Initial offer - how much?

[L238]

Seen a flat I like this weekend
100y on lease
3bed (3rd is restricted height single as it’s in loft)
Share of garden (pretty standard for flats in this part of east London)
It’s on with the agent we viewed with at £415k but Zoopla shows it listed 2 weeks ago by another agent at £400k. So I’m thinking £415 is a bit of a punt by the second agent?
Needs work but in a liveable condition (eg bathroom is grubby but not urgently needing work) and there is a second little shower room in the loft.
We are FTB, no chain, DIP in place and deposit ready to go.
The vendor was in when we viewed and let slip that they are keen for a quick sale and have put a deposit down to hold a property they want to buy.
There were quite a few people viewing on the open day but difficult to gauge interest.

What sort of offer should we start with?

Go with £370

No harm it opens dialogues
State chain free everything in place
Mention bathroom etcneeds doing

Thanks - so ~10% below asking price?
I am new to this so advice much appreciated

Yes

Expect a no, but then ask the EA what's their minimum expectation?

EA have to pass on every offer. Stand firm.

Think about how much you are willing to spend and keep that as a ceiling price

I agree that you could try £370K, the agent is duty bound to report every offer that they get. They will say yes or no, they want a bit higher and the agent will come back to you. You then pay tennis until you agree a price or they accept a higher offer from somebody else.

There's not really a set formula on offers, but I know when my old house went on at £145K, I wanted £140K for it. Most people usually put it on for more than they want, to make sure they get what they want.

Thanks. It feels so cheeky but I guess it’s just the opening gambit.
It does have a lot going for it (much more spacious than most flats) but definitely needs work.
I guess there’s no harm going low then working up! Just nervous about the whole thing!

It's a game

You open - the reject
You up your offer

They know it's a low offer and you know they will reject it - you just need to edge your bets until you agree

Try and keep it as a business deal rather than emotional

Remember the only winners are the banks lending the money

Looking at local sold prices £400 is low for this sort of property, even £415 is low for a 3 bed even with the caveats of condition/needing work.
Are you sure they won’t discount me as a time waster if I go in too low?

Not if you sell yourself as a ftb with all finances in place. Plus they can always either say no or come back with a counter offer.

I'd go £390000

Do you know how long it's been on for? If it was with a previous agent then usually one would expect the property to have been with them for 12 weeks due to estate agency contracts.
Don't underestimate that buyers are rattled, especially after Mark Carney's comments. In the last few days I've accepted an offer on a house I'm selling that is at least 5% below what the same houses have sold for during the last two years (it's a very standard style locally). Five other houses the same have stuck around for months at the usual price and the offers just aren't coming.
You can always increase but be wary as sellers are aware the market isn't great.

First listed at £400k with agent 1 on 8th Sept, their ad says they had an open day on 15th Sept. On with agent 2 from 18th Sept, open day on 22nd. They said they had “quite a few” viewers but no idea what that means. There were 2 other couples there when I was who didn’t seem interested (left quickly, no questions for vendor)

If it was on at £400k with first agent the vendors must have been happy with that and probably hoped to get £390k. I'd tell the estate agent you know it was advertised at the lower price and go in at £375k with a top price of £390k. Good luck.

Thanks. That was my gut feeling about the price with agent 2 being a hopeful punt. Agent 2 are the local specialist with much wider reach than agent 1 by the looks of it, but they often start huh and reduce within a week or 2

*start high

Link? You can pm it if you would rather

Alexalee PM sent

If they are on with two agents they are in a hurry. Start low! If you are embarrassed about 370 you can even say that it's an opening offer (no need for embarrassment though- if you had seen it at 400 you'd be opening at 360!) If they accept your first offer then it was too high...

Gone with 385 initially - agent made out like there were potentially other offers on the table but also no one has actually made one yet. So we’ll see! It sounds like others may not have finance in place

Good luck l238