How should negotiate on property purchase?

[foursquares]

Hi. First time buyer, appreciate some advice.

Saw a property we like, listed for £450k. It's been on the market just under 3 months. It's had one offer in first week, which was rejected by seller - I don't know amount.

We've recently offered £423k (6% under asking), which was rejected. According to agenct, seller looking for close to asking price.

Given that it's been on for a while, we're in a buyers market, and heading into post-summer period...couple of queries :

1. The asking price is overpriced right?
2. How should I approach negotiations?

Thanks in advance.

Sorry but you're looking at it like it's in a text book. There are dozens of factors and you probably have visibility on 20% of them. It's like picking up a parenting book and expecting it to give you all the answers.

3 months during summer isn't the same as 3 months in spring. It's unlikely to gain any traction for another month but you can't say that's been 4 months, because in the market August is nothing. Also it depends where you are in the country -some areas are slow. Ours is rapid - I wouldn't expect mine to stay on for more than a fortnight.

We've been window shopping in a slow area for a year now and will probably get serious in about 9 months time, but we can see several properties that fit our needs have been on the market for the last 12 months. Some new ones have been reduced heavily in just one quarter, others haven't changed all year.

How many similar properties are available? If there have been similar sales recently then the estate agent knows the true value and may be advising their client of that. If there is nothing like it currently then equally they may think they're in a stronger position.

You don't know the sellers motivation. Maybe they haven't found their house yet, or they have but that part of the chain sorted.

You need to figure out what it's worth to you. But if they've rejected your offer you can only increase or walk away. But it has to be a sensible increase, maybe to 435, otherwise they'll see you as chancers. And you don't want to sell to that type because there's always the possibility that a chancer will try to beat down the price after a survey finds the smallest negative detail.

So offer that, tell them it's your final offer. If they don't want to accept it, move on.

Houses sell in August! It’s not that quiet. Not everyone is on holiday for 6 weeks not viewing houses.

OP should offer her maximum and then walk away if it’s not accepted . If a house needs renovation it always costs more than you think. Sellers should be pragmatic but many aren’t. My friends have just had to accept £40,000 (10%) below what an identical house sold for 9 months ago. It’s either that or don’t sell. Some people won’t sell! So buyers find one who will.

A house is worth what someone wants to pay for it.
Hmm, not sure about this.
A house is owned by its current owner. It is worth whatever will motivate them to give up that ownership. You might offer a million pounds on a £450k property but if the owners don't want to move then it's not going to happen!
In this case, the owners are thinking of moving - or else they wouldn't have it on the market - but you haven't offered enough yet to make it happen.

It all depends. We put our house on the market in March 2025 and sold over asking within a week (with multiple offers). It was a do-er upper, and had been priced with the work in mind. There is no way we would have accepted under asking and if we received an offer drastically under I would have had concerns that they weren’t a serious or reliable buyer. I think people underestimate how important it is to have a good, trusting relationship between people in a chain as they collapse so easily!

It’s also common for sellers to not have a purchase lined up. The advice is to get your own house under asking before you put an offer in on something else so that you are considered “proceedable”. Don’t bank on the fact that they are concerned about losing an onward purchase.

If I were you, and I genuinely loved the house, I’d go back with your max offer, make it clear that’s your absolute limit, and walk away if they reject it.

I agree with others in that under three months on the market isn't a long time.

Can you go back to the estate agent and ask what the first offer was that was rejected? If it was significantly higher than yours yet was still rejected it would give you a good idea of where to pitch your next offer. It would also be an indicator as to whether you can afford the house.

The renovations you mention... are they just aesthetic or more fundamental?

If you decide you want the house then offer your maximum, don't do it in drips and drabs or you could be seen as as flaky.

Yes, it’s key to know what £ was rejected. Most people under estimate renovation costs so the previous interested party could have valued accurately. When people keep rejecting offers they are tentative sellers.

Also look at other sold properties nearby. Do the sums because you don’t want to exceed the ceiling price with renovation and buying costs.

Thank you all for your helpful advice, particularly about 3 month period. Maybe there is no right answer, but some differing views about what to offer next, it better approach to go £430k, then max (£435k), or just go in at maximum?

Mainly aesthetic, some areas look like haven't been updated in 15+ years. Plus, things like some pipes & electrics haven't been channelled into wall.

best and final and don't waste your or their time.

You’re faffing about here.
Do you want this house? If yes, offer what you can afford. If they reject that offer then it’s out of your price range. Stop googling ‘how to get the best deal when buying a house’

I would absolutely offer the max you are prepared to pay. If they rejected 423 and are looking at close to 450 then they won’t be interested at 430. It’s also very slow in August and they may be waiting to see how September goes, so if I were them I would reject 430 (unless they’re desperate).

I would put your best and final in and say you’re happy to leave it on the table for a couple of weeks, but that you are still viewing other properties.

It depends why they are moving tbh. Some people just aren’t desperate to move and are happy to wait and wait, but some will have a deadline.

This property needs some modernisation (maybe £30kish). Similar properties not needing work have sold for £450-55k, but last comparable sale was 2023.

in fairness you should have included this information in your OP. The fact the property needs work done on it, is your rationale for the offer you made, because frankly I was bemused as to why you were randomly deciding to take 6% off the price of the vendor's property for no apparent reason.

im finding it increasingly frustrating on here that people automatically assume every property is overpriced and try to slice money off good properties "just because". You need to justify the rationale for your offer, either the property requires investment/renovation or it's more expensive than other similar properties in the area, otherwise you'll come across as clueless to the vendors and they won't take you seriously.

So you don't actually have any concept of what actually needs doing and what you'd like to do, or the cost of either.

I completely appreciate this is a first home purchase OP but two things stand out from your comments, one is a level of arrogance and that you know best (as a vendor that would put me off, you sound like you will make this a difficult transaction), and the others is more really having a grasp of finances, either purchase or ongoing.
Have you properly costed this out. By that I mean your purchase costs + house running costs, then when you know more add essential work and work that will need doing over the next few years.

Of course you want to pay as little as possible and they want to achieve as much as possible - that's how this works. At the same time you need to be realistic about the properties value, both to buy cold and also to you as an individual. You can make a low offer, cheeky offer, insulting offer, over the asking offer, but only if you understand what you are doing and why.

Please go and view a lot of properties, that's my best recommendation for you to get a true feel for both this points.
Then you can genuinely negotiate by saying things like: My best and final offer is xxxx that's based upon ..... then you will be taken seriously. Choosing a number you like without any justification won't.
Just because a property needs, in your eyes, some renovations, doesn't necessarily mean it does. A house will have been valued for its current condition, not a theoretical 'if' price. So taking x off the asking price because thats what you think you need to spend is rude.

But I would argue if I was selling my house and an offer was based on similar houses going/went for XYZ then go off and buy one of those houses then.

I sold a house earlier this year. Empty property which needed redecoration throughout. Bathrooms and kitchen a bit tired but working perfectly. The estate agent priced it at £350k and said it would sell for £340 allowing the buyer to feel they'd got a deal and have money available for redecoration etc. We rejected a couple who offered low and kept upping by tiny amounts and several ridiculously low offers. The couple who bought it offered £340 and said it was their max - they were also 1st time buyers. Offer accepted. It was 10 weeks from going onto the market to completion.

OP offer your max and if it's rejected just find another property. Don't piss off the vendor by increasing your offer in tiny increments- they will assume you'll be a nightmare to sell to and will probably reject even a full asking price offer from you.

Given the nature of work that you want to do (not need to do) I think that your estimate of a £30K reduction for this is far too high.

Refreshing the decor is usually part and parcel of buying a house. Often the decor might be recently done but not to the buyer's taste or to a bad standard - it's not on to deduct for items such as that.

If you want the house I'd offer your maximum and hope they accept.

Reducing after 3 months or sooner would be the case in a fast market but as the house market is really slow now it’s not going to be the norm.

Just offer what you want to buy the house at and tell the agent it’s your best and final. I suspect the owners are waiting for that and if your first offer was your best offer tell them that.

@TheGirlattheBackThe norm (and sensible) position in a slow market is to
be realistic and flexible in the first place. Setting a price that might have been the norm a year ago, is not necessarily the norm now. If people really want to sell, they negotiate. If they are just dipping a toe in the water, they are not market sensitive. The agent should know their position and advise you what they might accept.

Only you can decide if the asking price is fair for the area or not. You need to do your homework on that. If spending £30,000 makes it worth £480,000, the price is fair, if spending £30,000 makes it worth only £450,000 or a bit more, it’s not worth the asking price.

5k under asking if the max I would drop to as a seller.

Yes I agree you negotiate with a buyer but a blanket reduction is not going to snag a non existent buyer in a slow market so it’s not the sensible choice.

We only have the OP’s say so that the house is overpriced.

@MeetMeOnTheCorner the thing is this £30k is OPs random figure, not substantiated in anyway.

Agree with pp if you want the house but are sure you won't go up to their asking price, then just offer your best and final and leave the offer on the table while you view some other properties. Giving a justification as to why you think it isn't worth the full asking price (e.g. because it needs specific work doing) generally adds a bit of context to your offer.

If the sellers have seen properties they like (but can't offer on until they've sold) then they might need to achieve a certain sale price for their house to make it work.

Please keep us updated how you get on.

We have just sold ours. We had one viewing a week for 4 weeks and sold it to the first person who offered. There wasn’t an initial flourish of viewings like I’ve had with previous houses.