Anybody else LOATHE our house buying system? We are mid negotiations and it is awful...

[SamVimesIsMyHero]

We have seen a house with lots of potential. The owner is a single older lady. The house needs alot of money spending on it so we reflected that in our first offer.

She rejected that offer and we asked her to give us a figure for the lowest she would accept, unfortunately it is still about £20,000 more than we want to pay. We've put in an offer £15,000 more than our first one (but still £30,000) less than her lowest acceptable figure - now we are waiting to hear back again.

The house has been on the Market for 18 months at least and she is keen to sell. The trouble is, each step everyone is saying 'that's my lowest/highest figure' and you don't know if they really mean it. ARGH I hate this!!

If you have made it this far thanks . Any opinions/experiences welcome! One question, if you were asked to give the lowest figure you would accept, would you give the real one?!

Let it go They will get in touch with you I am sure!18 months is a long time

If you are really keen, get a surveyor to have a look at the house and give you a valuation, and also an idea of how much needs doing, and what it is likely to cost. Shows the vendor you are serious, and gives you objective numbers to base your decisions on.

This is pretty much standard in Scotland, because when you make a formal offer it is binding. However, we have done it in England, too, and it takes a lot of heat out of the negotiation. You will need to have it done anyway to get any sort of mortgage, you are just doing it a little sooner. However, you do take the risk of paying out unnecessarily if the sale falls through. This is part of the game in Scotland, but we reckoned it was well worth it in the English sale.