Viewing a house on for 385k, when budget is 350k. Thoughts please

[SaltedCaramelWithEverything]

Hi,

So we sold about 3 weeks ago and took less than we wanted to, but accepted we just weren't getting the interest and had been on a long time, so took a hit, price wise. This obviously means that our budget for our next house is less than we assumed.

Our chain free (BTL) buyers are aware that we haven't found anywhere yet and have said they are in no massive rush. That said, I'm permanently in a panic that they'll pull out.

There's been nothing on the market recently that fits. I saw a house on RM that I really like, but at 35k above budget, I'm wondering if it's pointless viewing it. I'm seeing it tomorrow and I suspect it will tick most boxes. I have driven round the road several times now and get a good feel for the area.

I let their EA know our position, as I didn't want to waste anyone's time and she told me that it's still worth a look, as they haven't yet had any offers and were considering reducing anyway. That said, they have only been on for a few weeks.

So, if we did really like it, should we:

A: Go in with a lower offer, under 350k, with wiggle room to come up to that figure.

B: Go in with first and final offer of 350k. No messing about.

TIA

Go in at 345 then if they say no go 350 and tell them it's the max

@Alexalee, thanks. That's what I was thinking actually.

I think if we just went in at 350k saying that was it, then they probably wouldn't believe us and think I was just playing games and had a bit more to offer. As did our buyers.

I like to think we are in a decent position though, having sold and to chain free buyers 🤞🤞

Yup, that's exactly what I'd do too.

We were in this situation. Just put all your cards on the table and say we really love this house but 350k is our max budget. They will probably then come back at £360k or something but then you just say sorry, we really are at our max at 350k. Then they take it or leave it.

There danger with offering 345k is that it seems like you are maybe playing games and can afford to go higher but are just trying your luck. They may then come back with 365k and if you can only increase to 350k you might look like you're taking the piss and annoy them. Or they might then hold out thinking that you will eventually break and go higher which will make everything take longer and risk them finding another buyer who can offer higher.

Just say look, 350 is all we have, we can move quickly, if you accept this we will proceed tomorrow. No games.

So I vote option B

Thanks, @fpurplea.

I'm worried I'm going to massively offend them offering 40k under asking price, but I know they can only say no.....they probably will 😔

I also vote b and same reason as bananallamas.

@bananallamas, eeeeee this is also true 😬

I think you should go for 350k than going to low and make it final especially if they have been only for few weeks on market. Good luck

Can you go in at 352? If its clear it's everything you can scrape together as such odd amount and over the possible 350 minimum they may have in their head

Be up front with the with your Max budget. If you can suddenly find an extra £5k that might try and squeeze extra out of you at any point during the process. Having a small chain will help.

We did this and went in with an offer at 310, house was on for 345 reduced from 365 originally. They accepted, we didn't mess about just said we loved the house but 310 was top end for us.... So glad we asked!

Ours was 385k we put in the offer 360k the answer was no and went back with 365k was no again and finally he said he could accept 370k and that’s what we paid

Our house was on for 400k seller dropped price to 375 after a few months of no interest. We weren't sure whether to view as it seemed lovely but over our budget so we didn't want to fall in love with it just to be disappointed.
We offered 345, they refused but accepted 350 which was our absolute max.
Nothing ventured and all that!

@happytoday73 has a good idea. 352 makes it sound more genuine for some reason. Sounds like you've gone down the back of the sofa for every last penny you can find. Psychologically that should help convince them you are genuine.

Thanks for all the advice.

I get the 352k idea. It does make sense, but I'm honestly not sure we could afford it. Our comfortable max was actually 340k, so 350k was already pushing it a bit.

I think if you like it make the first and final offer of 350.

if they come back asking for more you say "look, we were asking for XXk more on the house we are selling and had to drop the price then take a low offer just to sell. it's the way the market is at the moment. if we were in a better market we would have got a better offer and could have offered more to you but we are where we are. that is our maximum."

they can choose whether to take the 350 bird in the hand or hold out for the 385 two birds in the bush.

if they turn you down don't be too heartbroken - and restrict your hunting to 10% below your maximum budget because that is the financially responsible thing to do.

Well the market may well crash the day after tomorrow so you might as well look.

Option b!

That's what we did with ours, we offerd 10k under as that was the absolute maximum we could go too. We made it very clear that we physically couldn't go any higher and they accepted! :)

I dont really find playing games works, especially when your offers already a lot lower, it might just come across as your taking the mick and not serious and could be offensive. But people understand when your honest.

Hmm option b is starting to make more sense now.

Option b. Just offer 350. Thr agent knows your position. It's a take it or leave it situation, final offer. They either accept or they don't. No point in going in a few grand less. That would be silly.

Your first offer should always be embarassingly low. If you don't ask you don't get.

Similar happened to us. We saw dream house for 250k, our max 230k. Offered 220 and went up to 230 final offer. They found another buyer who offered 250k so end of story. They rang back 2 months later saying that had fallen through and they were now prepared to accept 230 if we could progress quickly.

So even if your offer is rejected now bear in mind something like 60% of sales fall through, they may well come back to you as their only serious buyer.

60%!!!

There was meant to be a ? in there too

We lost a house due to offering a little then increasing, then increasing again. They got sick of us and sold it for less than what we finally offered. I think they had decided that we weren't serious enough. There's a lot to be said for going in with what you can afford rather than playing games.