Would this put you off / what to offer?

[LittleTurtles]

We’ve viewed a house which we really like, and are considering making an offer. The market is dire where we are, and most houses are sitting on the market for months and then going through successive price reductions.

The house has been redecorated to a really high standard. The garden however is a different story. It’s on an incredibly steep slope, and has never been landscaped. It’s basically a wild steep hill with no tiers as such, and not safe for DC unless it had some work done to it. We came to the conclusion that we’d need professional help to clear it and sort it out before we could get to the stage of maintaining it. I don’t think that would be cheap to fix as it’s clearly not been maintained for a long time. I suspect the garden has put other buyers off as it’s being marketed as a family home. The top of the garden is almost as high as the house itself if that makes sense.

I’m torn as it’s a lovely place and unless we really needed to move we’d probably live there until
we downsize when we retire.

I’m really struggling as to where to pitch an offer if we decide to make one given the cost of sorting the garden. House is on at OIE of 550k. The last house on the street sold at the end of last year for over a 100k less, was in equally as immaculate condition but had a normal garden.

Just offer what you feel you can afford. It doesn’t matter if you like the decor, dislike the garden etc. If things aren’t to your taste and you don’t have the money to change them, then factor it in your offer. The seller may accept it or they might think it’s priced appropriately.

I don't know how big the garden of the potential house is but we renovated something similar although not established ten years ago. It was 40' x 20'. We had it tiered with steps up the middle and brick edgings. It cost just shy of £20k without planting (London) but with uplighting.

No house is worth more than the level for the road. I'd offer £425k and start from there. I wouldn't pay more than £450,000 unless the floorspace is bigger than the other house or it has features that make it more valuable.

I think you can make the garden usable and suitable for your needs, but it will cost. The sellers aren’t going to be interested in what you need to spend though, so I think a price reduction on the basis of what you want to change may not fly. You’ve said the house itself needs no work, so it’s not as though it’s a doer upper.

So it’s a question of how long it’s been on the market, what similar houses are selling for and how motivated the sellers are.

For a house that’s marketed at offers in excess of £550k, I don’t think they will be happy with an offer of £450k, even if that’s what a local house sold for. Unless they’ve been on the market for a long time, in which case, they should be thinking of reducing.

Is it priced for the condition? If it is a reasonable value for the state of the house and garden then no, I wouldn't offer less. If it is over priced due to the garden then yes I would offer less.