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Original poster

How much would you offer on this property?

26 replies

FreeBeeBird · 22/07/2024 10:47

Lovely area of south west london, located in a nice residential street close to amenities and a couple of good primaries.
It's a 1200 sqft flat split over two levels in a lovely period building with a nice communal garden at the back. Lease is 150 yrs and service charge is £150 per month.

Asking price is £570K, been in the market for 4 weeks, no offers yet.
We have seen many many properties in this area for the price-range and this is by far the best one, however we have a max budget of £550K, could maybe stretch to £555K - is this considered a very low offer? What would you suggest?

OP posts:
MiddleAgedDread · 22/07/2024 10:52

Are you in a good position to proceed? If so, I don't think there's any harm in going in at £550k, they can only say no!

Original poster
FreeBeeBird · 22/07/2024 10:53

@MiddleAgedDread so it sounds sound like a cheeky offer you think?

OP posts:
Original poster
FreeBeeBird · 22/07/2024 10:53

We are speaking to a broker so we will get a DIP this week but he mentioned that the amount seems realistic given our circumstances

OP posts:
3peassuit · 22/07/2024 10:55

It’s over 95% of the asking price. I don’t think that’s a cheeky offer.

Original poster
FreeBeeBird · 22/07/2024 10:59

@3peassuit I think so too. I still don't know what the market standard is, I know it's not usual to go in with full asking price but you never know

OP posts:
Lemonyfire · 22/07/2024 11:02

Not a cheeky offer.
We declined an offer on our house £25k under asking as it had only been up 5 days. We then accepted an offer of £15k under.
We offered £25k under on the house we wanted as it had been up for 3 months, they declined and we settled in the middle.
If they don't accept, you open it up to negotiation and you know where you stand then!

mondaytosunday · 22/07/2024 11:03

I never offer full ask (ok I did once, when I went to an open day and the agent called me on the way home saying they'd already had two offers and I'd already missed out on two other properties). Even when I was buying during the hot hot hot Covid market.
I think £550 on a £570 ask is totally fine! In fact go in at 545 to give you more wiggle room. It's not cheeky.

DappledThings · 22/07/2024 11:40

It's fine to offer under and for it to not being your final offer. I don't know where this idea of the cheeky offer comes from or that it's a problem to offer under.

Our last house we sold for £515k despite being on at £550k. Their first offer was £475k. We didn't go and think "oh, cheeky offer. We are so offended and will run them out of town". We just refused it and waited for them to come up. Like normal.

Twiglets1 · 22/07/2024 12:17

I think 550k sounds like a perfectly good offer @FreeBeeBird

Nellieinthebarn · 22/07/2024 12:42

On the basis you can only offer up, not down, I would offer 545 with a view to going up to 550 as a counter offer. You never know, you might end up with 5k towards decorating or conveyancing costs, it can't hurt to ask.

Original poster
FreeBeeBird · 22/07/2024 13:35

Apparently they already have an offer so don't know what to do

OP posts:
Twiglets1 · 22/07/2024 16:14

FreeBeeBird · 22/07/2024 13:35

Apparently they already have an offer so don't know what to do

What information has the EA shared with you about how close to the asking price the offer is and what is the position of the people making the offer?

gettingbacktobeingmeagain · 22/07/2024 16:18

If this is the one you really want, then offer as much as you can afford and see what happens - there is no point fretting over £5k either way on a property worth in excess of £0.5m.

They'll either decide you are the most proceedable and accept your offer, or they'll go with what's already on the table. There really is nothing to be gained by worrying about the minutiae of whether it's "cheeky" or not, it's all you can offer!

Original poster
FreeBeeBird · 22/07/2024 16:21

@Twiglets1 no info, they wouldn't disclose, they just said "it's a very fair offer"

OP posts:
DappledThings · 22/07/2024 16:25

FreeBeeBird · 22/07/2024 13:35

Apparently they already have an offer so don't know what to do

Offer what you can afford and add in any detail that makes you look attractive, e.g. being in a short chain or flexible over dates etc

Hibernatalie · 22/07/2024 16:35

The EA always says that to get a better offer from you. Just offer £550k - it's a good offer, especially if you're a FTB

gettingbacktobeingmeagain · 22/07/2024 16:49

and this "they've already got an offer" game, it's almost always rubbish! I've looked at two nice places recently, the EA knows I'm not proceedable yet but has still rung me to say that each of the vendors has an offer on the table...my reply was "I can't do anything yet as you know"...and surprise, both places are still on the market months later...

you only have to play the game as much as you are prepared to...and a house is only worth what you are prepared to pay for it!

Twiglets1 · 22/07/2024 17:45

To go back to your first post @FreeBeeBird you did say that your maximum price was 550k or maybe 555k.

If the owners have actually rejected an offer of 550k from you, then all you can do is offer the 555k (if you think that's a fair price and you can afford it) and tell the EA that is your top price and the highest you can go. The rest is out of your control.

Original poster
FreeBeeBird · 22/07/2024 19:05

You reckon they are lying re the other offer? As in, can they even do that??

OP posts:
Gladespade · 22/07/2024 19:12

I don’t think they are necessarily lying, you said it was the best you had seen in the price range so it makes sense someone else would think the same. If you really want it, I would go straight in with your max, being very clear it’s all you have, you’re in a great position (are you?) and want to move quickly. In a competitive situation I have lost out by hedging around with lower offers, whilst someone else moved swiftly and got it done. I should add there have been other occasional where I’ve offered lower and taken my time, but that was where property of similar quality and wasn’t limited and there was no competition.

hopsalong · 22/07/2024 21:11

@Twiglets1 has it right.
There's very limited room for manoeuvring when you're looking at a property slightly out of your price range. Just offer 550 now, emphasise all your positives as buyers to the agent, and go with a final offer of 555 if it's turned down.

If you had found something that was 500 but needed a lot of work then there would be much more room for worrying about how much the work would cost, how long you could wait to do it, whether to offer the whole amount or bid under, etc.

gettingbacktobeingmeagain · 23/07/2024 08:50

they might be being honest about the other offer, they might not be (like the EA's I was dealing with) you just don't know. so as @Gladespade says, just get your offer in and it'll either work or it won't, best of luck!

Rocknrollstar · 23/07/2024 09:32

make the offer and tell them you won’t mess them around.

Original poster
FreeBeeBird · 27/07/2024 16:32

We made the offer on Thursday, vendor said they will get back to us on Monday. Is it a negative sign?

OP posts:
Twiglets1 · 27/07/2024 21:21

FreeBeeBird · 27/07/2024 16:32

We made the offer on Thursday, vendor said they will get back to us on Monday. Is it a negative sign?

Not necessarily - to me it suggests that they have some viewings booked over the weekend they want to allow before deciding on your offer.

But if they don't get a better offer, they may well accept your offer.