Cheeky offer?

[Kkaayy]

We’ve just accepted an offer on our house which is 10k under asking price, we had already reduced by 10k so technically 20k less than what we were hoping for and what estate agents valued the house at. We’ve been on the market approx 3 months with 2 different agents.

We would like to offer on a house which is currently priced at 525k, 500k would be our first and final offer especially as we’ve accepted 20k less on ours. This house has been on the market 5 months with their current agent (same agent as us) and 3 months with a previous agent at 540k.

Is it cheeky offering 25k less than asking price? They’ve had no previous offers and it sounds like very few viewings.

That’s only 5% off the asking price. Not cheeky at all, and is actually a very high offer.
£500k could well be the figure they’re hoping to achieve if they have listed at £525k.

There's no such a thing as a cheeky offer. You can offer anything. You could offer 250k on a 525k house and it wouldn't be cheeky. Just less likely to be accepted the lower you go. So it might be pointless but nobody can tell you that except the vendor.

There's nothing wrong with it though.

Go ahead. I'd make it very clear this is the most you can offer, no flexibility/room to manoeuvre, just a take it or leave it offer based on what you're selling for.

Not cheeky at all, especially with how long it’s been sitting on the market. If they’re serious about selling, they’ll understand you’re coming in with a strong position and realistic offer.

I think that’s fine.

We’ve recently accepted £10 under asking, which we thought was a really good offer.

I think that’s reasonable. Under the £500k would be cheeky. I think it’s highly likely that they’ll say no in the hopes of negotiating you up a bit. Explain that’s your limit and then wait it out. You’re in a strong position so it could work.

£10 K, not £10 🤣

(we’d already reduced by £95 K from original asking price - agent’s valuation, not ours.)

It's fine. I actually think up to 10% less is fine as an offer, but the closer you get to 10% the less likely you are to have it accepted, and depending on the vendor, you may get into a positional bargaining stance. £500k is absolutely fine, but if you are in a chain, you have less bargaining chips. Depends on your nerves and how much you want the house, but I would go £495 and expect to pay £500. All vendors are different, some will happily bargain, some will be disappointed by the offer and won't enter into negotiations until the price is close - you never really know the circumstances of the other party. Regardless of the game, be prepared to walk away if you do not get the price it is worth. Hope you get it. x

I don't think £500k offer is cheeky. It may have been over valued if very few viewings and still on market after 5 months and 8 months altogether including initial price. Do you think it's worth £500k compared to what similar local houses have sold for?

My BIL was a very successful real estate investor.
He once told me this:
”Your house is worth exactly what someone is willing to pay for it.”
Go for it.
I wish you the very best of luck. ❤️
Please come back and tell us how you did.

Their first agent (who was our original agent) let slip that they had valued it at 500k. There’s not many comparable properties around unfortunately but some 4 bedrooms in the area with a bigger square footage are coming in under 500k. We’re going to view another house this week which is slightly bigger listed at 475k, granted it’s a semi whereas the 525k one is detached.

I think its fine but if 500 as far as you can go make it clear as they will likely counter offer in the middle

Well if it was valued at 500k by your agent it’s not a cheeky offer it’s realistic.

We offered £560k on a £595k house and that felt very cheeky. In the end, we met in the middle. We did the same on our house (ending at £370k).

I think psychologically, we were happier with our final agreed prices because each of us had “moved” a little. It felt more like compromise. If they’d offered us £370k initially and refused to budge it would have felt slightly different. So personally I’d offer slightly below what you want to pay, expecting to raise it to your budget.

Worth a try, you have nothing to lose. It does depend how urgent they are to sell, if they've had other offers etc. We had offer of £515k accepted on a house originally listed £550k, then dropped to £535k. It had been on 6 months. They had actually had several offers in that time all offering a bit more than us but all had fallen through because those buyers lost the buyers for their house. I guess had we given that offer a month or so before it would have been rejected but was the right time.

I think you have to ignore the asking price and just offer what it's worth to you.

It's not a cheeky offer at all. You can offer whatever you think it is worth. If it has been on the market for 5 months already, with little interest, I would offer lower than that but it's up to you what you feel comfortable with.

Sadly our offer was declined 😣 I’ve left it on the table until we find something else.

Sounds like they are not very motivated to sell. If they were motivated they would have accepted 500k which was not a bad offer.

Maybe they haven't found an onward purchase yet?

Not nowadays, it's a buyers market but nobody is buying. You'll find what the seller wants is within £10k, depending on their circumstances, chains, you bid appropriately and if it's a gem you just pay to seal the deal at £5k under or so. I'm also selling at moment, 8 viewings in 10wks but no offers. Its quite ridiculous really.

Crikey. It sounds like they saw you coming but still chose to look the other way. You probably dodged a bullet there.

There is no such thing as a "cheeky" offer. You should offer what the house is worth to you having done full due diligence (next time). That offer could be anything from 20% under to 20% over.

Perhaps it's for the best. They sound unrealistic if they are not willing to accept a very good offer after 5 months on the market.

What the seller wants and what 'the market' will pay are often two very different figures at present. I'm sure some areas are moving fine but I'm seeing so many houses being reduced, the expensive ones by hundreds of thousands. Sellers need to be realistic with pricing if they actually want to sell.

It is a buyer's market and many people are buying. The Uk Property Market show in YT shows the highest number of sale agreeds last week for around 7 or 8 years.

I didn't know that - not watched the Property Market show recently.

I think most buyers are just keen to negotiate a good price as they know it is a buyers market (in most areas).

Sellers are not in a position to say they will only accept 10k or 5k reduction at the moment as suggested by @CuarloDeFonza - not if they really want to sell. They have to be flexible on price or risk their property sitting on the market for many months looking increasingly like something no one wants to buy.