Help me make an offer...small 2 bed house

[Greenfairydust]

I am buying my first house after living in a flat for quite a few years.

I saw a 2 bed, 2 baths (one small en suite with shower, one bigger bathroom with a bath and attached shower), semi-detached, house today with side parking on a modern estate (built about 10 years ago).

The garden is a surprisingly good size. The rooms themselves are definitely a small size though, as expected. Decent, quiet location. The owner has maintained the house well. The boiler has been checked every year with certificate as proof. He has done little with the garden so it is just grass, but tidy.

It is on at £280,000 so I am not sure how much I could offer. I am new to this and really struggling with that part of the process (my previous flat was a new built sold at a set price with white goods thrown in as incentive so I never really had to deal with offers before...)!

The agent was honest in saying they have not had any offers so far, mainly because the house would only appeal to first time buyers and they are thin on the ground in this market. It was reduced last month to £280,000.

I think all I would want to do is remove the carpets (they are quite new but I really don't like carpets as I have pets and ''accidents'' are easier to deal with on other surfaces ...) and one cupboard in the kitchen which is just taking too much space that could be utilised better.

I am in a decent position (recent mortgage in principle in place and money from the recent sale of my flat ready in the bank).

How much would you offer in this market?

@Mark19735 your logic makes no sense. If you want to sell it's much more sensible to go down that road with someone you trust, otherwise you could end up losing thousands at the last second and having to risk it all over again.

Tell me how maybe losing thousands at the last second is worse than definitely leaving thousands on the table right from the outset.

Because selling your house is a whole lot of stress and energy.

All these people saying a vendor will refuse further offers if the initial offer was too low have clearly never sold a house a before

That's just not true. I've bought and sold 8 times, and sold 2 probate properties. If someone makes an offer that is obviously far below what would be considered reasonable in current market conditions, then it can be a sign that they might not be serious, they may be at the absolute limit is their funds, or may lower any later offer part way through the buying process. All of those things would make me hesitate to consider any higher offer from them.

If another buyer came in with a similar offer, and same circumstances, I'd go with the person who hadn't offered way under in the first place.

Yes … that’s precisely what I’m saying. If someone is prepared to pay more, they are in pole position. But the OP said they were prepared to pay up to £270k and other posters are suggesting that if the opening offer is too low, they wouldn’t entertain subsequent improved offers. If a second bidder offers £260k and the seller accepts that for the reasons cited, then they will have missed out on £10k that the OP says they would have been prepared to bid. That is their loss, not the OPs.

All of you saying you’ve previously done just that will have paid a pretty premium for your reduced stress and energy. Not saying it wasn’t worth it, or that it’s not your right - but it has been a cost to you, borne from your arrogance that you know better what any bidder’s motives, intentions and negotiating position might be based purely on how offended you were by their opening bid.

It's the increased certainty. I'm similar to others, I would hesitate to accept an offer from someone who started too low. I wouldn't want them ruining my onward purchase halfway through the conveyancing process by going back on their offer.

My dh taught me a lot about negotiating, he is ruthless. I often joke that he splits a price by 50% and then expects to pay 10% of the remainder. But it works so often. He always offers way lower and negotiates back up to the (still reduced) place he intended to end at. And, he asks what else will you throw in?

I heard back and there is a £220 a year maintenance charge on the estate as it has not been ''adopted by the council'' and some of the properties opposite this house are shared-ownership house. It was built by Persimmon.

The shared-ownership does not bothered me so much but the fact that there is a maintenance charge is not ideal.

I am thinking that £265,000 would be fair in this situation and I certainly would not pay more than £270,000.

Sounds fair, are you going to start at 260?

@WimbyAce

I am actually really concerned about hearing about the maintenance charge today and this being a Persimmon home/estate.

There are a lot horror stories around about these ''fleecehold'' charges being uncapped and I don't fancy being asked to pay thousands of pounds in a few years' time because the estate's sewer/draining system has to be replaced or the private roads might have a hole or something....

The council are not responsible for maintenance in this scenario so all the costs falls on the private freeholders.

If the estate was managed by a resident associations that would be fine maybe but a private management company is just there to make some money out of it.

So I am thinking of just leaving that one because of it. Too much uncertainty.