuse. However, if they're in no hurry, they'll just say no and wait foreverrrrr.

You won't lose anything by trying though and if you find the right vendor you might get a very nice home so there's much more to be gained by giving it a shot.

And the more low offers you put in, the more you learn and the more 'detached' you become. Also, don't just low ball them, go on land registry and find 2-3 examples that have sold below their asking price recently to back up your low offer.

Good luck!

FabulousSophie · 16/07/2018 09:18

If interest rates start going up next month, it may be best to accept an offer before they do. Rising interest rates are likely to shift the market from a stagnant phase to a falling phase.

BuildingThings · 16/07/2018 09:32

@FabSophie, quite frustrating when 90% of the vendors refuse to believe the negative news and disregard it. When we were negotiating our last offer the EA told us it's fake news and to take it with a big grain of salt while trying to sell a flat that's been on the market since February.

There's just so much bad advice out there for people who are trying to sell...

Spanglyprincess1 · 16/07/2018 09:40

Im house hunting at the moment at looking up to 10% over what I can afford with view to make offers. I'm chain free and very flexible on move dates as we are not in a rush. I see this as making me a good buyer for a lot of people esp if they have already found a home they wish to move to.

FabulousSophie · 16/07/2018 09:46

BuildingThings I have been reading this morning that the vast majority of economists and investors expect the Bank of England to raise interest rates on Aug 2nd. That would likely be a major blow to an already weak housing market, and any EA would be laughed out of business if they tried to dismiss it as fake news!

G1ggleloop · 16/07/2018 09:48

When we were selling our agents knew what we needed to move. If you tell them your maximum budget they should advise as to whether or not it might be enough

FabulousSophie · 16/07/2018 09:50

G1ggleloop EAs work for sellers and their advice to buyers should not therefore be given credence, since it is likely to be against a buyer's interests.

FabulousSophie · 16/07/2018 09:53

G1ggleloop It is dangerous to reveal your maximum budget to an EA, since they will try to use this knowledge against you in any negotiation. Much better to be vague about budget, and not reveal your hand.

BuildingThings · 16/07/2018 10:11

Yep, G1ggleloop last offer we made, EA told us what the vendors minimum was, which was 25k less than the asking price

FabulousSophie · 16/07/2018 16:47

G1ggleloop Having thought about it, I think your strategy of giving a maximum budget figure to the EA makes sense, if you are planning on viewing only one of the EA's properties, which is over budget but that you think you would probably like to buy if the viewing confirmed it. I am interested in a property that I have not viewed, but I think I like. However, it has been on since April for offers in the region of £575k; and my maximum budget would be £500k to include stamp duty. If I made this clear to the EA beforehand, I could then find out if it was waste of time arranging a viewing.

Lilmisskittykat · 17/07/2018 20:28

I think it's certainly worth a try but like other have advised it seems to be more to with the luck of finding someone keen to sell.

We have offered 5% less on an overpriced house and been refused, which is frustrating as it's actually a very fair offer for selling prices in the area (probably a little over but we like the area for family reasons - it's an average estate)

I've looked 10% over our budget but there's always the risk of finding something you like with a vendor that won't shift...

I'm actually hating to try and buy a house right now, been looking for 9 months with nothing decent on the market that isn't overpriced to start with

MountainPeakGeek · 18/07/2018 06:54

Don't know if it's similar market conditions now as it's been over 10yrs since we last sold a house in the UK, but we sold ours for 9% below our asking price.

We accepted that lowish offer from FTB's who claimed to be able to complete quickly, as opposed to other interested parties who were in a chain. That was a mistake as they ended up being utter nightmares stalling, piss-taking gits but that's not the point.

If you find motivated sellers (we were emigrating) then you could well find them willing to drop by a similar percentage.

Moonie12 · 18/07/2018 13:43

As a fellow FTB we are also taking this approach and we are in SE London/Kent. The EAs that we have been speaking to have been surprisingly candid explaining to us that things are selling for at least 5% under asking and that they have more stock on their books now then they have ever had. One EA told us during an actual viewing of a house that it was on at the same price that he sold a property for on that road at the peak of the market which he said took place in 2016 just before the Brexit vote. He said he thought that prices still had another 10% to come down! This was during a viewing! We didn’t know what to make of it. What’s more I have a friend of a friend who owns an estate agents and has said it’s absolutely dier at the moment with nothing selling. Apparently in their well known branch they were called into head office to have their wrists slapped.

I think the main problem is though that sellers expectations are still up there with a buoyant market and some. EAs have also explained to us that flats just aren’t selling at the moment because the prices are too high for the FTB’s which means that the chains are just stuck because those second time home sellers can’t secure a buyer.

As an FTB you just don’t know what to do! Keep making low offers (which get rejected very quickly) or hold out for the market to adjust? If it ever does?

Of course you do worry with low offers that you will offend/not be taken seriously. We offered under on a property recently which would have meant that the owners had made 250k on their property since they bought it 5 years ago and the EA came back and said if you want to make an offer it needs to be asking price. Quite frankly I was offended by his lack of ability to negotiate!

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