Offering 525k on a 649k house?

[Blibbleflibble]

So would this be massively cheeky? I think the house has potential but it's in need of a full renovation, wallpaper peeling off walls a knackered 1980s kitchen with wood panel ceiling and peeling lino floor, useable but dated bathroom and a green coloured loo in cloakroom, houses on the same side of the road 2 doors up went for £425k in 2018 same amount of beds but you could move straight in condition with modern kitchen another house 3 doors the other way went for £589k 2019 but it is larger with a wider plot and had 5 beds not 3.

I feel the price they're asking is what it would be worth if it was properly renovated to a high standard, with new roof, boiler etc.

Its been on since end of June.

You need to look at similar properties on the market right now and or sold within the last 9+ months. They don't have to be in the same street, just nearby. You are looking for square footage and plot of land comparables, above number of bedrooms or general decor.

A new kitchen and bathroom can be had for £20,000 in some areas of the country. You can't make discounts in your mind for decorating and flooring.

I bought my house for 400k in 2020. According to the Estate Agent it’s worth 680-720k now with renovations we’ve done. Similar houses in 2023 without renovation have gone for 600k.

Completely agree. They have the right to set their asking price, you have the right to make a counter offer. They can accept or deline as they see fit. Nothing wrong in asking.

The EA will put the offer to their clients and have a conversation with them about the CF who offered 525k on a house valued less than 3 months ago at 649k.

It's completely illogical. If it's so overpriced, wait for it to be reduced to 600k say, then offer 525k, not now. Even then they would only consider it if they had no viewings at all after weeks on at 600k.

We had a ridiculous offer like this on a flat we sold in London in 2021. They kept increasing the price until they got to one we could agree on, about 9% below asking. The EA knew we wouldn't trust them after all their silly offers so suggested they had to pay a 10k deposit just to prove they wouldn't lower the offer at the last minute 🙄

My tuppence/ Qs:

Have you viewed it already?

Ultimately YABU. I think it would be hugely cheeky to offer that much under, especially as the price may already reflect the level of work needed (and bear in mind anything that's aesthetic arguably shouldn't be counted in as it's not the vendor's fault that you don't love 80s decor... And I say that as someone who bought a complete doer upper in 2021 that was 80s wallpaper and artex ceilings throughout, plus a carpeted pink bathroom suite. We did offer under, but it was based on functional things such as leaking windows and a condemned boiler unit).

It may not be possible for the vendors to make their onward purchase with that much of a hit.

Genuinely how much do you want the house? Because the risk of offering something so far below asking (before a survey has even been done too!) is that you'll piss the vendors off so much that they either don't want to sell to you at all, or won't be able to trust that you won't try and significantly lower the price later on.

I’d also wait as well if you were genuinely interested and try and build up a rapport with the estate agent.

I told my EA that I didn’t want to hear from a couple who put in a very low offer. I felt it was very unreasonable as the house had a great plot and location even though it needed modernisation. After a couple of weeks the EA told me it might be a hard pill to swallow…. But I stood my ground and accepted an offer nearly 300k more than that very low offer.

We got ours for 625 - originally on at 750 then reduced to 700. Similar drop. Worth a try. Nothing to lose really.

I wouldn't make a formal offer. But I would let the agent know what you were willing to pay and why.

That gives the agent feeback and lets them know there is a buyer at that price.

Then the agent can either choose to leave it, or work on the seller to reduce their expectations.

I bought a house in the 1990's - was on the market for 58k, I couldn't afford to look at it, was still on the market about 11 months later (when I had been outbid for a smaller but much smaller property in the same area). In Ireland, things may be slightly different, I asked the agent what was the asking price, unchanged from 58k, then what the highest offer was, 40k, before I viewed, after viewing I offered 42k, they said they had a counter offer, back and forth, eventually secured it for 46k. Proportionately, it's not too dissimilar to your figures now. It's definitely worth a shot.

Years later I met the man who made the counter offer, he bought a house a bit away on the other side of the road. I got the sunny side and the bigger back garden. We had a laugh about it.

Agree.

Better to look at Sold prices on Rightmove although they are always a couple of months out of date. At least would give @Blibbleflibble some idea what similar properties were selling for in June/July/August 23.

Also worth asking the agent if the vendors need to sale to finance the next property - they might need to achieve a certain amount to make their next purchase possible. They might've priced this house based on what they need for their next - which TBH isn't your problem.

If it hasn't had any offers on a street where properties usually get snapped up, then the price is wrong.

Don’t be ridiculous

The house in your story had been on the market at least 11 months - bit different to 2.5 months.

The asking price should not still have been 58k after all that time!

Small possibilty that ine one of a couple has decided to sell the other is just pricing the house out of the market.

So sad dear, who would not want to pay for our over priced house??😁

Well, it is op's problem in the sense that they're not going to hand it over for what op tells them it's worth 🤦‍♀️

I also think this is bang on. The houses on our road are at a premium cost as they are on a desirable road and rarely come to market.

Lol - you could be right there 😂

You can offer whatever you want but surely you must know that an offer like that won’t be taken seriously…..would you sell a property for 100k less than the asking price?

I would hold off making any offers until you know how much it will take to repair and renovate it. 80's wallpaper aside, old houses have many secrets lurking under floor boards and in the timber joints. I am a property developer and I am doing up a Victoria wreck. Some works are being done by family to save on costs. A huge property with massive potential, and I am doing this mortgage free. So far it has taken around £100k just to deal with some of the major structural issues, and I have to spend around £70k more to make it nice. I managed to get a Government grant as well. Battling builders, plumbers, electricians etc is time consuming and soon becomes a full time project manager job chasing everyone. I am fortunate to have made good contacts along the way, but I've dealt with cowboys and scammers as well. Doing a full renovation is energy draining so consider if you want to set yourself up for this. There are lots of dodgy trades people out there so it is always best to get a recommendation from another tradesperson, rather than the yellow pages. Once you have a good idea of the cost of repairs (ball park), then you can make an offer accordingly. If you are not a cash buyer, the mortgage survey may prevent you accessing conventional mortgages for this sort of venture. You may also require more expensive house insurance. If it is old and neglected, and you really love it please get a full survey done so you can at least know what you are letting yourself in for.

Depends how long it's been on the market. We bid in a similar situation , no one was interested but seller had delusions . They missed out as they missed peak property prices. Get pally with estate agents and see if you can find out what other offers have been put on.

We offered £660 on a house that was on for £775 and got it for £675. That was a probate sale and it had been on for a while so the seller just wanted shot.

I don't think a low offer is cheeky, or rather I don't think being cheeky is necessarily the thing you should be worrying about. You need to think through the different outcomes and where things go from here. If £525 is your absolute highest offer than you have nothing to lose. If £525 is just your first step in a longer negotiation than you might do better to test the ground first- have a good talk with the agent about it all, so that it's clear you're a serious buyer at the start of a negotiating process.

How they react is likely to depend on a number of things, from how desperate they are to sell to what other feedback they've received. Good luck.

OP says it has been on since June.

Id be really insulted

Estate agents want the highest possible sale price because they'll get a higher commission. They also work for the vendor, not a buyer who doesn't want to pay the full asking.
As if "getting pally" is going to change that 😂

Market down 16%

So yeah, I think that's OK, tbh but sellers still seem to think it's 2021, sadly...