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Original poster

Would you make a really low offer on a house or would you worry it would damage your reputation with Agents etc?

39 replies

artichokes · 04/03/2008 12:58

We have seen a house we love.
It is 17% over our maximum budget.
It has been on the market since November (although was taken off over Xmas).
It is gorgeous and IMO the asking price is fair.
Would you bother offering 17% below asking price or would you worry that it would damage your reputation as serious buyers?

OP posts:

ib · 04/03/2008 13:00

You presumably told the agents what your maximum budget was. If they took you to see the house, it's presumably because they would take offers on it?

kerala · 04/03/2008 13:00

Go in low. Think people almost expect it.

RibenaBerry · 04/03/2008 13:01

Go for it.

I would explain to the agent though, so they know the background. Just say. "We're interested, but our absolute top budget is X. We know it's been on the market for a few months, and the market itself is obviously a bit shaky at the moment. Therefore, we're putting in an offer at the maximum we can afford. If they don't take it, we'll move on to somewhere else."

Then follow through. That way the seller knows it's this offer or no offer, which is a different proposition to "if I turn it down they'll probably go up".

Only disadvantage is that that agent then knows your top budget.

Tutter · 04/03/2008 13:01

we offered 1/6th lower than the asking price on a house we love

it was rejected

but it was still an offer and was taken seriosuly

anyway agents are legally bound to put offers forward, whatevere they may think of them

hoxtonchick · 04/03/2008 13:01

an offer is an offer. give us a link!

WaynettaSlob · 04/03/2008 13:02

If it's been on the market since Nov then it is overpriced.

McDreamy · 04/03/2008 13:03

You have nothing to loose and everything to gain - go for it!

SheherazadetheGoat · 04/03/2008 13:05

don't worry about your 'reputation' with agents they would sell a house to a demented pig if said pig had cash.

RibenaBerry · 04/03/2008 13:05

Also, remember that for the agent, the drop in price makes a little difference to their commission, but not selling the house means no commission...

Original poster

artichokes · 04/03/2008 13:07

Thanks for the advice. The Agents do know our maximum but showed us the proprty as they thought the owners might take an offer. However, now it comes to it I cannot imagine they would take such a low offer and I reckon the Agents are just desperate to show the sellers that they are still getting cums through the door.

Out of interest do you think making a 17% under-the-asking-price-offer is more cheeky on an expensive house over a cheaper house, or vice versa?

For example a -17% offer on a house worth £200,000 would be an offer of £166,000.
The same offer on a house worth £1,500,000 would be an offer of £1,255,000.
Which sounds more cheeky to you?

OP posts:

Original poster

artichokes · 04/03/2008 13:08

that should have read "bums through doors" and not the word I acutally typed

OP posts:

DrLurker · 04/03/2008 13:08

almost everything is overpriced atm. There seems to be some consensus that there will be crash.

I am actually waiting it out a year or two until that happens. I think they should be happy to get an offer at all!

hoxtonchick · 04/03/2008 13:12

our house is about to go (back) on the market at 700k. gulp. it was on for about 4 months in the autumn, we got lots of viewers, no offers. but it was on at 800k then. so we've dropped the price by, um, 12.5%. seems like a big difference to me.... what i think i'm saying, in rather a long winded way, that 17% is quite a hefty drop whatever the asking price is. but you don't lose anything by putting a cheeky offer in .

ib · 04/03/2008 13:12

Both the same, I would always look at the percentage. Anything up to 20% is not IMO cheeky. I might not accept it if I was the seller, but I'd always rather have a low offer than no offer.

Original poster

artichokes · 04/03/2008 13:14

I think I remember you posting a link to your house before Hoxton. It was gorgeous. Good luck selling it.

OP posts:

Flum · 04/03/2008 13:16

No offer is cheeky. It is all fine. We usually offer very low too. We lost a few houses we liked that way but stuck to our guns and got our house at a massive discount as well.

If it is 17% below what you can afford then you need to offer 25% below and be willing to go up a bit I reckon.

hoxtonchick · 04/03/2008 13:18

thank you artichokes! the photos got rather slated on that thread, i have a whole list the new agents have to comply with . the market seems rather to have picked up round here, so i'm reasonably optimistic. and being a 100k less can't do us any harm eithe....

i hope you get your dream house .

McDreamy · 04/03/2008 13:18

You can only try, you might be pleasantly surprised. That said we have our house on the market and we would not accept an offer of 17% under but we are in no hurry to move, but they might be.

LadyMuck · 04/03/2008 13:28

Tbh I don't think that is cheeky to put in an offer. Whether or not you are successful will depend a lot on the motivation of the top person in the chain (usually the effects of low offers tend to go upwards so that the top person on the chain suffers the most. Typically though someone with a more expensive house will have a lot of equity and can afford to drop more than someone with less equity.

I defintley wouldn't worry about what the estate agents think. They will have their own assessment of how easily the house will sell and they will either recommend your offer, or they will suggest that the sellers ignore it, but either way they will have to pass it on. I think the fact that you are making an offer at least indicates that you are seriously looking.

titchy · 04/03/2008 13:30

Always offer low - you have nothing to lose! Forget what the agents think of you or your offer - it's the vendor that'll decide not then. FWIW I put in a very low (£600 on a £700 house) offer and it was refused outright - said hosue is still on the market. The house we actually bought was on at £750, then reduced to £700. I again offered £600 and we settled at £625 after the agent told us they wouldn't take a penny less than £650 (which indicentally was the max we had told the agent).

Fimbo · 04/03/2008 13:30

We went to view a house last year. Needed loads of work on it, was on for £325k has finally sold this week as they reduced asking price to £274,950.00, and even then I would assume an offer would have been made.

Personally I would rather accept the lower offer, than wait a year to sell and they have to reduce it drastically anyway.

titchy · 04/03/2008 13:34

Also check out what the vendors paid for it - if they've been there a while then they may well have a few hundred grand of equity and won't mind a lowish offer if they need to sell.

baffledbb · 04/03/2008 13:38

Yes, my house is currently on the market and I would definitely consider a "cheeky" offer, might not accept it but at least I would feel there was some interest.

I am probably going to drop the price anyway even though I am not desperate to sell (not in a chain or anything and staying wouldn't be a disaster). I just think the current situation in my area is tedious with estate agents obviously over-valuing and sellers buying into the over-valuation as it is what they want to hear, and nothing going anywhere.

noddyholder · 04/03/2008 13:40

I would offer what you can as they are obviously not going to sell for full price as it has been on too long and housing market is falling atm.We made 2 cheeky offers of 10% and 8% off both refused but both came back to us to accept within a month but we have decided to wait a bit longer better to be 17% now than 255 by teh end of the year which is what a lot of economists are predicting.Housing market is in the hands of the banks now and agents and sellers can set whatever price they like but if the banks won't lend there will be no sale.Go for it

Youcannotbeserious · 04/03/2008 13:40

Nothing wrong with a cheeky offer.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained!

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