How much to offer?

[PrincessTeaSet]

First time buyers, not sure how much to offer. House in on for 250k. It's ex-council, needs "updating" but in ok/liveable condition. Looks to have some loose roof slates, not sure of how serious this is as haven't looked in the loft.

We're in a northern town, the market has slowed a bit and stuff is selling but seems to take a while.

Last time we saw something we liked and offered on we offered asking price and it went for way over, the second one we offered 15% less as it needed rewiring and the EA wouldn't even pass the offer on to the vendor.

That was a year or 2 ago so things slower now but wondering how much you'd offer in this scenario. We are quite keen on the house, we've been looking for ages and this one looks to have good garden size etc and is in a good location so not wanting to get it wrong again!

Not knowing the area, so whether this is a nice area or not, whether the market is moving and how often something like this comes on… Looking at the similar properties at the bottom of the page, it looks slightly over priced, maybe £10-15K. You say you’ve been looking for 2 years so I don’t think you want to go too low because this house feels quite rare.

It needs modernising but it’s a great house. It’s a great size, good sized bedrooms with a decent sized upstairs bathroom. The extension downstairs has added a lot of space (and storage) without leaving a tiny garden. The driveway at front is big, so multiple cars is not an issue. There are some things to do as you move in but the rest can be done over time as you say you want to live in it. Get a survey, electrical survey and gas safety certificate though as that might find some more issues to address before moving in.

Work out what you would pay for it if it wasnt so hideous inside. Then subtract the amount you will need to spend on it to bring it up to scratch and offer around that amount.

If it's just gone on the market I very much doubt a vendor would accept less than £235k because the EA will have valued the house based upon its very outdated decor in every room and hideous bathroom suite. It would be easy to decorate and bring up to date what looks like a spacious family house. I think it's priced very fairly at £250k tbh. I don't think it will be on the market long because as I said, very dated decor, but very easy to remedy. I'd offer £242k in the hope of getting the vendor to remove the house from the market immediately and no more viewings.

Its a great house- ploy has massive potential to expand sideways at a lowish cost
It will have been priced at £250 for 1st time buyers house buying isas and stamp duty and they will be expected to get £250

I said to knock off 10-15%. If you knock off 10%, it's 25k under asking. I think 25k is reasonable to update the house. But 30k is better to take into account the rewiring. It's up to the buyer what they feel the house is worth.

Oh it's tricky. The nearby sold prices don't help. The other houses are much smaller and it would cost you easily 60k to add that kind of floor space. Then again, I lived in a house with an old extension and it was badly built and freezing. In the end, we would have preferred the house without the extension.

It looks like it has a lot of potential but I'd want to see it in person to get a feel for the construction. It's either a private property or being sold by the council for care costs so you might struggle to knock them down much.

The key is, it has "Just gone on the market"
Plus, you have just got it a LOT more viewings by sharing on MN.

Not knowing the area, we can't tell if it is overpriced or not, but presumably, if you have been looking for over 2 years , you do have a good idea of what other properties have sold for.

Yes, it looks old fashioned, but the key things that you can't change look very good to me. I would presume that the fact it is going to need updating, would have been factored in to the price already though.
If your needs are so particular that you have only put in a couple of offers in over 2 years, and this meets your needs, then I would be offering what I could afford and not pithering about with low ball offers for a house that looks like it ticks a lot of boxes and is just unfashionably decorated, that I did want to buy.

Interesting that you're the first person to mention the possibly dodgy extension. I was more worried about that than peach walls and the colour of the bathroom suite.

Dreadful layout - the long kitchen room is awful. I'd be worried about the quality of the extension as well.

Renovating it will cost a lot op. Even just a basic job.