If a house is on the market at £230K what offer would you begin with?

[Xenatheoriginal]

Nothing to sell on our part?

Depends how long it's been on and what the local market is like, but as a cash buyer you're in a very strong position. I would be tempted to start around 200k and take it from there.

Not a cash buyer (got deposit and mortgage) but I was thinking of starting at 200..

i think 200k too and go up if you need to

houses are selling well here - two in a week that i know of (friends im not an agent!) - both slightly below asking price but sensible prices

one mate had two offers on first weekend one a developer, one renting

You've nothing to lose by starting low. What about £190K and work your way up.

Sorry, I meant a chain-free buyer. Yes, I reckon 200 is a very fair point to start at. Gives you some room for manoeuvre but you never know, in this climate they might well snap up your opening offer!

Depends on the market in your area, how long it's been on the market, and what your budget really is, and how much you really want it.

Use zoopla and the postcode to find out what has been paid for it, nationwide building society also have a house value calculator etc.

Being harsh but realistic, there is so much talk of the collapse in the market, I would start low. No harm being cheeky when it's a buyer's market I guess.

I'm hoping that when we move it will be for good.

I'd be really cheeky - £180,000. Remember, you want the first offer refused: if you offer £200 and they accept then you will torture yourself thinking 'what if they would have accepted £190'.

When they refuse your offer ask their agent what they were hoping for/expecting - it will give you a guide.

you right mta; I don't want them to accept my first offer!

Don't think so much about the asking price. It depends if they have really taken into account the drops that have already occurred, or are still asking 2007 prices. I mean, would it have been 260 at the peak? Or more like 230? Also what have similar houses actually sold for (nethouseprices.com and other sites)? And it depends if you are willing to take the hit of paying 2009 prices and then watching the value drop much further, or you want to protect yourself against further drops. At the moment, in our area anyway, we are seeing very similar houses on for up to 20% differences in asking price, according to how clued up the owners are.

185 and pay no more than 195

It depends where they have started. So if they have been on the market at that price for months then offer a bid like boddy says. However I have dropped and dropped on my house I could not drop much further and tbh I dont think I will need to.

I agree with Jimmy McNulty - is the house overpriced? If I had priced a house to sell and you started very low then I'd just think you couldn't afford it and wouldn't take your offer very seriously tbh. If it's overpriced then yes, start very low.

Also, rather than expecting an immediate 'yes' or 'no', when you get to your final offer give them a chance to see how much money they can knock off their move.

Also - when using land registry prices, remember that you have no idea what sort of state that house (or others) were in when they changed hands.

Do you know how long it has been on the market?