SiDHEaD

Hello,

This is aimed at those of you more experienced with house buying.

We offered 140k for a 145k house and the offer was rejected as "the vendor is looking for closer to the asking price due to leaving the dining table and blinds etc". Now we really like the house and would be very upset if it went, however i thought it was usual to pay just under asking price.

Do you think they are likely to stew on it and say OK or would we be wise to offer 142 (or maybe asking?).

Just dont really know whats the norm.

As it is such a stretch for us as it is, along with relocating 2hrs from our families, that small saving on the price is quite good for us.

what would scooby do

Tough call, are you sure there's not another property you can go for?

Sounds like the vendors probably won't budge..

It's all down to who's the most desparate to get the deal done I guess.

p.s. 142 final offer is worth a punt..

SiDHEaD

Theres another we like but was up for a few k more and has now gone to sealed bids so I dont think theres much chance of getting that for somethign we can afford. Technically we can go up to 165k but as my girlfriend is at uni, we dont wanna push the repayments toooo high.

To be honest I would probably pay the asking price for it as we can literally move in and we would want to do is change a fence. The decor is already really nice and all seems good. However, I was under the impression that paying the asking price was not the norm.

Volks

This depends on the market in the area. Bungalows in my area are selling like hot cakes so make the asking price easily, however there are a large amount of 3 bed semis advertised in the local paper with `New Price` (estate agent speak for `Reduced`) that have been on the market for ages.

Did you ask them to leave the table and the blinds? If not then tell them to take the table and the blinds (5 grand buys a very nice table etc) and see what they say.

The sale situation with both parties (ie, have they made an offer on another house? Do they need to move fast? etc etc) can also play a large part on the acceptance of bids.

Good Luck!

B9GLY

depends on how desperate you are for that house! if you want it, pay for it! But if you want to save that 5k which is alot of money, just call their bluff and say you are a first time buyer, no chain on your side and you can have the deal done asap and say £140k is the most you can get! they will prob acceopt it after a few days!

gljam

when we got our place it was quite cheap for the area (cos it's a bloody shoebox ) but as there were quite a few interested parties we were advised to offer the full asking price and haggle on the stamp duty - not sure if this would apply now as the stamp duty level has been risen but it could be worth bearing in mind??



*I'll probably edit this tomorrow to make sense when I'm sober

SiDHEaD

Stamp duty in that area is 150k so we are ok on that.

As first time buyers the table and blinds and that would be useful, but we only found out they were leaving the table today. When we viewed she said kitchen appliances + blinds.

Think I will probs leave it a few days and see if they come back to us. Would be nice to get it a bit cheaper tho!

Volks

Stamp duty depends on the price, not the area as far as I`m aware.......

SiDHEaD

We keep being told its only paid on 150k and above in liverpool

Volks

Well, just found this and am amazed!



Stamp Duty : Directgov - Money, tax and benefits

So, if Liverpool is officially classed as disadvantaged, the stamp duty limit is raised to 150K.

SiDHEaD

Hmmm maybe its just certain bits. Bum spose thats another £1400+ to be found lol - definately need it at lower price now!

bob r

iTrader: (46)

Ask yourself, if the house sells for the asking price, will you regret not paying the full price.
I recently bit the bullet and gave 225(asking) for my house as it was exactly what I wanted.

pslewis

Do not blink first!!

They will be stewing on it!!

Best thing to do is to act ever so cool and arrange to see some more properties (through the same agent would be good!!) That will do wonders, mark my word!

It's a game and those who are not man enough shouldn't play - 10% off is standard practice - OR tell them to take the Dining Room Table and stinky Blinds with them

miff13

10% off the price is standard practice? What's the weather like on your planet? You can negotiate on a few houses for me if you can get me a 10% discount, for that matter I've got a some client's who are medium size developers, who can't get that sort of money off, they'll give you a job.

Back in the real world, it depends on the market in the area you're buying and the seller's circumstances. If houses there are selling quickly and it's priced right make a better offer, if houses aren't selling quickly stick to your guns and look for something else.

Bargains are few and far between, how would you feel if you lost out and ended up paying more for a house you didn't like as much?

Sidhead, don't go straight up to the asking price whatever the cirumstances, go to £142,000and tell the agent you wouldn't want to pay any more for it, if you give them the impression you'll pay more then they'll try to get more from you. You can always go back with an extra £1,000, you won't look stupid. Good luck.

David Lock

Absolutely correct. I've bought a couple of houses in my lifetime that I fell in love with immediately on viewing and went for it with an offer very near the asking price (but I did have a pretty fair idea of market values having been looking for a while).

Remember you are attractive to the seller as a First Time Buyer (no chain). NEVER tell the agent that you could find more if pushed - or you will get pushed. The dining table and blinds bit is just fluff and best ignored. It would be better if you could find something that needed doing to the house which could be a reason for offering a couple of grand under asking (did you get a Survey done as this might suggest something?).

The least said to the agent the better in a way although you can fall back on the "well we really like it but my missus has put her foot down on the final offer". Good luck. If you want it - go for it!! dl

TopBanana

Was £140k your first offer? If so, I'd have offered less and let them slowly work me up to £140k. Give them time to stew on it, you're in the strongest position.

molko

let them stew on it, basically they have put the house on the market so they WANT/HAVE to sell, whereas you DONT have to buy.....that house. You are in a far stronger position.

SiDHEaD

Thanks for advice. I thought i was right to leave them to it for a bit, just wanted some reassurance. Unfortunately everything is 100% with the place so nothing I can haggle/complain about!

NotoriousREV

I bought my current house off a guy who owns his own estate agency. He rejected our first offer, we went back to the agent and said it would be our only offer and planned to leave it 2 days. He called us back at the very last minute of day 1 and accepted. If he'd left it 12 hours he'd have made another £5k

The trick is not to invest emotionally in the property until it's yours. Easier said than done.

David Lock

I hope you told him that (after Exchange)

pslewis

Those posting above saying 'Just Pay' are mental ..... the current market is not a sellers market.

It may not be fully a buyers market either, but it is sitting just on that edge.

A buyers market it most certainly will be in 6 months time.

I can honestly say that I always start with a 10% OFF Offer - sometimes I move closer, sometimes not. Each house stands and falls on the circumstances - do the owners have to sell quickly? for an example ... there are many more.

What I love doing is telling the seller that the offer is on the table for 2 days. That's all I say, I don't say I will remove it after that - just that they have 2 days to accept.

Some people hate negotiating - I get a real kick out of it.

NEVER tell the Agent anything about how much you can 'go to' - in fact don't tell them anything at all about your finances!! It's not their business .... they will want to know what you can afford, but don't tell them.

My response to the question, "Whats your budget?" is, "I have no budget, I will pay what I need to to secure what I want" Stumps them everytime

njkmrs

If you can be as cool as this ,then thats the way to go .
Dont let the Agent know you have set your heart on it .
Or if this house is exactly what you want, then is it worth losing for a few grand ???

We moved two years ago and offered 25k less than the asking price,(after it had been reduced twice ).
We had to offer another 10k to get the house but it was still under the asking price.
You do need nerves of steel .
Good luck .!!!

PaulC72

I would usually say that a couple of thousand below asking is about right so £142,500 would probably be about right, ususally the additional items like tables chairs etc are done by the way of a different agreement as the vendor will fill in a form saying what is staying or going and put prices against things that may be of interest or for sale, you could argue that you don't want him to leave anything for you thus eliminating the we want closer tot he asking price because situation.

Discuss witht he agents see what they think or ge tht evendor to say what he would settle on, I would imagine that £142,500 would secure the deal if not wait it out but state you are ready to proceed.

Good luck.

Coffin Dodger

Must say I was pissing myself this morning........

Saw a place a while back that we really liked, on for £300k but needed a few things doing and we have sold our place to a first time buyer so in a good position. On that basis we offered £270k expecting to go up a bit.

Rejected that, so we offered 280k, said it was a final offer, had some other places to view, etc.

The rejected that too. After quizzing the estate agent we were told that they wanted near to the asking, preferably 295k. Now we really liked the place so offered 290k, expecting them to accept.....

They didn't. We said we may consider going to 295k but would want a quick completion. They couldn't commit, and the fact that they took several days to respond to each offer didn't exactly fill us with confidence.

Anyway we put it on the back burner and went to look at some other places. Found a great project house, no onward chain, admittedly a semi whereas the first one was detached. Had an offer of 200k accepted

Just seen the one we was originally interested in on Rightmove with the price dropped to 285k. Bet they are kicking themselves for not accepting our offer of 290k They should have dealt at 280k as that's what they'll be getting now

Just goes to show that if you hold out for long enough you'll probably get a deal. Unfortunately time wasn't on our side as our buyer is chomping at the bit to move in.

Anyway it's made my day

Luan Pra bang

Their agent may well have not been passing the offers on in order to get the price dropped so he can buy it himself or for a friend. One agent round this way has a habit of under pricing homes. He valued a friends house at 165k and got an offer of 164k within 2 days. I told him the agent was a shark and not to take less than 170k. He passed on this message to his agent and got offerd 169k within 4 days which he accepted.

Luan Pra bang

with regard to this house how much you offer depends on how much you want it. If there is little else in the area as good just increase a little bit and be done with it. If some one else buys it for 144k and you can't find anything close for the same money you will be gutted. Pay what its worth to you not what some muppet on scoobynet who knows nothing about it says you should pay.

fitzscoob

We bought our house last year, it was up for 185k which was 5k over our budget.

At the viewing I was upfront with the vendor and explained that its a bit over our budget. Their situation was that they found their house they wanted and wanted to sell.

Long story short, we offered 173k, they turned that down. The same day we offered 176k on the basis that the vendor be told that this was our final offer and as much as we could afford.

They accepted.

It was a pretty big bluff on my part, had they have called it we would have been stuffed and had to put up the asking price if we really wanted it.

My advice, go back with an offer of 142k and explain that this is your limit.

Our place is up for sale and all the first offers get rejected as a matter of course, first offers are always lower than you want, second offers seem to be the serious ones.

Best of luck

MJW

Tell the vendor to stick his dining table where the sun doesn't shine !! First time buyers are like gold dust in this day and age and the sellers would be idiots not to consider your offer seriously.
Even if the survey on the house checks out ok, there's still faults you can pick with it - how old are the windows for example, still under guarantee ? Gas fittings, electrical stuff ? Offer them £130k and tell them it needs underpinning, maybe then they'll take their heads out of the sand !

mightyyid

You have a bit of time on your side, so if you are willing to go to 142, offer via the agent £142k but state it is valid until 12pm tomorrow (or another deadline but within 24 hours), and after that you will go elsewhere - you do not have to of course, but it puts some pressure on the sellers to make a quick decision. Always worth putting a deadline on it as it forces the sellers hand - it may be the wrong direction, but at least you have an answer. Surprising how much this can affect 'some' people. Worth a shot anyway...