Making offer on a house, how much???

[Apple Betty]

As Hilary said, a house is worth what someone will pay for it - however it does depend on the sellers circumstances what they will accept for it. If they have already found what they want, are moving with work, splitting up etc. they may be more willing to accept a lower offer than someone who hasn't found yet. Also any drop they accept on their house can sometimes be passed on up/down the chain so the "loss" can be absorbed.

There is a website (houseprices.net I think) where the Land Registry list all house prices since about 2000, so you should be able to see what other properties in the road have gone for - also if it wasn't too long ago you can see what the house you are after was bought for!! It takes a few months for the info to be updated.

As has already been said, go in with a low offer, you can always increase but be prepared for some people who won't budge no matter what.

[borage]

We recently viewed a bungalow where the owners were anxious to sell and they were willing to take 30k less than the asking price (they approached us with the offer) if we had pushed and been willing to instruct solicitor that day they would have accepted 40k less.

As others have said go in low you can always increase the offer but will not have the opportunity to reduce it. You may be looking to buy and stay in the house for a long time but circumstances can change quickly and you don't want to be in a negative equity situation.

Also if you need a mortgage you need to take into account the fact that valuers are down valuing properties.

[vicky]

We are looking at the moment...we've had an offer accepted that we made on a(my dream) house that's 45K less than the asking price, but the only offer on ours is almost 100K less than the asking price - can't do it! We have another house on the market for 50K less than the next door house sold for at the peak - and no interest in that at all! Prices are down around 20% from the peak as far as I can work it out.
I used zoopla to estimate what houses are worth at the mo, seems reasonably accurate!?

[willowstar]

hmmm, interesting...sorry to hear about your housing situation vicky, 100k less than the asking price is a lot to drop down to but my boss has recently offered something similar on a house though I don't think it was accepted either. still, house prices continue to fall so who knows where it will all end.

I will check out zoopla, I haven't heard of that sight. cheers.

[willowstar]

Vicky thanks for pointing me towards Zoopla, that is JUST what I needed! One of the houses we are going to view this weekend is on for 270k but according to Zoopla is worth 214k so that gives us something to go by. In fact all three are viewing this weekend are in the same price range and are in fact worth that much less. wonder if the vendors have any idea?

[HayleyB]

If you know from comparative sold prices in 2007 last quarter, we are currently around 26% lower than then, so woking out the maths is relatively easy. In fact in East Anglia we are equal to prices achieved in March 2004.

The market will probably drop approximately 10% within the next 6 months. At this time it is likely the market will 'bottom out' although some doom-mongers are saying 20% and bottom out next year.

Unfortunately on April 6th the new government initiative for slowing the market further comes into force with the new HIP requirements and it will be interesting to see what effect this has.

What you will get a property for will depend greatly on the sellers circumstances and certainly how long they have been on the market and whether they haved dropped their prices in line with depreciation. A lot depends on how pro-active the agent has been in informing the sellers of what the property is really worth and how successful they are in getting their sellers to remove their rose-tinted glasses

[willowstar]

Hi Hayley, I think that is the key. we saw a house last week on for 300k, it just really really isn't worth that but the owner has dropped by 10k so thinks she is OK. I really don't think she has a clue how much her house is worth now. Similarly saw another one where the sellers had dropped price from 250 to 247k, like that makes any difference. We are going to keep the likely further drop in mind when we finally get around to making offers. will keep you all posted!

[Johnny Appleseed]

Hi willowstar - whatever you decide to offer, please bear in mind prices are still falling and will continue to do so for a while.

How long / how far is a lottery of guesswork. No one knows for sure - this is new territory for the property market.

There are some bargains out there if you can move quickly but there is also a lot of hype and people trying to talk the market up - the very ones who oversold and overvalued in the first place.

Also, we are dealing with owners who have unrealistic expectations of what their property is worth in these times. Until they get a reality check - you will still see some silly prices around - but they are not selling unless sensibly priced.

Difficult decision times - good luck.

Would be worth monitoring the property auctions - to see what the pro's are paying in the area.

The Estate Agents usually have a pool of favorite property dealers so the real bargains go straight to them as the dealers give them repeat business.

[Rhona]

I agree with Johnny A above, about house prices still falling. We've rationalised our decision to buy now, and not cheaply, on the fact that we want to stay in house for years and years, whilst our little ones go through school etc., so hopefully, by the time that we want to move on - if we do - the market will have up and down and all over the place, and things will have balanced out again!

[Paulottie]

Hilary's first comment summed it up...'What someone will pay for it.' There is a lot less folk out there who have spare dosh.

If you've got the cash and don't need to arrange finance or mortgage surveys etc...(if seller has home pack.)...World's your Oyster...Let them know you have the money -No chain etc...then definitely BARTER....and start low...at least 25% less than asking...hold your nerve and see what happens...if there is a property you really want you can always come back with a higher offer.

or look at the auctions.

You can do the land searches yourself but A solicitor is better same with a quick structural survey