What to offer?

[Pemba]

We really like a house and were planning on putting in an offer today. The house is asking for 'offers over £310,000'. However we think that's a bit ambitious of them. We were planning on offering £300,000.

Looking at statistics, the most any house on the street has ever sold for was £279,000 on autumn 2022. We don't want to overpay, but my question is do you think beginning negotiations at £295k instead would just piss them off? We would be going close to our max anyway and don't feel like it's worth the £310 k. It has been on the market for 2 months.

We have nothing to sell and don't need a mortgage, but would like to keep a little bit of savings as we are older.

2022 - so nearly 3 years ago and prices have increased since then

Also, it's so hard judging a property value from other prices in the street. This property be quite different from others? I say that from personal experience. My house and one other house in the street are the only 4 bed houses. So our value is around 220k, but other houses that have sold recently have gone for around 150k because they are 3 bed and need renovating. So don't let that be the swaying factor for you.

However, you are in the strongest position of any buyer. No mortgage and no chain is likely to be a big sway for the seller.

If 300k is what you feel comfortable with then yep, id start at 295k and work up to your maximum

Edit to add: as a seller id expect offers below the asking, will just be for them to decide whether they can accept it or not. Our house is going on for offers over 220k and I won't be able to accept anything less than 220k because of what we want to buy on

You're always going to overpay if you really want something.

If you are prepared to walk away you can go in at a lower price and walk away if they don't play ball.

2 months on the market, it's not a short time but not a long time either.

As for the absolute price. Depends on a lot. Base prices in my area peaked in summer 2022 so no I would not expect that much of an increase to now, more a decrease or at least similar. But really depends on the house, for example one house in my area blasted through the peak price for the road in 2024. But only because it was the best house in the road and had been done up really well. Another that tried to match it has languished because it is nowhere near as good a house and is overpriced.

No one wants to overpay. But to get the best deal you have to be prepared to negotiate hard and walk away if the counterparty does not play ball. Falling in love with the "dream house" is a massive no no for getting good value.

2022 - so nearly 3 years ago and prices have increased since then

depends on area.

I would expect an offer under

Thanks for your replies!

It is an area where prices have remained static I would say. Things get sold, but some houses seem to stay on the market for ages.

@Willowfine I take your point about different properties in the same road could have wildly different values, but in this case it's a modern development, and the other house that sold in 2022 was comparable (both 3 bed detached).

Oh actually I just managed to locate that other house on StreetView and it's definitely smaller! Hmm

'2022 - so nearly 3 years ago and prices have increased since then'

Actually, mid-late 2022 was the market peak in most areas @Willowfine

If things in your area have been stagnant, @Pemba, I would not want to pay more than the last sale of the same house, which appears to be 279k. It sounds as if the asking price the sellers have chosen is much too high given what you have said. You are in a very strong position as a cash buyer. If you don't want to overpay, offer 279k. If you are happy to overpay because you love the house and don't want to wait for other options, you could start at 295k. You can't control whether you piss them off or not, only they can control their emotions (or not). Just offer what you think it is worth, depending on whether you mind overpaying or not and take it from there. As @GasPanic says, you need to be prepared to walk away.

Ah, just seen this. If it is significantly larger in sq feet, that does change things. Have a good look at comparable, calculate the % increase in sq feet and come up with a figure that you think is fair. If you don't get this one for a reasonable price, there will be others.

I didn't say it was peak prices now, but prices have increased in most areas since 2022

Have put in the offer by email at £297k. I lacked the bottle to try £295k. I am worried they might be annoyed anyway to see an offer beginning with a 2, not a 3! From our point of view we would like to hang on to a bit of our life savings and inheritance money though. I emphasised our lack of chain and flexibility with dates.

We will just have to see. Thank you for your perspectives.

That's not the case @Willowfine. They may well have risen a bit in some areas for some types of house but they have fallen since 2022 in the main.

Good luck @Pemba

I would offer £300k, saying it’s the only offer and your max amount. I guess it depends where you live but house prices definitely haven’t gone down here since 2022. We bought in 2023 and have sold again this year for £20k more than we paid.

Whoops sorry didn’t see your update. Good luck!

Love people being argumentative for zero reason whatsoever. Not sure what you gained from that but you enjoy the rest of your day 🙄

Well they've come back straight away saying that they need something closer to the £310k they were asking for, as they need the money for their next purchase! Although they appreciate our situation.

I said I will ask DH what he thinks and get back to them tomorrow.

The

... The thing is their next purchase is not our problem, can't they offer lower themselves?/We could go up a bit higher but wouldn't be able to meet £310k (and also I don't think it's worth it).

Well I guess they need close to 310 in order to be able to move on, otherwise they may end up not being able to sell. We were similar, we had two offers just under asking price though, in a few weeks of being on the market, so we felt the pricing was realistic and the mortgage valuation has been approved so the lender agreed too. If their house has been on for a few months it probably means no one has offered them what they need/want. Likely means it’s not worth that figure to people who have seen it so far. They may hold out for that amount though, if that’s what they need to buy the next house . You could go to £300k and see what they think. If they want that extra £10k they may just have to leave it on the market and keep their fingers crossed!

Agreed. What they think they need for their next purchase is not your problem. Quite possibly they will choose to stay put if they don't achieve the price they want. That doesn't mean that you should pay it though if you don't think the house is worth it.

All you can do is go up to what your maximum is as a best and final offer. They could be playing hardball to get you to go higher and would actually accept lower than £310k.

When we bought our current house, it was on at ‘offers over’. We offered £15k under for very specific reasons. They declined. 4 months later they hadn’t sold and reduced it to the price we originally offered, so we offered again and they accepted. Could have saved themselves 4 months!

On the market 2 months? 300k is an acceptable offer.

Also just noticed that you do not need a mortgage and have nothing to sell! You are the dream buyers! They really should be snapping up your offer

Exactly the response my DS got to a 290 offer on a 310. Same reason and description given- probably standard recommended EA speil to get negotiations underway rather than slam.doors.

He weighed everything up and offered 300 final and best and would walk away. Decided he didn't want hassle of backs and forths or losing it to someone more ballsy.

They accepted 300. He's recently moved in.

In todays market its probably 10k overpaid BUT its pristine and he doesn't need to spend anything on big ticket items, just odds and sods of DIY to suit his taste. And its got a huge guest bedroom with ensuite he could take a lodger into, or great if his mates come to stay. So, on balance, it was worth that to secure it. But he wasn't prepared to go to 310. Not in this market.

Thanks @Feelingstrange2 . I hope it can work out the same way for us! The house was advertised at 'Offers over' £310,000. Did they use that phrase in the advert for your son's house, can you remember? I wonder if it makes any difference? Such an irritating phrase.

They obviously think we can be pushed higher , but no. We can go up a little, but after that we are prepared to walk away.

We do like it but it's not perfect so we won't be heartbroken if that happens.

Nevertheless you do really like the house and tbh 297k is a strange amount and it’s pretty obvious that you will pay 300k if you will pay 297k. That amount will feel better to them psychologically and you can afford it so I would be making a revised offer of 300k today. But tell the EA you’re not prepared to go higher as 300k is your maximum budget. Don’t worry about the wording of “offers over” - they have already indicated in their response to your first offer that they need something “closer to 310” not over 310k.

300k is likely to be the best offer they have received in 2 months from a proceedable buyer so I think they will probably accept it.

@Pemba

No, his wasn't offers over. However it was newly listed and had only been on the market 10 days when he viewed.

Interestingly the vendors have just given the agent a review and said they had multiple offers, so whilst my son was in an excellent position (ftb etc) I doubt they'd have picked him over a much higher amount so it suggests he was highest or certainly close.

He had others too

A 300 on a 325 asking - said no but came back two weeks later (sadly that fell apart at survey stage). It ended up being marketed at 300. Never sold and came off the market.

A 260 on a "offers over 280" - sounded like they might agree at 270 but it required masses of work and he felt the numbers didn't stack up at 270. They never came back and sstc about 8 weeks later.

He also walked away from a "offers over 280" he was prepared to offer on this one at 280 but they'd already had one over offer earlier that day (it was a first listing open day with appointments throughout the day). He simply wasn't prepared to get involved in bidding wars. This one sold for 283 but this was summer 2024 and a different market, I think.

Depends how invested you are in this one. Could you happily walk away leaving it on the table while still looking - if they arent getting viewings that might concentrate the mind a bit? Or just nudge it up a bit to 300 and call it best and final? I do think the 3 at the start makes a difference to some people. But don't overpay given the strength of your position.

The house we sold in November was valued higher in 2022 than it was in 2024. It’s area dependent and the price we sold for is now higher than similar properties advertised at the moment. So the area economics dictate the price to some extent.

The vendors may need a particular price in order to fund their onward purchase, but if no one is willing to pay that price, they have two choices - reduce or not move. Any onward purchase is not the concern of a prospective buyer and there’s no point in worrying about what the vendor’s needs are. If they really want to move, they’ll be realistic. £10,000 off an asking price of £300,000 is better than no sale at all if they’re motivated.

You're in a strong position in comparison to someone who needs to sell their own property and get a mortgage.