How much below is acceptable?

[Rojo019]

Hello,

Advice needed! I have seen a property advertised for 465,000.

Is it common to make offers below asking price? And, if so, what’s an acceptable %? I have heard 10% is about acceptable but want to get opinion?
Is 15% too much below?
And also, how likely it is we’d secure a house doing that in today market?

I don't think anyone can advise you without knowing the area. You can offer what you like - but bear in mind the sellers probably have a figure that they will accept at. It depends entirely on what the market is like in your area at the moment, and how desperate they are to sell. My maths is poor - but does 15% less mean that you are thinking of offering below £400,000?

I woudn't entertain that offer as a seller, I'm afraid. I'd think you weren't serious about buying and wouldn't respond to you.

To be fair, I’d respond, but I’d not entertain further discussion with them

op, offer what you think the house is worth, do not make the mistake of believing it’s magically worth what you can afford. The sellers will know what they wish to accept.

It can't do any harm to bang an offer in. We offered 12% below the asking price for our house and the EA said 'They won't be interested'. We stuck to our guns as we'd done our sums and that was all we were prepared to finance. 3 weeks later the phone rang.

As the previous poster said, it all depends on the market in your area. In mine, houses are currently selling for 10-11% over the asking price. But in yours, it could be under.

Thank you for your reply's it has been really useful.

The buyer wants to sell and has put another offer in a property. They have started selling off furniture already due to their desire to more to a smaller property.
The house has just come back on the markets as the price precious sale fell through!

If the sellers are very motivated to sell it may be worth putting in a low offer at 400-415k but I definitely wouldn’t expect them to entertain any offers below 400k.
They are probably hoping for about 450k but that’s not to say they will get it necessarily, depends on your area.

Hmmm that complicates it, as they may need or want a certain amount to move. I’d not assume they are so desperate they are willing to lose tens of thoudands op, that’s seldom the case.

Just go add. The house went back on the market 15 days ago after the sale fell through and they have had nobody view or enquire other than myself. Just providing additional info

To offer 400k is still a large reduction @Rojo019

My personal opinion is that they will laugh or be offended by any offer under that.

We have just declined an offer of £350k on an asking price (at the time) of £450. We aren’t offended but we will not be able to move if that’s all the house is worth. We paid £332 17 years ago.

@Twiglets1 I am going to submit an offer for 425 as a start point. Thanks for your help :)

@Fieldofbrokenpromises that's nearly 23% we're you expecting lower offers?
What did the estate agent say about a low ball offer?

That’s ok.

I think 425k is a fair offer. They should take it seriously.

I would expect the EA to try and get you to increase it. But maybe if that’s the only offer they have, you should be firm and not allow yourself to be talked up much, if at all.

That’s a silly offer in my opinion and the best response is a flat No.

I agree with others that your better not going under the 400k mark. If your own research has convinced you its worth less than 400k - then wait until they drop the price further, or just keep looking for a house that is not as badly overpriced. If you were/are a cash buyer/investor and you had the feeling they were getting desperate then of course its worth trying to open negotiation with an aggressive offer.

Our current house was on at £300k, we offered £250k and got it (after a higher offer they had accepted fell through). It's a business transaction, the seller can accept, decline or negotiate.

Kirstie allsopp always says you should be embarrassed to give your first offer

She mostly said that in a time of rising prices too ! I guess currently you should be double cringing with embarrassment in your first offer ;)

A lot depends on whether the price they are currently selling at is priced to sell or whether it's on at a price that's a little on the high side.

We put a property on the market at a really competitive price, which generated a lot of interest and ended up selling above the guide price as there were several offers within the first week.

Offering 10% under if the property is being marketed above similar properties is quite usual, but of course it will be the vendor who decides whether they want to sell to you at that price.

I see it as a negotiation, when we bought (in Scotland so offers over is a lot more likely) we started at 25% the asking price (it needed work, had been empty for 8 months) we bought it for 15% below the asking price. We were very clear that was our top offer and were no chain buyers.

Agree with others it is very specific to your local market. In the midst of the last recession hubby and I offered 45% below asking for a house that had been on the market years and needed a lot of work and moved in 6 weeks later. We have never paid asking, but you need to look at local sold prices, asking prices and £perSqm to understand what you should be offering. Also remember to include moving costs and works needed. It can be useful to do a cheeky offer but then offer some separate cash for fixtures and fittings

I feel you could go about this from a different angle. You could stop using the asking price as an anchor, and instead look at sales history and comparison with other local properties (eg on size, condition etc). Look at sales prices not asking prices. Then consider other factors like how long the property has been on the market, how strong your position is (eg cash buyer), how much you really want the property. Subtract then a little so the EA can bargain you up.
Good luck!

Depends on how it's been priced. 15% off 2022 prices is pretty much where the market is now..

Maybe in your area but not all areas are the same. There are regional variations plus some areas are more/less desirable than others.

Offer what you want, it doesn't matter one jot what emotional response the sellers have (being offended or similar nonsense), if they wish to transact with you at the price offered then it's on. If not move on, that is how markets work.

Unfortunately a sustained bull market, due to emergency level interest rates, has deeply permeated the belief that a house must always rise in value and that value is somehow correlated with someone's life achievement. That attitude will burn in a bear market as greed and hope are powerful drivers.

They do not know the value of the house any more than you do and will likely have the same information as you in regard to recent metrics. That said, the curse of low liquidity is uncertainty about valuation (price is set at the margins) and sales volumes have been dire.