First time buyer negotiating house price

[Raquelbolivar]

Hi everyone!

I am an avid follower of mumsnet and I would like your opinion about my first time negotiating a house price as first time buyer.

I recently put an offer on a studio flat the i really loved but seller seems quite pushy…the studio it’s been on the market since last July and the vendor has reduced the price significantly since then. Started at 220k and now it’s at 195k. It’s a studio flat of 31 metres square, in good condition (as far as I can see!)

my first offer was very low (10% less of 195) so I got a no from them, then I asked what the seller is expecting to achieve and they said something like 190k. My final offer and best I can do with my budget is £186750 and she asked if it could be a little bit higher… even though I said it’s my final offer! Very confused about that but ok 😂

is my offer not good enough? I’m a first time buyer, no chain obviously, amm ready to go basically! And I am the only one making an offer as far as I know.
The property is a share of freehold and around the area studios are around the price I am offering, and the ones a bit more expensive are stuck without selling.

Do you guys think I have any chances to get it? It’s my offer bad and unrealistic?

thanks in advance! X

The owner is clearly trying to get as much as they can for their property. If they’ve had no other interest then they’d be crazy not to accept.

It may be that they have a minimum of 190k they can accept in order to buy their next property. So don't assume they'll have no choice but to accept your lower offer. They may just decide to stay put instead or wait for another buyer.

It sounds like if you can find 190k they'll accept.

Is it that you can't stretch to £190k? Or is it that you don't think the flat is worth £190k?

If you really love it and would be gutted to lose it then I'd just secure it for £190k and be done with it. Job done.

However if you don't think it's worth £190k and you're willing to walk away then just offer what you think it's worth and walk away if they say no. If you know the market well then you'll feel confident about your decision.
Don't mess about.

They are chain free like me, so as far as I know the money won’t be going to buy another property :)

Yeah! No other interest than my offer since they advertised the flat last July.

my last offer is my absolute maximum if I had more money I would offer a bit more like she asked in the last email. Since she’s chain free and expecting something like 190k that’s why I made the offer. I thought 3k less than her expected number was a good offer and not that far off 🤷🏼‍♀️ but who knows!
And after researching other properties in the area of similar characteristics the prices are around 180/185

If you've made a best and final my advice is to never deviate from that.

Agreeing the purchase price is step one.

If you roll over on this then when you come to talking about fittings/fixtures etc the assumption is you will be a pushover.

Yours is the only offer on the table in a depressed market.

Personally I wouldn't even hold firm on the offer. I'd play hardball and say this is my best offer. Every day it's not accepted I'm going to reduce it by £500.

Ultimately it's a business transaction and both parties want the best deal.

You are actually in a great position not to be emotional about this. It's a starter property not your forever perfect home in the best place that only comes on the market every 20 years that you have to overbid for or risk losing.

There are/will be other properties like this. So take the emotion out of it and be polite but businesslike and resolute.

I’d tell them it’s your final offer and you’ll leave it there in case the seller changes their mind.

They may or may not budge and may be prepared to just wait until they get what they think it’s worth.

When we bought our first property, we liked a house on the market for £350k. Similar properties (lots of terraced houses on the estate with exactly the same size and layout, just variations in terms of garage location - behind house or in block - and garden size) had sold for £320k-ish. Walked away at £327k to account for the nice garden which was a good size and the good presentation of the property. Then bought one for £310k (which needed to have the heating updated - upped offer by £5k to get it off the market and for other viewings to be cancelled). Seller of initial property kept insisting on £345k - estate agent later said it was completely unrealistic (he was involved in our chain). She kept trying for a while longer, reducing to £340k but, as predicted, didn’t get anywhere. I saw her the other day, six years later, so she clearly rather stayed put.

Just leave your offer on the table.

If she doesn’t accept it then move on and wait for one of the comparable properties you say sell for 180/185k to be advertised & buy that instead.

Chain free doesn’t mean they don’t have a use for that money.
My advice is always — don’t offer or allow yourself to be talked into more than you can afford. But, if you can afford the seller’s minimum, don’t lose a house you want for the sake of a few thousand pounds. And don’t make assumptions about the seller’s position or motivation.
As @Twiglets1 says, leave your offer on the table but don’t stop looking.

That’s your highest but she wants more. I would keep looking and if she does come back to you in future you can decide what to do then.

but she doesn’t have to accept it.

£186750 is such a random number for a "final offer". They probably think you do have £190k and are just trying to get a bargain. I bet if you went in with a final offer of £188k they would accept.

From my experience in this market buyers offer lower than the asking price and lower than they can afford, theres then a bit of tooing and froing and , if you're lucky you settle at a price somewhere in the middle. That's what we've just done buying a house that had been on the market for ages. We have no chain and thesellers is very short.
No one has to accept the offer or go any higher if they don't want to.

@Raquelbolivar - you have submitted your final offer. Don't increase it and definitely don't over pay but say you are happy to leave it on the table for now and will continue to view other properties. It's up to the seller whether to accept or not.

You've offered as much as you can afford, so how can you up that? Leave it on the table and be prepared to walk away.

Thanks for all your replies! Yeah unfortunately I don’t have more money I am self employed and big part of all the money I’ve got goes to taxes this month and I don’t get any help from my family… So it’s going to be very tricky for me to find a home…oh! I’m not a mum and I don’t have a partner so all the money I’ve got it’s my own!
thanks again for all your replies :) very much appreciated

Previously posted, but relevant to this thread.

Sounds like a case of who blinks first.
I'd let the EA know that your offer is full and final as all you've got to spend and remind them of your position ie chain free, ready to go.
Say you're happy to leave it on the table for exactly 14 days for consideration and then it expires (don't let the seller think they hold all the power here, don't forget you're holding a big bag of cash).
Share that you understand the seller probably has lots of interest and other offers to consider...
Likewise you're a realist. You'd love to buy this one hence your serious offer, but you understand you must also remain flexible if this one isn't a goer, so you'll keep up the search of other properties as a contingency and book some viewings as lots of asking prices seem to keep coming down.
Look forward to speaking two weeks today or sooner.

And then see if the phone rings 😉