Right well for the last 18 months I have been renting, really didn't want to but the plan was to emigrate to Canada which has now fallen through for the time being so looking to buy our first house.

We have viewed a few and have found one we liked priced at 147,950 so monday I put an offer on at 140k, which I thought given the current market is a reasonable offer but yesterday morning we got a call saying it had not been accepted, I bluffed and said it doesn't matter as there are others we Are interested in but the offer still stands.

The house has been up for a year and as far as I am aware there are no other parties interested, how would you approach the counter offer? Do you think they are just trying to get a little more but will cave after a couple of days? Or should i be acting fast? We have said we would pay 145k for it but with how dead the market is at the minute I will feel I have done a bad job buying my first house paying close to the asking price? Or am I just bein tight? Lol!

We have no chain and a pre aranged mortgage so we are also the perfect buyers.

Any advice? I'm new to thIs lol.

As you have nothing to sell i think your offer is a fair one.
It really depends on the owners circumstances, they might need to get as near the asking price as possible to buy their next place or they might just need the money ?

However as your a first time buyer with a mortgage ready to go you are a sought after commodity at the moment

We sold our last place to first time buyers and when the folks knew this who we were buying from it put us in a very good position, they turned down an offer from another couple because they were in a chain and didn't have first time buyers like we did.


I'd sit tight at the moment


I take it the agent did tell them that you were first time buyers with no chain ?

I would suggest that there is no real definitive answer to this

If it's the right house then I'd suggest that being hard-line about it might not be 100% the right thing to do for your first house.

Considering you're happy to pay 145, why not up your offer to 143?

Get on the ladder. Down the line, £5k will be swallowed by the increase in value of the property

My 2 cents!

It's a game, by the asking price I think he wants 145k
You offered 140k, give it a few days then offer 142,500
Also keep looking for property as they are still looking for buyers
Keep your options open

If it has been up for over a year, i would hazard a guess that they are just being overly optimistic and perhaps greedy. However, it is a buyers market so its your call, they want to sell and you want to buy, balls in your court it seems.

I would point out with the house I am in now, that when I put an offer in it was rejected almost right away, I let it go and looked elsewhere, 3 days later I had a call from the agent who said they had spoke to the owners and they were happy to proceed with the price, as it happened the agents already knew what the lowest acceptable price was an were just trying to gain more profit for themselves, difference was almost 7 grand back in 2007.

If the house has been on the market for as long as you said, then you're totally in the driving seat.
Either the house is too expensive or there is something else ???

Have a look on zooplia and see how much they paid for it - this will give you an idea how much they have to play with.

Personally the seller is an idiot if they've had it on the market for over a year and they won't budge over 7k !!
Stay with your offer and let them sweat.

I would ask the agent for the sellers to say what they want i.e. get them to come down, then if you want to put in an offer below their revised price. I think this is better than you just putting in a higher and higher offer all the time.

One issue at the moment is people are not usually desperate to sell so they may hold out. Check right move to see if you can tell what they paid for it (they have the sold pricee for the past 7 years). If they bought recently they might be holding out for what they paid.

Take your time.

[Edited on 6/3/13 by puma931]

I'd have gone in significantly lower but your offer is reasonable. Let them know you have no property to sell and a pre-arranged mortgage. Tell them that you'll leave the offer on the table for a few weeks, after which you'll withdraw it and then just sit tight.

Phil

I used to do this for a living
Play hardball and walk away if they don't play. If they are that stubborn they will be a nightmare to deal with and you will regret it further down the line.
I' give them 24 hours to accept and walk away. If they come back late reduce the offer.
Cheers!

I'm currently in a similar position as you. We're offering £50k below asking, but our offer is £200k.

It sounds cheeky, but it's only £20-25k below what the estate agent said he'd valued it at. It's a deceased parent's house though so I can understand the sentimentality in their asking price. It's not had any real work done for about 40 years though so it needs some money ploughing through it to make it a nice home.

We're just sitting tight for a bit and seeing if they change their mind. Ours is the only offer and it's been for sale for 5-6 months now, though admittedly at offers over £250k. If they were to relist it with a reduced price, we might be inclined to raise our offer tout de suite.

When my grandad died, his house came down £61k from asking before it finally sold though....and I wouldn't want to pay a penny more than I had to. My worry is at what point do we start to raise our offer and by how much?

Back to your case, if it's been for sale at that price for a year, I'd be inclined to let them sit on it for a bit. £8k below asking seems more than a fair place to start bargaining with FTBs. Like perksy said though, if they need x amount of money to move on, they need x, not x-8k.

Good luck and keep us posted

I checked on zoopla the other day, they paid 67k for it so they are going to have a big head start on buying there next property, houses round there generally sell for 155 but this one needs a new kitchen and a general update which I think why the price is lower than usual.

The reason they are moving is because their parents look after the kids while they work who live around 10 miles away so the kids go to school in that area rather than near home, they are trying to make life easier for themselves so I thought they would be pretty eager.

But like people have said I know estate agents can play games themselves, I'm trying to play hardball but getting very anxious

[Edited on 6/3/13 by parkiboy]

As others have said, if its been on the market that long then it isn't priced realistically. You also need to remember that if no one else is willing to pay their asking price then everyone else sees it as being over priced. Should you suddenly need to sell (emigration?) then you could stand to make a big loss should you pay their asking price then sell at market value.

The only time I'd say pay the asking price is if the property is new on the market and very special compared to what is generally available. I had to pay the asking price for mine but I was in the position of being the first viewer and it was built as a "home for life" so built to a high standard with lots of character.

Accoring to zoopla it's estimate is £145,158 - £166,838 so up at 147k is actually quite realistically priced looking at it and is maybe why they are holding out a bit?

If you are handy and can put up with the disruption, I would buy at Auction. You pay far less, and it gives you money to fix it up rather than buying a tired worn out house. Mine was a wreck, empty for 3 years but after a refurb was very comfortable.
I think I saved at least £40k over buying from an agent.

Do not underestimate the cost of improving the house, new kitchens can lead to new floors if pipes have leaked in the past all this stuff soon adds up.

Buyers market, I took a big hit on my house to shift it, then got knocked a few thou more after surveys subsequent to an agreed offer, things are not as chep as they were as you need sign off for plumbing, heating, gas and electrics.

Keep your offer in, just move it to other houses that you think are out your range and you may be surprised, especially if you have an agreed mortgage in place.

Regards Mark

I'm a tradesman so doing a bit of a revamp doesn't bother me, people pay over the odds for kitchens and what not, the house is only 15 years old but I don't think it's ha much done since it has been built. I thought about the auction route buying a complete do upper but our lass refuses to entertain that idea.

For the price range we are looking at its the best we have seen but I may try my luck with a few cheeky offers on the more expensive houses

quote:

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Originally posted by mark chandler
Do not underestimate the cost of improving the house, new kitchens can lead to new floors if pipes have leaked in the past all this stuff soon adds up.

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We ended up paying almost exactly the asking price for our first house, primarily because it was in an area we knew and liked, not massively expensive and had a 5 car drive, garage and a nice garden. It's not a game, offer what you think it is worth.

The market is not dead! Prices are still low but the time for low offers is over as market prices generally reflect the current values.

Buying at auction is also poor advice IMO. Once the gavel goes down you exchange contracts so if buying with mortgage would need survey done prior to the auction and then you run the risk of being outbid.

I would also not play games, as a seller it would wee you off, so don't do it as a buyer.

quote:

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Originally posted by theduck
I would also not play games, as a seller it would wee you off, so don't do it as a buyer.

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How long are you planning on living their?

If its the right house/area and you plan to be there a long time, and you can afford the asking price, then dont miss out.

"We ended up paying almost exactly the asking price for our first house, primarily because it was in an area we knew and liked, not massively expensive"

We did exactly the same thing, as the house we still live in 25 years later, was exactly what we wanted, had both schools we needed, with in miniutes, wifes work 15 mins walk away, plus loads more good reasons

Infact the only downside of any of it, was the single garage, (no way to extend)

So, if the house ticks all your requirments, pay the price its on offer for, and you could be in by christmas


Steve

Agree with most of what people have said above . If you want it then decide how much you want to pay for it and then stick to that.

We recently bought a house that ticked all number of boxes for what we wanted: we put in an offer slightly under the asking price but had it accepted. Does that mean I offered too much - and they would have accepted an even lower offer? In the grand scheme of things - does paying a couple of grand over what we might have got away with matter that much? We are planning on staying there for the foreseeable future - i.e. the next 40 years - so I am sure that any possible saving at this point will pale into insignificance compared to what we'll spend on the house....


What you could do is tell their agents you aren't prepared to pay the asking price, but you do really want to buy it. On that basis can the agent tell you what the minimum is they will take. That way you've made your point clear "not prepared to pay the asking price", but you'll get a really clear answer for what they want for it. I'd be surprised if there wasn't somewhere between 148 and 140 where you could find a common ground...

We caved today and upped the offer to 143, stressed the fact we are the perfect buyers, just waiting to hear back now so fingers crossed.

Good luck!

We paid (in my opinion) over the odds for our current house, but it had lots of things going for it, that would have cost us more to put nto another cheaper property.

Over 10 years or so, five grand is nothing if a) you can afford it and b) it gives you the property you want.

Remember resale though, it's all about 'Location, Location, Location'...

If it's been up for a year they are definitely not desperate to sell. 20+ years ago when we bought our house there was no offering an amount and then haggling, the seller put up a price and you either bought it or didn't and the system worked. It was before the property market went crazy and you could still buy a house for a realistic amount. If the price is something you can afford, you don't need to worry about getting a mortgage or whether you will be able to repay it if the interest rate starts to go up a couple of percent and you are getting the house to live in for the foreseeable future not worrying about whether you will get your money back on it when you leave I can't see why you are looking to chip the seller for a 5% reduction.
Edit to add "We have no chain and a pre arranged mortgage so we are also the perfect buyers." In my opinion the perfect buyer would come and say, " Right, we'll take it when can we sign" It's probably a matter of pride or machismo to say you knocked them down by X amount but if you want the house and they have it it is not a buyers market.

[Edited on 8/3/13 by Peteff]

quote:

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Originally posted by Peteff
If it's been up for a year they are definitely not desperate to sell. 20+ years ago when we bought our house there was no offering an amount and then haggling, the seller put up a price and you either bought it or didn't and the system worked. It was before the property market went crazy and you could still buy a house for a realistic amount. If the price is something you can afford, you don't need to worry about getting a mortgage or whether you will be able to repay it if the interest rate starts to go up a couple of percent and you are getting the house to live in for the foreseeable future not worrying about whether you will get your money back on it when you leave I can't see why you are looking to chip the seller for a 5% reduction.
Edit to add "We have no chain and a pre arranged mortgage so we are also the perfect buyers." In my opinion the perfect buyer would come and say, " Right, we'll take it when can we sign" It's probably a matter of pride or machismo to say you knocked them down by X amount but if you want the house and they have it it is not a buyers market.

[Edited on 8/3/13 by Peteff]

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wait a week put the same offer in again. my house was up for 175k i got it for 145k

Settled it today at 143k with a guaranteed move in one month after everything thing is sorted. Surveys etc.

I'm over the moon to be honest and glad its all over with, don't want to do that again in a hurry.

Nice one, well done!

That was the easy bit dealing with the price and agreeing

Now and in a months time is the hard logistical bit of moving in and sorting the mess out ?

I have done so a couple of times, helping the kids move (out was the best one!!) and friends,
But every one does things differently, and chaos normally arrives at the worst time, and moving in the snow, or rain, is a real PITA

Steve

I bought my first house 9 months ago. Only thing I will say is, be a pain in the ass to your solicitor until everything is done. Ours dragged everything out and kept saying searches were not back when she had not requested it. Almost lead to the seller pulling out.

I think we are having a crossover month to get everything sorted as the house we are renting was furnished so we have everything to buy! Gonna have a week or 2 off work and get everything sorted so it should be relatively stress free hopefully!

We are just using the solicitor Halifax recommends we think as our lass workstation Halifax and according to her they are pretty quick but I will make sure I keep on at them, thanks for the advice.