How low is too low?

[SpanielsSunflowersSand]

We have fallen in love with a house that has been on the market for 2 years. It needs modernising/ renovating throughout (think 70s orange panelled wood on the ceilings), bright coloured pattern carpet, garage needs knocking down and rebuilding, new heating system, electric and everything else you can think of!

I think it is massively overpriced hence nobody has shown any interest in 2 years! We would need to budget a minimum of 100k to renovate the house (more if we decided to extend).

In the owners’ shoes, I don’t think I would be happy with a super low offer but if the house was on the market so long, I would have to consider it. I go back and forth on this a lot but if we spent the money renovating this house, I wouldn’t want to worry that we are going to be at a major loss if we ever need to sell. It would be our forever home but you just never know.

The offer would be 20% below asking price - around the 100k mark off asking. Do you think this is unreasonable? I don’t want to offend the owners and put them off negotiating entirely bur equally, I’m not sure how much we could stretch our offer without feeling like too much of a risk. Fees add a huge chunk onto costs before renovating even starts!

It has probably been on the market for so long because they are refusing to sell it for a sensible price, not because nobody wants to buy it.

So they have priced it the same as an identical fully renovated house but it needs everything doing?

You can’t go too low in my world. But it’s unlikely they’d accept it as it’s clearly been over priced for a long time. But I’d at least give it a go.

Ask the estate agent about previous rejected offers but I'd be fine going in low if it needed everything doing and want priced for it

That was my initial thought but according to the EA they haven’t had any offers. It was reduced June 2023 by 40k and still no movement!

So it was on for 530k, now reduced to 500k? And it needs at least 100k ( plus months of disruption) to bring it up to scratch?
With what you described, 100k might be the lower end.
Sounds like an offer of 375 would not be outrageous, if you really want it.
List the cost of the required work to substantiate your offer. As you need to renovate, may as well include the cost to insulate it as well.
How old are the windows? UPVc fitted in the late 80’s are now coming to the end of their life.

How much is the house being marketed for now?

Unfortunately, they sound like v unrealistic sellers who are not in a hurry to sell (could it be a probate sale?). All you can do is make your offer at 80% of current asking price if that is what you think it is worth and the maximum you will pay. I would personally offer less than the cost of the work as these things always end up being more expensive, it is a massive hassle and you may even need to pay to rent somewhere temporarily while the work is being done.
If they do not accept, just move on. It really doesn't matter if they feel offended; they need to deal with that. At some stage, they will become more realistic!

If you are in a proceed able position then it’s worth a try.

I would ask the EA if any surveys have been done by interested parties, could this be the stumbling block?

If a survey has been done and the buyer decided not to proceed could you pay a nominal amount to see the survey?

It’s worth a try I guess. But if they were motivated sellers they would have already reduced it by at least 10% so it’s not looking good.

What do you think the 'done up' value of the house would be? And how much below that are you proposing to offer?

There are houses like that on the market for years around our way. The owners are OAPs in no hurry to sell. Someone told them their house was worth that much and so they're sticking to it, regardless of what the market is telling them.

Yes and fairly sure it was originally 600k when first listed but they switched EA and relisted at 530k. Windows are old as are the doors, timber and single glazed so you can imagine the cost of those alone!

I think this might be the same here. They said they were moving to go and live with children as they are too old to continue to maintain the property and gardens.

Really difficult to guesstimate because there are very few houses in the area. It’s fairly rural. Nearest neighbour is a farm. That’s the other issue, given it’s mostly farmland, nobody sells, houses tend to get passed down generation to generation so market stats aren’t great!

It's worth a try. I've known an over-optimistic seller be haggled down by 20-25% on his asking price, though some of that was post-survey after works had been priced.

I always think you should try, what do you have to lose? Although if you're worried about offending them, you clearly really want it, so offer as much as you can. Personally I don't know anyone that can afford to drop 100k on a house.. whether that's you're a family wanting to move up the ladder....or you're on the other end of the scale, needing the money for a care home/retirement/inheritance.

Just offer the orice you want to pay

They are lovely, and I don’t want to come across like we want to take advantage given their age and us knowing they want to move to live with their children.

I also don’t want to end up with a money pit that I can’t shift either!

We saw a property similar to you, never been touched since it was built 50 years prior. Needed new everything. It was on at offers in the region of £650k, we had an offer of £540k accepted. We eventually had to pull out after 14 months of being messed around, but it finally sold 9 months after for £530k. This was in 22/23 for reference.

When we made our offer we gave our rationale for why it was so much under asking - needed everything doing, asking price was more akin to something already renovated and had seen similar properties with admittedly smaller gardens, but less work, for sale for around the £500k mark in the next (more desirable) village over etc

This is very interesting, and thank you for sharing. I think I’m just going to go for it and the worst that can happen is that they say no!

You have nothing to lose to make an offer, whatever it is. Either it is accepted or refused. Maybe the property is in a "desirable" location? The seller maybe selling for its location, and are not in a hurry.

Two houses near me went on in a simile condition to what you describe for £750k.
If they had been new inside that would have been ok for that road. But they weren’t! They needed total refurbishment. They didn’t sell for ages and eventually one went for £550k. The other went on and off the market and came back on for I think £560k and then sold - not sure what for.

So I’d definitely offer what you think it’s worth as it sounds hugely over priced if not sold in two years!

You’re not taking advantage. They are taking advantage of property prices going up silly money over the years. It’s not like they paid that for it. If they haven’t kept the house up to modern spec that’s not your fault. Be objective about it.

I will definitely make an offer and see where we go from there 🤞🏻

If it was a little less remote, I think the location card could be pulled out but the reality is, whilst I think it’s a beautiful location, for most people, it’s simply a nuisance/ inconvenience. I think that is a big reason they want to sell. It’s the type of place that when it snows, you are snowed in so you need a decent 4x4. It’s also an hour away from the nearest hospital which again, I think has given them some anxiety with their age.

Sounds like my neighbours house. It’s at least 100k over priced due to the amount of work on it. They already dropped it 100k and no intetret. Go for it.