What to offer

[moana1234]

House is £325k and has been renovated immaculately hence it has reached its ceiling price for the area. been on the market since end of nov. according to owners they have an offer over asking but haven't accepted due to these people not having sold their house (obviously i hav no proof of this). I am in a good position - no chain - but £325k was the absolute max i could go to. is it worth a cheeky offer or do i really need to just go in at the asking? i also asked about curtains and light fixtures which are of high quality and the owners said these are 'negotiable' so i need to add these in to the offer somewhere.

The over asking price offer they say they have from people not in a position to proceed is not something I would pay too much attention to. These buyers may take months to sell their own house or may have to accept a reduction which means they can no longer afford to pay so much for this house.

You can make an offer definitely (and when I offer on a house I say "including curtains" though most sellers assume they will be leaving them behind anyway.) If you want the light fittings you could say your offer is to include them too.

I don't know what you mean by a cheeky offer? If I loved the house I would probably think about offering something like 310k initially. Possibly even 300k but it sounds like the sellers have had their expectations raised by the people foolishly offering over asking price when they haven't even sold their own place.
.

Not sure most sellers assume they will be leaving curtains behind, unless they’re fitted - but you would assume you’re either leaving light fittings or paying for some kind of basic replacement.

OP, I think it depends what you mean by it being your absolute max. Will you still have savings left for emergencies, repairs etc? Don’t assume an immaculate renovation means you won’t need to fix anything - things always come up with houses.

I would go in under asking, but not too cheeky. Around £310k sounds like a good starting point, but expect to be negotiated up a bit.

If you do offer full asking I would be very clear that it included carpets, light fittings and curtains. These people don’t have a proceedable offer so they must surely be slightly amenable. I would definitely ignore the offers over if you did want to make an offer - maybe try £315k, thats not cheeky, although possibly the vendors are wedded to an idea of how much the house is worth.

Be very very clear about what your offer covers! Good idea to email your offer so you have what you want included in the price in writing...if they have a freestanding cooker or freestanding kitchen items that you want, make sure you state those too.

How much do you love the house and how much of a hurry are you in to move?
It does depend on the answer to these questions.
Ignore the other offer as it isn't a real offer, being non proceedable. It isn't cheeky to offer below asking price, it's standard unless your market is one of the few where houses are flying. It doesn't appear that it is as this immaculately renovated home has been on the market for 2 month+. If you really want the house, I would probably offer 310k as your budget is tight. Make your offer in writing and state that it includes the curtains, lights, etc.