Buying a flat in Glasgow, what to offer?

[PowerShowerHour]

DS is about to make an offer on a flat in Glasgow. It has only recently gone on the market and the valuation in the report is £220k.

Neither he nor I has bought in Scotland before and he doesn't know what he should offer. How much over the valuation would you go to have a decent chance? His budget is up to £240 but obviously he would rather offer less if it's possible. Is there a rule of thumb for what would give him a reasonable chance? Thank you!

This is very area dependent. He needs a local solicitor who has local knowledge of the current situation in that particular area. In a lot of areas the housing market has really slowed over the past year and other very popular areas it’s still buoyant. The solicitor can advise what your DS should offer

Just chipping in to support what @Maviaz said. Some areas you might get for the home report valuation, others you'll need to be 20% over to be in with a chance.

Echoing the previous two. Where in Glasgow is the flat? Might be worth looking at similar properties sold recently on that street/area to see what they sold for. When we bought, it was a market peak and we had to go over, but might be a good time for a cash/first time buyer as there’s no chain, and maybe people aren’t really buying so much right now. Def try the solicitor. I imagine the agents will just want to make the best profit so their advice would be skewed.

Agree with previous posters that it’s very area dependent. Me and my partner sold our flat in a popular area of the Southside less than a year ago and it went for 27% over the home report value. We got 8 offers.
A friend completed on a house around the same time in an area on the outskirts of Glasgow and just paid the home report valuation.

Thank you everyone. It’s in Partick.

What's his situation? If he isn't dependent on another house sale and he has a mortgage in principle then there's no harm in going in with a home report offer, nothing ventured nothing gained. If they have more than one party interested it will go to a closing date then you up the offer.

Patrick 8-11% over home report is what I’ve been told (about to start looking in the same area). So probably most of his budget I’m afraid

I work in property around Glasgow OP, despite all the myths the reality is that only a few areas now are consistently attracting bids substantially over HR.

It unfortunately doesn’t mean property is any more affordable, just that Home Report values have risen (mostly) in line with the market.

As other posters have said there are so many factors involved it would be difficult to give you any advice, things like property condition, seller situation, exact location within Partick, type of property (sandstone tenements are more likely to go over HR) and how realistic the HR is could change what you may have to bid.

EA’s have a tendency to market Partick as being part of the West End to generate interest, it’s not but sometimes the strategy works and someone with more money than sense will bid 15-20% over on a flat as that is what it can take in some other West End areas (Hyndland/Kelvinside etc..).

My advice would be not to do that, flats come up there all the time and as many will sell for HR as over it.

Being a first-time buyer with no chain is also an attractive factor, within reason it’s not uncommon for a seller to choose this even if the offer is slightly below.