Offering below asking price

[user280820210]

I have arranged a couple of viewings for places above my budget. Say 10-20k.

If I were to like the properties, I would offer up to 20k below the asking price. How likely is it that the offer would be accepted?

The reality is, I should really have more deposit, but a year out of work thanks to covid and thus not saving, here I am.

I can't actually get much for my budget - I am a first time buyer and a single buyer. But the safer areas I am looking at, the prices are slightly above what they are actually worth (imo)

How much do you think you go below the asking price offer before you're laughed out of the office?

Thanks.

If someone put in a low offer to me, I wouldn't even bother to acknowledge it or respond.

But this ignores the fact that some people price too high

Offer. The worst they can say is no. It's not personal nor a piss take, it's a transaction.

And if there were to be 5/10/306 offers over the asking, it wouldn't still be on the market a year on.

It sounds unlikely but it depends on what the market like where you’re looking and what the sellers need to move on. Where l live you would be wasting your time. We offered 15k OVER on a property and got nowhere

A house is worth what the highest interested bidder can afford to pay.

It's worth chancing your arm and making an offer, making clear that you really are interested and proceedable.

Low offers from investors are more irritating - they can afford more, but mess you about at every step, in my experience.

As others have said, completely depends on the property. Just because some houses are going for over asking price doesn't mean others can't be overpriced.

@user280820210

I'm viewing a property at 120k that has been on the market since Sept 2020.

There's a 2% chance there isn't something quite badly wrong with it, or owners so stubbornly unrealistic they'll never drop an excessive asking price ever.

I wouldn't waste any more of your time on this.

I also view properties above my budget. I'm in a 'hot' area and still houses are going around it just below ask, just generally going within days. A couple gave really pushed the price and they languish - most buyers at this price point (£950-1.1m) are not first time buyers so know what they are doing and aren't foolish.
View, offer what you think it's worth, then see what they say. If repeatedly unsuccessful then you either need to increase your budget or lower your expectations.

I think in the current market a lot depends on how it was priced to begin with and how much on the market.
We offered on 2 places in same area. One at £40k over asking and didn't get it, one we offered under asking as we felt it was overpriced. They said no but its still sitting there 6 months later, so clearly noone else thinks it is worth asking price either.

@ComeonJulia

Oh and of 16 offers, we only had 1 at asking price. Everything else was over and they were all proceedable.

Very interested to know what area of the country you are in. We are planning to list our house and move area so trying to avoid crazily 'hot' areas.

Entirely reasonable to offer 100 if it's been on the market nearly a year. But if it's not sold, there's a reason why...it's probably not worth 120 but the seller won't budge.

Can you post a link?

It's a horrible time for first time buyers ATM even though they have the advantage of not having a property to sell - generally it's a sellers market but a property is only worth what someone is prepared to offer - if a property is in desirable location it is likely to attract a lot of interest.

It takes time to get your head around the house market - if you keep looking you will start to develop a sense for what is genuinely over priced. If you have a good feel for prices go with your feeling and don't offer more than you want to but... you may find yourself on the sidelines having to rethink what properties are really worth - location really matters more than the bricks and mortar. But what constitutes a good location depends on the buyers - a retired couple or empty-nesters will have no particular interest in a property within walking distance of primary and secondary schools for instance. If you don't have kids you probably aren't going to want to pay over the odds for a property in a catchment area for a good school - other people with kids will think differently. Quick access to a train station or a motorway junction/ring road/dual carriageway may appeal to a working couple more than a retired couple.

I have just had a house I had to sell as I am the executor of an estate - I had 3 offers at the asking price in the first 3 days and possibly we could have asked more - several interested others are wisely (imho) staying in the loop just in case the sale falls through but I am happy to sell at a reasonable price - we had a one cash buyer but that fell through and within the hour another person who put in the full asking price stepped in. One of my daughters has just bought a house and paid more than I would have done (the house is a money pit but the location is fantastic - that is what's she's paid for) and my other daughter is sitting tight in rented accommodation for another year because it is so hard to buy anything at a reasonable price - she has a huge amount saved as a deposit, a secure well paid job and can easily get a mortgage but she's not happy with what's on the market ATM given the prices they are asking for - she will save more than what she pays in rent over the next year - a bigger deposit means she can get a better mortgage which will work out in her favour over the life of the mortgage.

@floridapalmtree Sheffield! Very hot here. We’ve had a few friends move this year, we’ve probably been the “luckiest” as we’ve managed to get our new house for £4K over asking but our sellers were keen to move quickly.
Some friends have recently paid £45k over asking for a renovation house. It’s crazy here. Ours sold in 5 days. Not much staying on longer than a week here.

[quote ComeonJulia]@floridapalmtree Sheffield! Very hot here. We’ve had a few friends move this year, we’ve probably been the “luckiest” as we’ve managed to get our new house for £4K over asking but our sellers were keen to move quickly.
Some friends have recently paid £45k over asking for a renovation house. It’s crazy here. Ours sold in 5 days. Not much staying on longer than a week here.[/quote]
Thank you for your reply. It seems there are pockets all over the country where the market is going crazy. We were trying to avoid all this madness as the stress of seeing something you like and constantly being outdone is so hard. Sounds like you have done well compared to your friends, good luck with your move.

It depends on so many things. Not everywhere is a crazy hot market right now so don't listen to people who say you need to offer asking or above to stand a chance. Properties in my area (Hampshire) are no longer selling easily. We actually offered 60k under asking price recently on a property! Okay, it was rejected, but it's been on the market for 4 months now since our offer and reduced twice and still not selling. It also depends massively on their situation- how desperate to move they are. But basically you have nothing to lose. Good luck!