my offer of £175k was rejected - how much to offer now?....

[hatesponge]

previously posted last week re great house I have found - on for £225k. Needs lots of work (could easily spend £15k or so but basics doable for about £5k).

plucked up my courage & made offer of £175k. EA didnt laugh as expected, but didnt hear anything til I called them yesterday (offer put in on Tues) & was told offer has been rejected. I asked what they are looking for (is a repossession btw, and EA are dealing with a middleman on behalf of bank/building soc) & was told they expect to get over £200k. EA then went on to tell me someone else has made an offer at that level over a wek ago but that their offer hasnt been accepted or rejected yet

Am generally sceptical re EA comments & I'm only going to offer what I think its worth. I'm minded to offer £195k but if thats rejected, I'm not keen to offer any more because going by 2004 prices it is probably worth about £220k in its current state BUT if prices fall further say to 2001 prices it wouldnt be worth any more than about £180k.

Does anyone think £195k will be accepted? (I don't believe the stuff about another buyer btw) I do love the house, & will be gutted if I dont get it, but equally dont want to pay too much & end up losing £1,000's....any thoughts?

Are you in a proceedable position? If so I would offer 185 and then let it sit for a bit. If you go up £20 000 straight away they will be tempted to think you will just as easily go up another £20 000.....

this is exactly what happened to us when we offered on a repossession - it's weird! You're not in Bristol are you? The house we wanted was on for less that your one but the agent was connells and the mortgage company was Northen Rock - maybe there is a certain way they are deciding to deal with repos at the minute?

I'd offer the £195,000 mainly to show you're serious, in the hope they get back to you quickly. We ended up offering over the asking price and this was about 3 weeks ago and they still haven't got back to us. I was calling them daily too. As luck would have it we've had an offer accepted elsewhere so they can naff off now for all I care & I've stopped calling daily. Just seems like bad manners to me to keep someone waiting so long, in total we probably wasted about 6 weeks on that particular house and they never ever caled me to tell me the offer was rejected (we made 3 or 4 in total) each time I called them and they were like, "oh yeh, it's rejected". Very annoying!

buying a house isn't just about what it's worth financially, unless you plan to develop & resell quickly.

do you intend to live there a long time?
is it in the right area for you?
is this going to be a home for all your family?

bearing in mind these things, you must, of course, make a sensible financial decision, but also consider some other factors. we paid slightly more than we'd hoped for the house we've just bought, but it really was the only one that fitted all our criteria & even if the value of it is dropping, we are very happy living here, and don't intend to move for several years, so its current market value is irrelevant.

unless you inted to do it up & sell it.

personally, i'd keep looking, but check back with the agents. if it's being dealt with by a bank, it will be on someone's 'to do' pile on a desk. how strong a position you're in will also depend on whether you're ready to buy immediatley.

Echo what the earlier posters have said. If the house is an investment property, then treat it as an investment. If the house is going to be a relatively temporary home, or if there are many other houses that tick all the boxes, then again the money matters. But if the house is going to be a long term home, and there aren't many others around that appeal, then the money difference mostly irrelevant in the longer term.

navy - no, not bristol, its kent (london suburbs really) but given your experience was so similar makes me think repo's must be dealt with in the same annoying way all round the country! I cant believe you offered over the asking price & they never even came back to you!

I'm not sure tbh what my plans with the house are - I hope it will be somewhere I will live for a few years but its possible I might move sooner, I'm certainly not thinking of doing it up & selling it immediately.

The area is good in terms of travel to my current job, and for my DC to get to school, and to their dads house. There's nothing similar around - most other houses are either the same price but much smaller, or the same size but much more expensive, so if I don't get it I think I could be waiting a long time for something else to come up!

I think therefore I've talked myself into increasing my offer might go for £187k or something.....and then prepare for a long wait & probably having to increase again next week! the joys of house buying.............