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 have nothing to lose, after the viewing and adding refurb costs which are always massively over due to hidden nasties you can put forward your offer.
if you’re honest with what your situation then I don’t see them, put in the offer and tell them you’re leaving it on the table, it’s surprising how things can come back to you

I don’t see them taking offence

You think its worth 525k so you offer 525k and see how it goes. they accept or reject.

The seller thinks its worth(or is asking for) 649k, thats not to say what it will sell for.

I like this advice.
And your username 😂

It’s all dependent on the seller’s circumstances and the individual property really. For example BIL has just had an offer of £975k on a house listed at £1.2million accepted. The house has been on the market for almost a year and the sellers have had at least 3 other sales fall through in that time so they just want to get the place sold.

It’s ballsy, I’ll give you that!

Maybe have a chat with the agent, they might have a bit more insight into what it could actually go for and whether there’s been much interest at its current price.

I just don't get the taking a low offer as insulting. It's a financial not an emotional transaction. I think many vendors believe their house to be worth more than it is and and encouraged to do so by their EA. Also vendors often don't understand the hugely increased costs of refurbishing post covid.

Yes that’s cheeky! The market has moved a lot since 2018/19 so you can’t really compare to those.

Can only say no, I know people who got 150k plus knocked off asking.

Estate agents want the house sold otherwise there's generally no commission for them. Building decent rapport with people builds wonders in most negotiation situations.

Why not start with £300K and see how that goes? That’s what my house cost in 2018 so it seems a reasonable offer. The vendors can always say no, and you might get a bargain.

@NotObligedToArgueWithStrangers Yep- I think that's the way forward

Lol makes me think of what happened to us.

We made an offer on a house 20% under asking (as it is overvalued) on a house that ticked some boxes but we didn't love (but was the most appropriate we could find on the market) and fully expected it might be a 'no' and even said to them 'its ok if it is, we understand'.

I had LITERALLY just made the offer when I received a phone call from our dream house (which wasn't on the market yet) offering us first refusal to buy it.

Our offer on the first house got rejected (as expected) but the EA said they would 'consider dropping £10k but not as low as we offered'. I said OK thank you but no.

He then interrogated me as to why we no longer wanted the house (that rejected our offer and they knew was over our budget) so I said well we are actually buying our dream house now which amazingly worked out £55k cheaper.

He then launched into an insulting rant about how I don't understand the industry and how its impossible to buy a house for that price, how hes the expert and I need to listen to him because I don't know what I want, how our dream house is 'awful' (despite him not even knowing what house it is)... it was VERY unprofessional.

Its like look dude its a FACT. I AM buying a better house and it IS cheaper, its not up for debate. Him shitting on the house I'm buying isn't going to magic an extra 30k to buy the less perfect house we weren't that fussed about buying to begin with.

@housethatbuiltme - so glad you found your dream house. The arrogance of some EAs is astounding!

@housethatbuiltme What a lovely twist of fate for you! There are so many stories of random bad things happening during house buying and selling, it's nice to hear of an equally random good outcome.

I can't understand this thing about being "insulted."
Or even annoyed.
If yours is the best offer & they truly want to sell, they will accept (eventually).

If they never accept that's probably because they dont' really want to sell.

there is no insult or cheeky or offence to be had.

We bought a house that was on the market over priced. It was probate and we weren't in a hurry. We put an offer in and said we were happy to let the seller explore the market. 10
Months later we got the keys, and paid 10k less than our offer after the survey came in and there were some items required to make it water tight.

So it can work if you are prepared to wait.

It doesn't matter if it's cheeky, embarrassing or insulting. If the vendors don't want to accept it will be just because it isn't enough money for them. They may be wrong, they may be right. Unless they sell it for less than £525k they are up on this proposed deal.

I agree.

Friends of mine who have sold a relatives house recently put it on at an inflated price but when someone offered a ridiculously low price for it, they just laughed about it. That's what the vendors will do if the OP offers a laughably low price - they'll just laugh at it.

I agree with others that this is good advice.
You like it but think it is over priced so please let us know if it is reduced.
Then look at other properties.

Has anyone mentioned it could be a cheeky vendor asking £645k?

I'd offer it. They can say no if it's too low.

That was not the question asked by the OP @C4tastrophe

If the price is unrealistic then it will have to be reduced to sell.

It's pointless offering 525k on a 649k property when it has been on the market for less than 3 months. If it's not selling then wait for it to be reduced.

I suspect you have fallen into the trap of feeling it’s worth miraculously what you can afford or wish to spend, rather than any form of qualified expertise on the subject.

make your offer. If they say no, which let’s face it they will. Ask what they will accept and then decide if you will meet it. Again I guess unlikely

I’ve a friend who recently has done this, it was excruciating and I felt embarrassed for them, as I also knew the seller and I knew the property was worth way more than they were offering, but less than the selling price which was too high.

both parties dragged it out, with my friend even getting builders in to try to justify their extreme low ball. Of course ultimately the seller told them to do one and not come back.

It was the most pointless exercise I’ve ever had the misfortune to witness and I felt slightly embarrassed by it to be honest as I did know the seller and they knew it was my friends, however I never ever had any convo with the seller on it and stayed out Completely. The house was clearly worth way more than they were offering, and one offer, no, walk away or up it, but the protracted trying to justify it was cringe in the extreme.

People say this but its NOT true.

I have been watching the local market for 12 YEARS while saving up. I have a very good grasp of whats what round here and also use all the market tracking sites too.

Many people (always people who have bought in the last post 2019) overprice.

They have been sold the lie about 'investing' and 'climbing the ladder' but just because they want 50k more to 'upgrade' doesn't mean their house is WORTH 50k more. Them painting it gray and added an Ikea kitchen if anything hasn't nearly doubled the price.

The houses in their price range (bought for 70-90k during covid) have only increase 10-20k. You can't expected to buy a house for 70k and sell it for 129k in 2 years for no reason other than you WANT to 'climb the ladder'.

The lots of houses I have seen the I LOVED but know I could not afford (most people use Right move to fantasize). Knowing you can't afford it is completely separate knowing somethings over priced.

I have also always been right in the little game of 'overpricing'. Everything I say is overpriced has ended up sitting on the market until they give up trying to sell. If it was correctly priced it would obviously sell.

Its no skin of my nose if they don't sell (they aren't even houses I'm interested in or offering on) but an overprice house stands out to me like a sore thumb after 12 years of following the local market.