Fallen in love with a house - should we bid hard ball or just go for a deal clincher?

[Pavlovthecat]

We have seen a property. Its pretty damn perfect.

It is on at a competitive figure, and we, Dh in particular thinks it is worth the asking price.

There is also some magnificant furniture there, which is negotiable as the vendor has a property elsewhere.

So, do we put in offer of asking price with furniture included, or go for a figure lower than the asking price, and negotiate the furniture seperately?

What is a reasonable offer for us to be taken seriously but is not going straight in for asking price?

DH wants to just offer what we are prepared to pay. I think we should offer lower, the figure I think of is 4.5% lower than asking price. This will check the waters and we have some room to move upwards?

If they accept lower asking price, we have flexibility on the offers we can take on ours, which means a quicker sale for us, and them, should we tell them that?

This is only the second time we have done this, the first time was quite easy as we only had one property in the mix and it was not a gorgeous family home like this, did not matter so much if we lost it!!!!

So, how ruthless should we be? This property might go quickly as it is great.

Anyone ?

My thought is always if you want it you pay for it, I'm a full asking price, get it off the market kinda girl.

I would set the conditions of the full asking price to include the furniture you want etc curtains, carpets.

The main thing is that it is the house you want, the full asking price gets you that, you can negotiate furniture later if that is a deal breaker. BUT it also makes the vendor more likely to be nice as you have offered full asking price, especially in this climate.

Good luck.

Has it been on the market for long? If it's new to the market and you go in with the full asking price then the seller may think that he's put it on the market too low. In this case I would definitely go in a bit low and allow yourself to be bargained up a bit if necessary. Make sure he agrees to take the house off the market if he accepts your offer.

If it's been on the market for a while then I would go in with an offer very slightly lower than asking and ask for furniture to be included.

in these conditions I'd knock off at least 10% plus furniture

if you can get a mortgage then you are a rare bird indeed at the moment and it would be an idiot who would turn down your offer. also prices will go down in the next year, so paying asking price now not clever IMO

PPH is right 10% seems to be a given even with people who have a vested interest in prices staying high.Offer 10% off although if yours isn't under offer yet it won't mean much Do you think you can sell quick

Definately 10% off - in this market anything will be taken seriously, though if you haven't had an offer on yours yet I doubt they will agree to take theirs off the market regardless of what you offer. You can always go up later.

Bid lower than you are prepared to pay, then there is room for negotiation and they will feel they gained and you get the house at the price you think it is worth.

The house agent will be on the side of the vendor, BTW

the house agent won't be on the side of the vendor exactly
he will be on the side of making some commission in a pretty bloody commission-=free market at the moment.

he couldn't care less if the house sells for 800k or 720k as long as it sells tbh

Princess - I have a mortgage in place, All ready to go!

Its been on the market less than a week, we were the first to view.
Whatever deal we offer, we will be asking for it to be taken off the market. We just dont want to put in an offer too low and have some-one else come in and offer higher and it be taken before we increase.

Its defintely a property that someone else will want. It has new everything. Electrics, gorgeous double glazing, newly plastered, sympathetically renovated to Art Deco style, original features restored/kept where possible, finish is immaculate, new good quality carpets, real wood finish in kitchen. 3 good sized bedrooms, loft boarded, powered and lit ready for conversion. blah blah blah. Great, great.

I do know the prices are going to drop a bit, but does that matter if we intend to stay there a while. If this is the right house for us?

Pavlov, go in low. Then see the reaction. If it is horrified rejection, go in nearer the asking price. If it is "well, the owners don't think they can do that, it is new on the market, excuse excuse excuse" then let them stew for a day and then up it by a few grand and demand exclusivity.

What have you got to lose? There are VERY few proper buyers out there at the moment. And just because you like it doesn't mean everyone else will (although of course it always feels like that - that the WHOLE WORLD will want the house you want! )

Our place has been on the market for two days!!! If we got this place with 10% discount, we would be able to sell ours very easily as we would be able to accept offers significantly under our asking price. We have that flexibility.

So, ours has not got an offer, not because it cant sell but due to only just being put on the market.

Its a worry tho, that we might not get a property right now, as our place will take three months to process a sale, as it is leasehold .

Funny, DH told me under no circumstances should I fall in love with any property. Yet, he is the one desperate to get this house!!!

I say discount like its a pair of shoes!!! 10% lower, thats what I mean!

I think what we shall do then is 10% below asking price, to include carpets, curtains and blinds as a feeler, and negotiate the rest of the furniture etc separately.

We know the max we are prepared to pay, so we will work slowly within that figure, see if we can get something less than that.

I am feeling that others will do this too, so it might not be that someone else will come in and just offer high.

DH and I have agreed that it is almost perfect, but not 100% perfect and if we dont get it, its clearly not meant to be for us.

We are doing the same tomorrow.Offering 10% off and no more.The house we have seen needs work as has been let to students and the tenancy runs out in 8 weeks so the seller needs to sell soon.I won't offer more though as I know it will be worth less in a year but it is the size and style i love and the road is lovely.Hope you get yours for a good price

go low - you want your first offer rejected! then go a big bit higher, then go up by little bits, but do it quickly - ie do it when you are available to make an immediate new offer when the agent phones back . as you put your offer up demand bits thrown in - eg we will raise by £1k byt would like the dining room table.

so if it's on at £100k the conversation should go something like this: offer £85k, expect immediate no. immediately offer £92k. get another no. offer £94k + dining room curtains. at some stage htey will start haggling - ask for £97k but throw in the curtains and table.

ideally you want to be available to do this in the course of half a day so nobody else can get in while you are at it

but I wouldn't accept any offer from you at all if you hadn't already sold your own place

Noddy - good luck with yours too.

We saw two today which we like but this was the one that just stunned us. We were not expecting it. If we dont get it, we will go for the other one. Or maybe will do that anyway .

The other one was like yours, in need of renovation, realistic renovation. it was a bloody steal to be honest, prime location, had a large courtyard/small garden which for the area is rare. Its in the catchment for the best primary school, its near a stunning park. Houses in this area go for a shit load, and even now houses in the same street are on the market for a third more than this one.

But, it is crusty, dated, needs new most things. It will hold its value well enough tho long term as its one of the most desirable areas here.

There are houses same as this, in the next street worth twice as much as they are done up, and actually have park views!

But, hard work vs perfecto. Tough call, but we have a 22 month old!

missingtheaction - would you not accept the offer due to needing to move forward with your own sale? Or incase mine did not sell?

I ask, as the vendor is not waiting on my sale for hers to go through, she has moved in with her partner. No chain at her end.

Does this make a difference?

well we are renting so if our offer is accepted I am going to ask for an extra 6 months here and do the work myself with some builders.Seems a similar situation as there are houses around this one worth a lot more but also in good order.

noddy - good luck

I have woken after a restless nights sleep, and feel a lot more logical about the property, as does DH.

We do desperately want it, but realise there are two features which are a downside. One lack of garden - but does have a courtyard with outdoor space that could have something done with some imagination and cash, and two on a busy road, although its high up with a walkway/wall infront of the lovely period feature front door.

We are agreeing that others might see this as an issue to as it is a family home so other might want a garden too.

So, we are going to offer 10% below asking price and see where that takes us, be cool.

But, I am now panicking about what some of you are saying about offers when we have no buyer yet. Is this really going to stop some people accepting offers from us? Or not taking them seriously? I am guessing we just need to not get excited about houses until we are really in a position to move forward with a buyer for ours.

Oh, I dont like this selling and buying business, it was so much more straightforward when we were first time buyers!

I can't see them taking it off the market if you are not in a position to proceed. The agent will have to pass your offer and details onto the vendor but in all likelihood given the state of the market, they will advise vendor just to register your interest.

I know you think your house will sell very quickly and hopefully you're right, but until it does you are not proceedable. I've never accepted an offer from someone in your position. Sorry to be doom and gloom.

I'm with Raffaella. If you were selling your car so you could buy a new one and someone came along and said 'I really love your car but can't buy it at the moment and I'm not sure when I can, but would you take it off the market and wait for me' what would you say? If you were nicely brought up you would probably say 'sorry, I really need to sell this car so I will have to keep it on the market and sell it to the first person who can buy it - come back when you are in a position to buy it'. If you were suffering from PMT that day you might say something else beginning with an F.

Why would they wait for you? especially in this market - they need to keep their options open.

You can still try - persuade their agent to call your agent so your agent can tell them your house is going to sell quickly. Worth a try.

PS - if it's a family home in a poor location with no garden, I suspect you can offer low.

A house in a poor location with no garden - I wouldn't touch with a bargepole - sorry.

If you have a 22 month old I suspect you'd regret that buy in a year or two, particularly when you could have bought one with a garden in a nice road in the catchment of the best primary. OK it might need work, but 22 month old isn't gonna care that it's crusty! And believe me when you only have a place in a crap school you will kick yourself!

How small is the courtyard?