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Making offer on a house, how much???

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  • Making offer on a house, how much???

    I have been on here before for random advice and found people really helpful, so I thought I would pose my most recent dilemma. We are trying to buy a house. I know that we are supposed to be in a recession and the house market is supposed to be dead, but we have seen 4 properties now that look like they are reasonably priced and have potential and have phoned up to view and have been told they have just sold. There are definately people out there looking to invest at the moment! We are looking for a family home. Anyway...that is all by the by...how do you work out how much to offer? This is our first time buying in a long time and my previous expereience was in Scotland which is different to England, we are renting while we find somewhere. I've read that houses are going for an average of 80-82% of the asking prices, but how do you know if the asking price is reasonable or not in the first place? Who determines these? What about when it says 'offers in excess of...' is there any point in putting in a lower offer? Finding it all very confusing!

  • #2
    A house is worth what someone will pay for it. There are sites which will tell you the selling prices of houses by road and postcode (the one of these I know about is "www.rightmove.co.uk"). Get a list of recent sales nearby (you may need to do several roads) then go take a look (by walking past) at which ones are similar, and how long ago they were sold. Remember that the price was agreed about 4 weeks before sale date, and that since beginning of the year (actually a bit longer, but that varies by area) prices have been going down about ½% per WEEK. That should give you a reasonable starting point, but at the end of the day if you need a mortgage, the lender will decide how much it is worth for lending purposes....
    Last edited by Hilary B; 09-03-2009, 06:15 PM.
    Flowers come in too many colours to see the world in black-and-white.

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    • #3
      hi ya willowstar,

      my house is up for sale and i know the dilemma, but my mum and dad have just bought an investment property (for me lol) and it was up for £155K and they got it for £120K, so it depends really, i would go in low, if the house has been up for a while, why not nothing to lose, all they can say is no!! then you can go in higher! you are in a prime position and can even find a bargain out there, so go for it! I was in the conveyancing line for a long time and i dealt with estate agents everyday, not good lol, but you go with what you want and what you can afford and give it a go and good luck x

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      • #4
        Thanks, we have been doing some of those things but quite often I haven't found neighbouring properties that have sold in the last year so the old selling prices were from when the house market was at its peak. I wish it worked that you had the mortgage survey done and then put an offer in because then we would know how much to offer! I guess it comes down to how desperate the vendors are to sell in many cases...we viewed somewhere a couple of weeks ago that was wildly overpriced but the vendors were retired and were thinking of moving to a bungalow and living off the profits and weren't really in any hurry. I am finding this whole thing really stressful!

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        • #5
          oh I saw photos of your house and (more importantly?) garden :-) £120k is great value, good for you. Yes, I have decided I don't really like estate agents because they seem to have lied to me so many times, and i only know when the vendors tell me something different to the estate agents. Tricky.

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          • #6
            If you go in lower you can always negotiate up from there, houses are obviously not going for as much as they were last year. Ask the estate agent questions like how long it has been on the market, level of interest and see if you can find out how much other houses have sold for recently in the street. If you google how much houses in this postcode,,whatever it is there are sites that will bring up the most recent prices in that street so you can get an idea of the price to offer.
            As others have said, it is only worth as much as someone is willing to pay and you need to ensure you can afford it if/when the base rate goes up again.
            Good luck and let us know how you got on.xx
            When weeding, the best way to make sure you are removing a weed and not a valuable plant is to pull on it. If it comes out of the ground easily, it is a valuable plant. ~Author Unknown

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            • #7
              The boy child has bought his first house and he went after quite a few. He started of by placing offers well low. Then if they were turned down, tried well if I offer more what were the owners going to offer in return.

              One of the popular things is "Gifting" where the seller pays toward the stamp duty etc.


              He eventually bought a new build but then negotiated hard and they put in both electric and water solar panels, all top of the range low energy lighting, fully carpeted and an upgraded kitchen and still knocked them down on the price.

              I think it's a matter of pushing your luck and being willing to walk away if need be, it's a buyers market.
              I am certain that the day my boat comes in, I'll be at the airport.

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              • #8
                Best bargains are often the ones built last year by the same people who are building more just down the road. A secondhand house is never worth quite as much as a just-finished one, and builders are offering all sorts of discounts and bonuses at present, so the ones they sold a while ago are now going cheap! (OH is a surveyor, and valuing houses is an important part of the job)
                Flowers come in too many colours to see the world in black-and-white.

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                • #9
                  thanks all...I have looked at a few new builds but the ones in our price bracket just seem really pokey, small rooms and crammed in all together so we are going for an older house hopefully. everyone keeps saying it is a buyers market but certainly around here houses that need doing up and have potential are being snapped up. we are just about to have our first baby and haven't a lot of money so would be happy to take on something that needs a bit of work and do it ourselves but we aren't getting anywhere. oh well. thanks for advice folks.

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                  • #10
                    We've just had our offer accepted on a new house - but slightly unusual as one of two built by a small consortium privately, and designed to match the Victorian houses either side of it. I actually think the asking price was very reasonable, but we got it for £15,000 less. Lots and lots of interest in both houses, and other offers etc. I doubt we'll do much bartering for extras, as neither of us are particularly skilled at it, and like I say, I think it's quite a good deal anyway.

                    Our own house got an agreed sale almost immediately, so yep - there's movement out there if you're in the right position. Good luck! And with the new baby! What's your due date?
                    I don't roll on Shabbos

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                    • #11
                      Talking to someone today about a house they are after and the owners are splitting up they put in an offer the husband accepted the wife refused, they upped the offer the husband accepted ther wife refused. This has been going on a while and now the owners have put the house with an agent and something funny going on about closed bids ??? not sure if thats right, tonight they are going to tell them they either accept the offer by 5pm tomorrow night or they pull out. I think the owners are playing them. The house needs a lot of work about 40k worth they have offered 220 k so far but are willing to increase this a little. The house has been on the market for 2 years and the first offer was 192k .
                      Gardening ..... begins with daybreak
                      and ends with backache

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                      • #12
                        ...p.s. We were told by a couple of estate agents that on average, prices are going for around 20% less than at the peak just over a year or so ago. That's correct for the sale price on our house, and seems reasonable on the house we're buying too.
                        I don't roll on Shabbos

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                        • #13
                          seems like a bit of a lottery.

                          Rhona...i am only 11 weeks and haven't told people in our real world yet (well just my best friend, my mum and my boss because I have had some time off) but I am due the first week in October. SO VERY pleased and excited but have this strong urge to have a home to nest in. It is so funny I just NEED somewhere to fuss with! When are you due?

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                          • #14
                            If you think you would be too embarrassed to look the person who owns the house in the eye with your offer then you are in the right ballpark!

                            Pat
                            "Did you ever walk in a room and forget why you walked in? I think that's how dogs spend their lives."

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                            • #15
                              ha Pat I like that!!!

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