Property/DIY
Is this an insulting offer?
macneil · 31/08/2007 18:20
Have fallen for a house in the north of England in a university city. It's on the market for £275,000. Last year the buyer paid £230,000. They have sanded the floorboards and decorated it beautifully, but done no structural work. The estate agent says house prices haven't gone up all that much in the last year. The thing is, we just can't afford it, especially as going over £250,000 means stamp duty of at least £7,000, over £8,000 at £275,000. They haven't had any other offers. But if we make an offer at £249,999, will they hate us so much they wouldn't take a bigger offer? The absolute most we can afford (and basically this would mean eating nothing but rice for the rest of our lives) is £260,000. Would it be smarter to say 'We've spoken to the bank and this is absolutely our top offer, we understand if you can't take it' first of all. Or do we take a risk and try the £249,999? Does anyone have any idea how the house market is going at the moment?
NAB3 · 31/08/2007 18:23
I agree. Offer 245 and you never know. Especially if you are in a strong position. If they want to sell they aren't going to reject a higher offer, and if it is over priced no one will buy it anyway.
Go on to the Nationwide website and put in the post code. You get a price for the average price. May be useful info.
LaDiDaDi · 31/08/2007 18:25
Is it in Newcastle perchance?
Because I don't think house prices have really gone up here over the past year though what I have noticed is that houses that were previously on at 250k (and really probably worth around 260k) so they were in the lower stamp duty band are now on at say 270k so def in the 3% s.d. if that makes sense.
Personally I wouldn't contemplate a future on rice alone and I would wait a while, unless it's already been on for ages. Then, when they get fed up I would say that 250k is your absolute max but be in a really good position to move.
macneil · 31/08/2007 18:27
It is their estate agent - he was bizarrely honest. The other house we looked at, he pointed out the damp and said how many sales had fallen through with it. I've checked every property website, and they are asking a big rise from the prices paid more recently, but they have made it look beautiful, which is obviously why we love it. But Phil and Kirsty would tell me off for being seduced by wallpaper. Honestly hadn't even thought you were allowed to offer more than 10% less, though. Last time I bought a house it was my tiny ex-council flat in 1994.
WideWebWitch · 31/08/2007 18:31
I would make a lower offer, say £240 and be prepared to go up a few days later. Because if you make your first offer your final one that's it. And if they accept you'll always wonder if you could have got it for less. Stamp duty's a big one too.
Look at propertysnake, it'll show you discounts in your area. Plus no-one knows what's going to happen with house prices or interest rates but I think prices will go down slightly.
macneil · 31/08/2007 18:32
Haha! It is York. They are making some profit - as I said, I checked what they paid, but at the same time they must be thinking 'God, we've made this place lovely, we spent loads decorating it and now we're just throwing it all away'. They have to move. I don't have to move for 3 months.
bigwombat · 31/08/2007 18:35
If you're going to try to stay under the stamp duty threshold of £250k, try to make the offer a good £1k less - we made an offer of £249,950 on a property and were warned by our solicitor that it might be looked into as a deliberate scam to avoid stamp duty - they can look round the house and find 'extras' included in the sale which would push the price over £250k if valued!! Go for the £245k imo!
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