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Original poster

Critique my offer message (purple bricks seller)

26 replies

applesauce1 · 28/10/2019 09:38

We want to put an offer in on a house that is being sold through purple bricks. I have so far only dealt directly with the seller. It’s more like an exchange through fb market place than any other property related interaction I’ve ever had, so I’m not sure how to approach the offer stage.
The house (midlands based) is on the market for £90,000 more than they paid for it 2 years ago (they have put in a new kitchen but not done any significant building work). It is on the market for £100,000 more than other houses have sold for on the same street, although it is heavily extended and by far the largest. Having said that, in this town, recent sales of similar properties have been rather less than this house’s asking price. Our estate agent has suggested a maximum value that it is worth and it is £30,000 less than the asking price.
The house has potential. It is not our ‘dream house’, but it does meet all of our desired criteria. I don’t want to offend them by offering low (what our estate agent has suggested we start at), but will not pay more than their suggested maximum value.
How does this sound for an initial offer letter:

Dear Mrs Purplebricks,

We would like to make an offer of £. We love your home and can really see ourselves raising our family there as you have. We can see that you have put a lot of time and love into creating your home and especially like what you have done with the new kitchen.
We recognise that our offer is lower than your asking price. On the advice of our estate agent, our offer is reflective of the house price ceiling of the road, and comparable evidence of recent sold prices of similar properties in (the town). It is also reflective of the * work that will need to be undertaken (here I will briefly detail changes that the vendor knows needs to be addressed).
I look forward to hearing from you soon,
Kind regards,
Applesauce

OP posts:
flabagoose · 28/10/2019 09:41

I'd throw in a couple of examples of similar sold prices to make it really clear.
is the work that needs to be done just your preference or clearly something really wrong with the property as it is? if it's the former then this could just piss them off as its irrelevant to the price.

Bodear · 28/10/2019 09:42

I would take out the first paragraph (apart from the number of course). Telling her why the house is amazing then offering lower than asking price comes across as a bit disingenuous and it’s unnecessary. Other than that I think it’s fine.
Do you have much wiggle room between your offer and your top line?

flabagoose · 28/10/2019 09:43

sorry just seen you did say they know it needs addressed. if you had any quote for those works to back up the cost difference then that would help.

wowfudge · 28/10/2019 09:45

I agree - two years is not a lot of time for starters!

Original poster
applesauce1 · 28/10/2019 09:45

@flabagoose The work is essential. They know it is. I’d say what it is but it’s outing as it’s such a rare, strange thing.

OP posts:
EskewedBeef · 28/10/2019 09:46

I don't think it's necessary to explain yourself. Keep your offer simple - they know how much they're willing to accept, and your reasoning isn't going to sway them.

Original poster
applesauce1 · 28/10/2019 09:48

@Bodear My estate agent suggested throwing in a compliment as some vendors are so offended by low offers, they completely shut down to further offers. I’ve probably gone overboard though. Will heavily amend that.

I’d have £10,000 wiggle room but my husband has a ceiling price in his head of only £5,000 more than initial offer amount. We’ll probably meet in the middle.

OP posts:
Bodear · 28/10/2019 09:55

Given you don’t have much wiggle room between offer and top line I think I’d set out in the message that this is your best and final offer. It gets rid of any notions that they can negotiate a further £20k/ £15k from you.
If you really don’t think they accept your current offer I think it may be sensible to go with your actual top line anyway (but you didn’t ask that, sorry).

I would bear in mind that offering directly is very different than offering via a third party. A compliment can work well when the estate agent makes the offer but that’s psychologically quite different from receiving an offer directly from the buyer.

FelicityFeather · 28/10/2019 10:04

I've bought and sold two houses this year and about to offer on a third. I'm no expert but based on my recent experiences, I'd probably chop half of that out

I'd just be straightforward. Do sellers need flowering up? Make your offer, say you won't be budging and sit back.

wowfudge · 28/10/2019 10:05

You can always say you can see yourselves living there and the kitchen is lovely.

Soontobe60 · 28/10/2019 10:12

As a seller all I’d want to know is how much you’re offering, and what position you’re in to proceed ie are you a cash buyer, do you have a mortgage in principle, has your house already sold. anything else is just waffle.

Original poster
applesauce1 · 28/10/2019 10:16

How is this (photo attached)?

Critique my offer message (purple bricks seller)
OP posts:
Fairylea · 28/10/2019 10:19

I don’t think you need to be so elaborate. Just put your offer and be polite. You don’t want to become too friendly with them incase they do accept the offer and then you end up in some long winded exchange about fixtures and fittings where they haggle with you over price to get more (been there, got the T shirt). As a seller I would probably just skip read down to the offer anyway (sold a few houses).

flabagoose · 28/10/2019 10:23

it's dont think its waffle if its giving Info to sellers with ridiculous ideas on what they hope to achieve. If they're that far over similar house prices then they dont appear to be aware of the market.
I've sold several times on purple bricks now and your offer would come accross to me as polite but informed.

Bodear · 28/10/2019 10:51

I think that’s much better OP. Will you come back and let us know what happens? I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you.

Original poster
applesauce1 · 28/10/2019 14:32

@Bodear I’ve sent the message! I’ll let you know how it goes.

OP posts:
Original poster
applesauce1 · 29/10/2019 15:21

They’ve rejected the offer on the grounds that we haven’t sold yet. They said that they’d be open to negotiation of sensible offers once that is the case. I honestly think it is a fair offer based on recent sold prices in the same area and especially due to the value of other houses on the same street.
Our house goes on the market today and according to our agent, there is already one person very interested. So fingers crossed and we will see!

OP posts:
MellyNotSmelly · 29/10/2019 15:57

Good luck with it. I can totally see why they are not interested until you are in a position to proceed.

JoanLewis · 29/10/2019 19:20

Whether it's fair or not is totally irrelevant if you're not procedable. Good luck with going on the market

wowfudge · 30/10/2019 06:30

Well you didn't say you weren't even on the market! The advice would have been different. Good luck with selling yours. Making an offer when you don't know what you'll get for yours is risky.

Original poster
applesauce1 · 30/10/2019 07:13

In the last year, houses on our street have sold for above asking price in a few days. We didn’t want to put our house on the market until we’d found a great place that we loved. We didn’t want to accept an offer and feel under pressure to choose a house that maybe isn’t the one.

OP posts:
Bodear · 30/10/2019 07:18

Sounds like you’re in a good position; you’re house is in a popular area and the offer you put in wasn’t rejected Smile

Bodear · 30/10/2019 07:18

Your house! Sorry! I’m not calling you a house 🤦🏻‍♀️

BlouseAndSkirt · 30/10/2019 07:29

I wouldn’t accept an offer from anyone who didn’t have an offer on their property.

Good luck OP!

lottiegarbanzo · 30/10/2019 07:35

Have you had a survey (proper one, not just a mortgage survey - advisable if it's an older or complicated house)? Got quotes for the necessary work?

Your survey might throw up other expensive issues you hadn't noticed. You need real figures for those things and the work you know about. Both for your own sake and so you can place cold figures in front of the vendor.

Good luck selling yours. Completely normal not to accept an offer until you have, so are in a position to buy.