House offer - what would you do?

[ShakespeareInTurmoil]

Bit of a quandary and would like some advice!

Background - I was quite far through purchasing a property which sadly I had pull out of due to a disastrous survey; subsidence. As well as the costly remediation, it would have affected the neighbouring property and council-owned land, so the whole situation was a minefield of boundary and legal issues.

It was a great property and was a lot of house for the money. I’ve accepted I won’t find the same again so readjusted my expections and found something I really like in another town in a neighbouring county. Much smaller, with a lot more work doing.

I viewed it a week ago today. Very leaky garage (needs new roof and has original wooden doors), dated pine kitchen (but quite serviceable), very 90s decorating and Artexing everywhere. The real issue is the dreadful 80s, maybe 90s, bathroom - it’s got a shower crammed over the bath under a slope. A child couldn’t fit under it. The house also has a trainline running behind it.

It’s a classic 70s dormer bungalow - I rather like its retro charm but I can imagine its vibe might put some off. Its layout and size make it largely unsuitable for anyone other than a single person but the master bedroom and bathroom being upstairs also
means it wouldn’t be great for an older person. Essentially, I think it’s got a limited market.

Went on in September for offers over £250k.
Was reduced in November to offers over £240k.

The street is very mixed housing so the closest comparison I can find is the same house a few doors down that sold in 2020 for £200,000 fully refurbished. House prices in the town have been relatively static in thst time, according to RightMove’s tools.

The agent was useless. Said barely a word during the viewing and put no effort in trying to sell it to me. No follow up and no response to the feedback I left on my online account with the agency.

I think I’d be willing to pay £210k, maybe £215k as it needs an awful lot sorting out. Massively below their expectations.

The elderly owner has gone into care, so I imagine they, understandably, want to achieve a high price.

Do I just put in a low offer with some justification now? Or wait for it to presumably drop again come January? Do I wait until January anyway as more may come on to the market?

The local market for similar properties (in less desirable parts of the town admittedly) seems quite slow.

I honestly don’t know what to do!

You should do exactly what you want to do: in this case, offer what the property is worth to you. Try 210 and be willing to go up to 215. The vendors can refuse if they want to, but they may not do any better. Good luck.
You can justify the lower offer by pointing out the dodgy bathroom, leaky garage, aertex etc, and the fact that fixing these will not only be costly but time consuming, now that builders are hard to find.

I’d probably put in the offer now and see what they say. If they reject you could tell them the offer remains on the table if they change their mind.

You could make a low ball offer of 215k, justified as major works need doing. Bathroom will set you back up to £3-5k, Kitchen depending on size £10-15k, and you'll have to remove artex & re-skim plaster the walls, plus you may have other electrics, plumbing issues to solve so low ball is justified. With bungalows you generally get some square footage front and back if it's detached so you can always add value.
Nobody makes an offer near Christmas, it's a dead market till mid March and Spring BUT stamp duty goes up on 1/04/25 so the market expects a surge in Jan/Feb..Go with your gut instinct,.if you feel happy inside and it's a project you aspire to take on then make the offer. Don't worry about the vendor and their situation, you have to detach sentiment when making a major financial purchase. Not sure where you are but £250k for a home is not a massive risk..Good luck 🤞

I'd go in at £210. They'll reject but keep them waiting for a few days. Then 215 absolute final offer.

Thank you all! I think I’ll go in low next week and see what happens. I can leave it on the table.

I could afford to pay what they’re asking but it’s just too much for the property given its condition.

It would be about ten percent reduction which I think is fairly standard these days. I hate the whole ‘offers over’ concept!

Do you have any chain below you? If not I would also point out that you're keen and motivated to complete before April. When the stamp duty threshold drops to £125k it will apply to this asking price and potentially make it a more difficult sell, so they'll want it gone before then!

You do not need to justify your offer.

"I am offering £210k for the property." is a complete sentence.

Do you really want to do all the work? If you do only offer what you honestly think it is worth as the work will be more expensive than you think.

10% reduction is reasonable imo for a house that seems like it may be overpriced.

If they reject it then keep the offer on the table but also keep looking. They may well come back to you in a month or two to accept the offer, if you haven’t found anything better by then.

Do you see this as your "forever" home? It might not a concern for you, but based on the negatives you've listed, I would be thinking about resale value.