House price question

giardiniera

I've found a house with an asking price of 250k.
I called the EA and he said that it was sale agreed at 225k but they didnt get the booking deposit so it fell through.
I know the house has been on the market for a few months and when i asked the EA said it was only up 6 weeks.
If when I see it I want to put in an offer should i go in below the 225k offer.
I'm a first time buyer and even at 225k it would mean some very tight budgetting.
The house is a cottage and needs work.
Any ideas

patrickolee

I'd offer less than 225 if I were you. Chance your arm. 200-205? Be prepared to walk away though.

The_Conductor

Personally I would offer 180-185 and advise that you are in a position to move immediately (as a FTB). People who already own property and are trying to move are stuck- they cannot sell and they cannot move. A second hand cottage in need of quite a lot of work is going to be difficult as hell to shift in the current market- if the EA has a modicum of common sense/intelligence he/she will recognise this and treat your offer accordingly. You can always up your offer slightly if its turned down- but prices are in freefall- particularly for property that is difficult to shift, as this cottage is.......

giardiniera

i was thinking maybe offering 180k ish. from what the neighbours have told me the house was owned by an old lady who died and its her family selling it on. its empty now and has been for a while.
I thought it was strange that he told me of the sale agreed price, i get the impression that they're finding it hard to get rid of.

patrickolee

giardiniera wrote:

was owned by an old lady who died and its her family selling it on. its empty now and has been for a while.

Definitely give 180 a go then. As Smmac says, you can always up your offer if needs be.

delboy159

I went to a negotiation skills course as part of my job once. They had a few simple but effective rules you must adhere to in negotiating. One of the simplest was never offer/bid twice in a row!

If you go 180k and they reject, don't come back with 190k or 200k it gives away an awful lot of power. Psychologically it means that you are in concession mode and the seller can keep firm.

If they reject 180k then you say to them - what's are you prepared to move to?? Obviously 225k is on the table, they should drop to 220k or 215k. Only after that do you move to 190k.

You've got nothing to loose - good luck!

giardiniera

thanks for that. i'll make sure if they reject it that we leave it up to them. we can always walk away. i think the house has been up months now so maybe if its still there in another 3 they'd consider a lower offer.

antoinolachtnai

Well, you do have to put it in the context of other stuff in the market that you're interested in. If you want to buy a house, it might be worth bidding more. There's no point in being pigheaded about it.

Keano

As someone who just got sale agreed on a house for around the same value as the property you are looking at I agree with most posters to start off low. In my case I did that but was straight away told that they would not accept anything less than 250. Got 3k off in the end. By all means start low but if you really want the house be prepared to pay what they want for it.

The_Conductor

Keano A Legend wrote:

if you really want the house be prepared to pay what they want for it.

Its no longer a sellers market. What they want for it is pretty immaterial- market forces have shifted, and sellers expectations are going to have to shift back into equilibrium with the market. It is entirely realistic to offer 20% or more lower than a sellers asking/guide price and to expect to get property these days. Ask any estate agent.......

tHE vAGGABOND

The question you ask yourself, is if you want to haggle in order to save a few quid. But in the knowledge that this will give them the chance to show the place to other people, and maybe get other bids in or..

do you love the place, and you have to get it, and don't want anyone else to see it and therefore risk getting out bid..

In the first scenario you low ball your offer, as the lads have said, in the second option you offer near the asking price on the condition that place is taken off the market immediately..

..that said if the place has been on the market for ages ..and ages -> as some dumps around Dublin have been] you are prolly fine to low ball your offer

If the place is sensational and a real bargain and you are in love with it, then you may want to think about your offer

Keano

smccarrick wrote:

Its no longer a sellers market. What they want for it is pretty immaterial- market forces have shifted, and sellers expectations are going to have to shift back into equilibrium with the market. It is entirely realistic to offer 20% or more lower than a sellers asking/guide price and to expect to get property these days. Ask any estate agent.......

Agree with most of your post. Went through an estate agent to buy the house and she said by all means offer what you like and I will say it to them but she said she knew they would not accept a penny below 250K

tHE vAGGABOND wrote:

do you love the place, and you have to get it, and don't want anyone else to see it and therefore risk getting out bid..

We loved our house the first time we viewed so did not want to be out bid or loose out on hence why we gave them almost what they wanted. Some may think that is foolish but we wanted it and we got it.

giardiniera

thanks for the suggestions. we're going to view it tomorrow and see what state its in inside. The neighbours say it'll need a lot of work. Think we'd be talking about new floors, windows, wiring, plumbing etc. so we'll see but if its as bad as they think we'll just have to walk away. That would work out far to expensive.
i'm still hoping it'll be ok tho. fingers crossed.

tHE vAGGABOND

Went through an estate agent to buy the house and she said by all means offer what you like and I will say it to them but she said she knew they would not accept a penny below 250K

Just consider one thing, that its the estate agents job to get as much money out of you as possible, for her seller, and her own commission

We loved our house the first time we viewed so did not want to be out bid or loose out on hence why we gave them almost what they wanted. Some may think that is foolish but we wanted it and we got it.

Your not foolish at all IMHO. If you guys found somewhere you really like, which can be your home for at very least several years and you dont want to loose out on it. So why in the name of god would you wait? As they say in crappy chick flicks, you want the rest of your life to start right now

..I dont understand sitting it out, letting someone else get that place for the sake of a grand or two in the offer price. But thats just me

faceman

im with delboy on this. As a trained negotiator, dont bid too low. I reckon 200k would be a good startin price.

mathie

faceman wrote:

im with delboy on this. As a trained negotiator, dont bid too low. I reckon 200k would be a good startin price.

Not the threadjack but what other tips are there for negotiating.
I'm hopeless at it BTW.

- Never bid twice.
- Don't bid too low.

My brother in law will go into a shop and see something and talk to the sales agent and go 'That's great Ill take it. But not at that price'

faceman

mathie wrote:

Not the threadjack but what other tips are there for negotiating.

its not something that can be explained in a post or thread dude obviously and it depends what you are trying to do! The negotiation i do in business will differ from that in personal life. Its down to your goals.

If you are serious about improvin your skills there are plenty of courses to do. I also recommend reading a book called "Getting to Yes" by Fisher, Ury & Patton. Its the bible of negotiation.

In summary with any negotiation at a VERY top level you need to know in advance what your best, acceptable and worst position is before you engage in negotiation.

Practise makes perfect, confidence will build your ability to say no.