Reasonable offer on a house

[Thankyouitwasdelicious]

Hello, I would appreciate some advice. What is a reasonable offer, percentage-wise, to make on a house these days? I have found a house, its asking price is probably about right compared to similar but there is a lot of work to do on it. Building work is going to cost more than it would have a year or two ago. Is 10% under asking price really cheeky in the circs?

The house I've found has been on the market for 18+ months with no offers despite a price reduction, unoccupied and deteriorating in condition.

Any help appreciated, I'm quite new to all this.

It really depends and you need to offer what you think it's worth. What's the harm in offering and then saying no? You can just make another offer.

Them*

For sure make a low offer, it's been on for ages with no interest. 10% sounds like a great place to start given the circumstances. Good luck!

There's no answer to this question really because it depends entirely on how reasonably a house has been priced in the first place - and whether it gets accepted depends on a million and one things to do with the seller that are not necessarily to do with the value of the house. Just ignore whether you think you are being "cheeky" or not and focus on what you think the house is worth and how much you want that particular house.

Go in at -10% and settle around - 6% off in the current market

10% under offers are definitely not cheeky. A lot of sellers asking prices are definitely cheeky. Just go with an offer you feel comfortable with and don't worry about anything else.

It depends on what the property is, what the area is, what similar stuff has been selling for. There is no reasonable amount "these days" that applies to all properties and all areas.

I am currently buying in an area where property prices are through the roof compared to 2/3 years ago, which is in stark contrast to most other areas- I had to pay 10% over asking and was in a bidding war with 7 other people in best and final. It all depends.

That being said, if it's been on for 18 months then it's probably worth a try- have you compared to similar sold prices in the area for the same sort of property?

It's absolutely impossible for anyone to advise because we don't know the condition of the house, its location or anything else that marks it out from other properties you are comparing to. I'm not sure how people are confidently asserting that you should offer 10% under and settle at 6% 🙄

It's obviously overpriced. That's a given. If the vendor reduced the price to £1000 it would be gone in 5 minutes, so somewhere between £1000 and the asking price, is a realistic figure for the house in the current market. If it's been up for sale for 18 months then clearly the asking price is nowhere close to this figure OR it's not too far off but the vendor is stubbornly refusing offers.

Selling price (not asking price) is set by buyers. Vendors can ask for whatever they like but unless a buyer is prepared to pay it, it means nothing. Don't get wrapped up in this idea that there's a magic percentage that's OK to offer. Work out what the renovation costs are, do some research and find out what it will likely be worth fully renovated and then you'll know how much is a sensible offer to make. The asking price is potentially just plucked out of the air by the vendor and isn't necessarily relevant to the actual value of the property so it's not sensible to base your decision on this figure.

On the other hand, if this is your forever home and you don't care about paying over the odds then you need to decide what it's worth to you and offer accordingly. There's probably room for negotiation given how long it's been on the market but you need to be prepared to lose out.

As others have said, there is no magic percentage that is appropriate in all conditions. If you read more posts on this board, you’d find that a surprising number of people put houses on at asking prices less than they’re prepared to accept.

The good news is that if the house you’re looking at is empty then the vendors will really want to sell by now. But If it’s a true renovation job, it is likely to have been priced to take that into account. If you just want to remodel or extend then that’s your issue, basically.

I suggest you work out the maximum you would pay for it and offer slightly less, giving yourself room to be negotiated upwards so that everyone can feel they’ve won. Or if they want more than your maximum, regretfully walk away, but it could be a good idea to leave the offer open for a specified amount of time (eg 2 weeks) to give the vendors time to reconsider and to come back to you without embarrassment.

If you want to offer 10% under I don't think anyone would consider that unreasonable. To be honest, if it's been on for 18 months, then it's probably more than 10% overpriced. If you want to get it for 10% under the asking price, you probably need to start lower.

I'd make an offer- the worst they can say is no?