How much to offer on this house?

[isthishouseworthit]

Current vendors live in a different part of the country. They purchased this property for £656,000 in October 2020 and were planning on renovating the property before moving in but their circumstances changed and they weren’t able to do anything to the house. The house has sat empty since then and is in a really bad state of repair. They’ve listed the house at £700,000. Everything needs doing to it- even the garden needs a complete overhaul because of how overgrown it is (worse than the listing photos). Problem is, the house is perfect for us in terms of location for DC schools, station, work and family. We’d like make an offer on it but at how much? There’s very little available locally so the EA said he thought the house might go for well over asking price but that wouldn’t be worth it in my eyes so we’d have to back out. Would an offer of £668,000 be reasonable for this house? Our max is £700,000 but the house needs at least £50,000 worth of work doing to it.

Here’s a link:

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/121435343

It was open house on Saturday and had 22 viewings- it was like a conveyor belt of people entering and leaving the house!

Only you can decide max you would be happy to pay and then even if it went for more you will know it wasn’t worth it. With that much interest in A property no one knows how much it’s worth to someone else…

How much have prices increased locally? Here, that would have increased by £75kish over 2020-that’s as it is. I wouldn’t expect to get it under £700k but I don’t know the market.

It also depends on your position too I guess, if they want to get rid quickly and you are short/no chain that might help. But they probably don’t expect to lose money on it so I’d expect it to be original price + margin for costs at least.

I’d go with your max budget minus £50k and hope for the best. If it goes for more then ultimately you know you can’t afford it (we’ve just about to buy a house £10k over our budget and don’t have the funds for the work now, but it’s not as extensive work as that so we can live with it for a while).

That house will take WAAAYYY more than 50k to get up to a good standard, you need a nee bathroom no kitchen for starters, god knows what else is lurking

You're paying more for the potential and the plot, than the actual house, if you see what I mean. Number 9 sold last year for £850k in reasonable condition, which is likely to have increased to at least £900/930k by now with inflation.

"Yours" actually looks like it needs closer to £100k of work to modernise, not including extension, as it would undoubtedly need all the hidden things doing (rewiring, boiler etc), as well as obvious (kitchen, bathrooms, windows).

I doubt it will go for under asking, though you could try. My guess is that it will go for £700-750k, possibly more if the market is really hot, though I don't know the area. If there's nothing else available, at least half of those 22 are likely to be keen bidders, so whether you get accepted is on whether you think it is worth paying a premium for.

Given there’s one nearly that needs just as much work with less generous proportions on for £750k I think you’ll struggle to take loads off the price. If there’s been 20+ viewings they’ll probably get over asking

Houses round us have gone up by 15% since then (it's when we sold our house). The garden is more overgrown but that's immaterial - it all needed redoing anyway. 15% on Oct 2020 price is £750k so yes I reckon it will go for well over the asking price, especially if they've had that many viewings. And BTW it needs more like £100k spending on it not £50k!!

Looking at the bathroom and kitchen alone, that will cost £50k to sort. To do a full renovation, you should not expect any change out of £150k - the house needs a full renovation. That, however, does not mean it’s not worth £700k. It may well be. And after spending £150k it may be worth a lot more than £850k. Either way, you need more money to do it up than you are planning.

www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/detailMatching.html?prop=37678077&sale=13932775&country=england
This one sold for £950k last year and looks like it is in even worse condition so I think yours will go over.

Nice little earner, £46,000 in 2 years for doing nothing! it needs extending and every room sorting, in this climate not much change from £200k+ my friend has had a tiny side return and cheap kitchen done and it cost £75K

I don't really know the area but looking at what else is available, it seems overpriced for what it is and how much needs doing.

How about this one - came on today, needs less work. Would the location work?

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/121631006#/?channel=RES_BUY

This is also within your budget and not too far from the original house posted:

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/120239360

What with little available locally, a conveyor belt of viewers on open day, and judging by neighbouring properties, I’d hazard a guess the will easily get asking price and possibly higher. Every open house I’ve been to has gone to sealed bids for way over. House prices have gone up too.

Offer what you can afford. What position are you in? Sold/chain etc?

Why are people saying it needs extending? OP hasn’t mentioned an extension. With a refurb budget of £50k it’s obvious she’s not planning to extend.

You'll need a lot more than £50k to refurb that house and garden. A lot more. Do you know why vendors haven't been able to do the work ? I'd find out if I was you.

The detached garage with extra sideway land means it is very attractive. I'm surprised the price is as cheap as it is.

I think it needs 150k of work too but if you can do some yourself that will bring that figure right down.

Holy shiz biscuits. You need to move up North love.

£700,000 for that? It needs a total refurb.

OP £50k would be enough to do up that house if you kept all the walls in tact and keep the windows and no extension. But if you decided to just update the bathroom and kitchen you could get away with it for a few years until you have the money to do it up.

Labour costs should be around £30-35k leaving you to buy your kitchen and bathroom . It's tight but doable so long as you don't project creep.

There will be no money for the garden

I did mine up not too far away last year but I spent closer to 120k - took down walls plus loft extension and driveway. We ran out of money but would have liked to do a wrap around extension which would have taken us to £200-220k.

Anyway I reckon you're unlikely to get that house of less than £700k unless the buyer are desperate

All you can do it put in your best offer and see what happens. With 22 views I can't see it going under asking price

How desperate are you to buy this specific house?

Houses that need work are selling a lot slower these days as it’s near impossible to get trades + prices have gone up significantly. A refurb that would have cost you £50k is most likely going to cost you £90k today, assuming you can even get the required skills and materials in the next 3-6 months!

The agent has already said he anticipates it going over the asking price and with a stream of viewings it does suggest it might. The price is clearly at the right level for the area and condition of the property otherwise that would not be the case.

Offer what you are comfortable with and see where it goes.

I know this area well and in fact, I know that road! It's not a particularly nice area, characterless and quite run down, near the rather desolate Rayner's Lane, though Pinner is lovely. It needs a lot of work though I think you could make it nice for 50k. I would not want to pay more than 650k for it as 700k once done up sounds reasonable. If there are loads of viewings though I think it will sell for around 700k and that house isn't worth it. For 700k you could get something in a much nicer area like the Hill or Pinner.

[quote HouseyHouse21]I don't really know the area but looking at what else is available, it seems overpriced for what it is and how much needs doing.

How about this one - came on today, needs less work. Would the location work?

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/121631006#/?channel=RES_BUY[/quote]
This one seems to be a bargain compared to the other one. It’s in a better state and much bigger too.

Op offer what you can afford, no one can guess if someone will offer more.

What they paid etc is irrelevant. What counts is how much it will fetch in the market now. That’s how much it is ‘worth’.

Offer what you can afford, to as high a price as it is worth to you.

If the EA is wrong, the house will be yours!

What does "BUY WITH RESERVATION AGREEMENT" mean?