Is this offer on a £600,000 flat rude?

[ScillyGirls]

I want to go in at £550,000. I've read that knocking 10% off asking price is acceptable, I just don't want to appear insulting at the first offer and it has been on the market for 2 months. Has anyone had success with something similar?

It's a 1st floor studio flat in a desirable area of Zone 2 London, tiny (350 sq ft) with main room, a small kitchen and a bathroom. So it's a small, period terrace flat above a cute shop in immaculate condition, very high ceilings, but the clincher and why I'm going for location over size and space is the terrace/balcony overlooking one of the most beautiful streets in London, with a royal park 30 secs in one direction and a village-feel street of shops, delis, cafes, pastel houses and al fresco dining all around.

This flat hasn't been on the market for a couple of decades, so the asking price can't compared to any recent sale, but the length of the lease is generous and not a problem. What would you offer?

Who cares whether it's rude or not? The seller won't, that's not how selling property works.

Whatever you offer, it will either by worth their accepting or it won't.

@ScillyGirls I wouldn’t worry about offending the vendor (it’s a negotiation) but I would worry about no offers in 2 months on the market- it is seemingly not that desirable at the price. Do not get drawn into paying more because of the vendors finances (assuming they need the max for their next property). I’d also be looking closely at the mortgageability of the property. Lenders do not like lending to properties involving food trade or potential change of use to include food trade. Is the property listed? Consider the potential for large maintenance bill demands.

Studio flats can look great if professionally interior designed, but a really great job is expensive and I’d wager the freeholder will charge for every consent. Plus builders will charge a premium if the job is a PITA to attend. Reality of living in a property where you have to pack your bed up every time someone comes over and there is zero space for decent wardrobes will become wearing. That said I chose absolutely unreasonable properties when I was in my twenties and early thirties and it was all about ‘the vibe’ or aesthetics and lived to tell the tale. They were an absolute PITA to sell on tho.

If you feel brave enough, post the link. Lots of people here to give advice on price/comparables etc and it doesn’t sound like you’ll be in a fight over it on here 😉

If it's been on for two months in such a prime location then it's overpriced, so sounds like a good plan to offer 10% under. Good luck!

Not rude, but probably not likely to get accepted if it’s only been on the market for 2 months. I’d discuss it with the EA as they will know the personal circumstances and whether the vendor is open to negotiating below asking price.

I think the PH flat in the Rightmove link would actually be a great buy. My first flat had this layout which I converted into a one bed. The kitchen would make a great bedroom, being at the back and more private. The large room could then be a lovely LDK. It would also rent brilliantly as an air BnB, once OP is ready to move on.

Mmm too expensive for Greenwich and too far out. If it’s not the one in primrose hill then I’m thinking Notting Hill … slightly further south, pastel houses, Kensington park …

It isn't the Primrose Hill property linked on this thread.

I wouldn't accept an offer ten percent below my asking price. Last time I sold it was 1.5% below. I don't know where the ten percent thing came from. Seems fairly recent as it's only seven years since I last sold.

It is funny how most people only think there are only cheeky offers and never cheeky asking prices. I have seen some London properties out there overpriced by large amounts, usually because the seller paid a certain price and thinks they need/deserve a profit when the market has fallen away. Especially flats.

Also amusing that if you want to buy somewhere with a view to making a profit then a £600k studio flat is under consideration! In most cases there is minimal value to be added to it.

If you're not going to give the property then nobody knows and everyone is guessing.

The best thing to do is trawl through the previous sold prices (not the asking prices) and consider what a buyer with a bit more money or a bit less money would do, look at the prices of those sold properties as well.

I wouldn’t want to buy it because there’s no bedroom and it’s so expensive, plus tiny. I wouldn’t want to live, work, sleep, eat all in the same room.

You want to spend £550K on a studio flat? That's madness.

As a Londoner I really don't think this street is anything special either.

Studio don't make a good investment and you might be hit with a high service charge and maintenance costs.

If it is above a shop as well that comes with additional issues.

Instead I would buy myself a 2 bed flat or even a small house in a borough further away or somewhere within commuting distance to London.

If you want to be in South London look at places like Beckenham, Penge, Crystal Palace....

Of course it's not rude! You can offer any amount you like, it just means it wont be accepted if it's not enough is all. Houses are only as valuable as the price people are willing to pay for them. If every single person who offered on that flat for example, offered 500k then they'd probably take 550 if enough time passed.

By all means offer it. Just consider the fact you'll be refused and might miss out

What's for you won't pass you by.

Plus better to miss out than significantly overpay because of this weird idea of not offending a vendor.

It is a business transaction, that is all.

It also says ( the one linked to) 0 service charge
that potentially means you could be hit with a massive bill from the freeholder if they have kept it good nick due to 0 service charge

Where did I say about offending a vendor? Often got nothing to do with being offended, they need the sale price to move on to their next purchase or whatever.

£600k 😂😂😂😂

This honestly sounds like a plot to a movie😂 life in a ‘glorious area’ is not like this at ALL. It’s your money though so go for it!

Me too

I'd move the kitchen to the main space and make a small bedroom where the kitchen is. Then it's a 1-bed flat not a studio.

I would do the same. It would totally transform it.

You don't need to worry about an offer being 'rude'. Manners don't enter it.

I would suggest going in a lower that 550. It will be noisy there at night, it's a bit rough round there and you might find possible problems with insurance/mortgage as it's above a shop, so it's not as custhie as you think. And, those ceiling don't look that high.

Also, is there another flat above that one? Because if there is you'll have problems with noise from above and that would be a major problem.

"I don't know where the ten percent thing came from. Seems fairly recent"

I bought my first flat in 1988. I certainly offered 10% less and it was accepted. It was definitely a thing back in the 1980s. This also happened when we bought our first house in 1995.

Since 2009 there have been steadily increasing house prices for 14 years. Many younger people buying and selling homes today perhaps don't remember what late 2007 and 2008 were like for house prices and also the earlier price falls in the early 1990s when tens of thousands of homes were repossessed by the banks every year.

With a softening market, (the ONS say that in England average prices fell by 3% between Sept 2022 and Dec 2023) then it is not surprising that people that people are making offers.

The always offer 10% below is a fallacy. It is perfectly acceptable to offer below an asking price, but to always go 10% below because some random person or article says to, it foolhardy.

If you want offer below, I would offer £554 or £556, you get the idea.

I would also say try and buy a 1 bedroom if you can over a studio, spend all of your budget not get buy a studio.

@ScillyGirls when I met my H he had a small 1 bed rented flat in Hampstead- not even a particularly nice one but I so loved living and pottering round there that the size didn't matter as was only the 2 of us- so yes, I get you