How much to pay

[2longinthetooth]

Seen a house on for oiro 314,950. Owner paid 285 in jan 2025. Nothing done to the house just decor updated. In good condition. Market here slightly flat. Mixture of reductions and sales. Its been on market a week. No offers. Its 3 bed detached. 2 bathrooms. 2 reception. Im at a loss to what I should offer, I think its well over priced. I want to offer fair but not over pay. Looking online is a nightmare.

It's unlikely that you are going to be able to lowball a seller if their property has only been on the market a week.

6 months of listing, mutliple agents, maybe a couple of fallen through sales is what it takes for a lot of sellers to get to the crushing realisation that their property might not be worth what they think it is.

Why would you accept a low offer after only a short time on the market ?

Getting good prices on house purchases is generally not consistent with wanting to move quickly or being particularly fussy.

I get where DH is coming from but as you say you’ll likely be there for at least 4 months (chances are longer). Better to regroup when you’re able to look at things more calmly and don’t feel so much pressure just to buy something.
tbh a seller who doesn’t bother to explain what they have done to warrant a £30k price increase in a year in a falling market is probably not going to make conveyancing easy. I also don’t think they’ll accept any offers after a week.

Assuming you're correct and the vendors haven't done anything since purchasing in 2025 (I presume you've seen the historic listing on Rightmove or Zoopla?), I'm guessing they'll try to hold out for something over what they paid (285k?), especially as it's only been on a week.

But if you like the house when you view it, I'd definitely make your opening offer below 300k - after all, who knows they might be desperate to sell and snap your hand off! We were in that position back in 2018 and in order to move quickly, having seen somewhere we loved (we were cash buyers too), we accepted a bit less than we'd paid three years previously.

Do keep us posted how the viewing goes!