Received an offer for my house, should I go ahead & purchase now?

coup1917

Just wondering what other boardsies think of my current situation.....( Any advice greatly appreciated...!! )

I have just received an offer on my house very close to my asking price., and I am wondering what to do about another house I am interested in.

The house I am interested in is a new build on own site, but has been on the market for about 2 years.
Its advertised at approx 280K. Having spoken to auctioneer a couple of months back, he mentioned 260K without me going through the door..

Now having spoken to auctioneers I live near, both have stated the builder would probably take my hand off, if I offered 220K...

What I am now wondering is, having gotten to the unlikely position of selling my own place, without a loss, should I rent a while and wait for the market to drop even more..? Or should I approach the auctioneer/builder and use my position to achieve the best price I can..?

I am very conscious of how lucky I am to be able to sell without negative equity, so I would like to make the most of this opportunity...


I suppose what I am wondering is, would I be mad to buy at the moment..?

seamus

No, you wouldn't be mad so long as you were planning to stay there long-term and you're not getting too high a mortgage. Though prices have dropped 9% since April this year. If you sat it out for six months and if there's the same drop again, you will save €20k. You're not guaranteed the same drop in the next six months, and you're not guaranteed that someone else won't buy the house, but you are pretty much guaranteed that the price won't go up. And if you sell now, you're not sitting on a devaluing asset.

I would personally lock in the buyer before you go looking elsewhere and don't panic. If you sell your place and rent for a couple of months while you arrange buying somewhere else, you're not going to find yourself paying *more* than you would now, so there's no rush at all to buy the new place. If there's one builder selling a property for 220k, there are probably five other similar properties that you'll get at the same price.

royaler83

If you're serious about this house then offer something in the region of 200k, they will probably turn it down point blank.

A month later ring again and re-iterate that offer. And a month later do the same and so on. They will soon get the message that you are serious about paying that price.

They probably built the house in the good times for, say, 200k and were probably looking to offload for, say, 350k or so. That plan is gone out the window and they can't accept this but they will soon realise.
These people will soon figure out that the property market is now a buyers market and that they should be glad to be receiving an offer.

In between these offers keep a look out at houses that catch your eye and do the same as above.

crabfeet

Wait until you have a signed contract for the sale of your own house, which is not subject to any conditions. Then bid on another property.

coup1917

Thanks for all your advice everyone,
House was originally on the market 2 years ago for approx 395K.....Mental.....!!
Am thinking of going in around 180K - 200K and then waiting to see how that goes down. The way I look at it, the cash flow of a small offer might be a lot more tempting than a property thats going nowhere at this stage.... Failing that I think I will probably rent for 6 months to a year, and then re-assess.......I don't think the reality of the market has set in at all yet for some auctioneers/builders....

royaler83 wrote: »

If you're serious about this house then offer something in the region of 200k, they will probably turn it down point blank.

A month later ring again and re-iterate that offer. And a month later do the same and so on. They will soon get the message that you are serious about paying that price.

They probably built the house in the good times for, say, 200k and were probably looking to offload for, say, 350k or so. That plan is gone out the window and they can't accept this but they will soon realise.
These people will soon figure out that the property market is now a buyers market and that they should be glad to be receiving an offer.

In between these offers keep a look out at houses that catch your eye and do the same as above.

spockety

Unfortunately it seems the true reality does not need to set in just yet, as there are still a small pool of buyers out there paying over the odds and keeping EAs ticking over just enough to not have to get real.

JoeyJJ

Not standing up for EA's but I don't think they want to keep the trickle flowing at higher prices, they can only indicate a Price its up to the vendor to put up the Sales price, the EA can refuse to market it at that price, in which case i'm sure the vendor will find an EA willing to put it up at that price.

Surely they would rather increased turnover at a smaller margin? Could be wrong. Probably the case for some but not all.

coup1917

Just thought I'd provide a quick update on the sale of my house........
Have managed to get as far as contracts stage.... hopefully no turning back now..
I have decided to rent for the next 6 months at least.. and re assess from then on. I'm still interested in purchasing my previously mentioned property.. Price has since fallen from the €280k mark down to €250k and down to €230.. An estate agent has mentioned to me that 220k, maybe even 200k could take it....

I am getting the feeling the builder of this house is under serious strain now, coming into the winter months and with very little movement, there are a number of auctioneers being thrown at it...( with varying prices between them...!! ) I can see the current value in this property for me, it would be a long term move, so another drop would not be too much of a hit... At current price, it would basically be a straight trade from selling my own to taking this one...

The last auctioneer I met with, mentioned another buyer is interested in buying but is in the early stages of a business set up and so needs 2 years accounts for mortgage approval....these will be ready early next year

Probably another auctioneer line....but I think I would like to get in there before them....I'm thinking of making a bid in the next month or so and holding off till January to see.........

A lot to think about....!!!!

coup1917 wrote: »

Just wondering what other boardsies think of my current situation.....( Any advice greatly appreciated...!! )

I have just received an offer on my house very close to my asking price., and I am wondering what to do about another house I am interested in.

The house I am interested in is a new build on own site, but has been on the market for about 2 years.
Its advertised at approx 280K. Having spoken to auctioneer a couple of months back, he mentioned 260K without me going through the door..

Now having spoken to auctioneers I live near, both have stated the builder would probably take my hand off, if I offered 220K...

What I am now wondering is, having gotten to the unlikely position of selling my own place, without a loss, should I rent a while and wait for the market to drop even more..? Or should I approach the auctioneer/builder and use my position to achieve the best price I can..?

I am very conscious of how lucky I am to be able to sell without negative equity, so I would like to make the most of this opportunity...


I suppose what I am wondering is, would I be mad to buy at the moment..?

dory

Sounds good! Thanks for the update.

I've been watching property prices a lot lately. Seems every time I refresh the page the price drops again. Good luck with the house!

magneticimpulse

Definitely wait til after budget in December 7th....its going to cripple the country into a double dip recession, then you will have a gold mine of properties to choose from.

BingoMingo

Remember Price is not everything. You need to satisfy yourself about a lot
of things nowadays that were not relevant 2-3 years ago.

I have just pulled out of buying a house. The price was 60% of the asking
price when it was put on the market 2 years ago.

A second hand house, fully finished development all the units sold. However the Builder was in liquidation, the management company was struck off and the council refused to take the estate in charge.

My solicitor advised it would be impossible to get a clean title and the house was virtually unsellable.

Disturbingly I got the impression that these type of problems were causing lots of sales to fall through.

Also The other poster who said there is no upside in prices now is right but there still may be some downside. There are, however, some that
come up at a big discounts - guys who just have to sell and some bank disposals.

I would wait until your current sale goes through - rent for a while but be prepared to move if the right property comes along.
Even if you have to write off a few months rent the flexibilty is worth it.

Don't be embarrassed to offer a sum miles below the asking price. It is impossible to insult an auctioneer!

johndaman66

coup1917 wrote: »

Just thought I'd provide a quick update on the sale of my house........
Have managed to get as far as contracts stage.... hopefully no turning back now..
I have decided to rent for the next 6 months at least.. and re assess from then on. I'm still interested in purchasing my previously mentioned property.. Price has since fallen from the €280k mark down to €250k and down to €230.. An estate agent has mentioned to me that 220k, maybe even 200k could take it....

Respect deserved for being as preduent coup1917. There are many out there who would think that renting for six months is beneath them or something. Never mind the fact that saving that odd €30k or €40k could lessen their financial burdens considerably, just belt straight ahead. I think to be fair if the Estate Agent is telling you €200k could seal the deal now thats telling you something. If thats the case and if I were in your shoes I'd me making an offer considerably less than €200k...But thats now at this present point in time...In six months time the ball may be even moreso in your court so as to speak.

coup1917 wrote: »

The last auctioneer I met with, mentioned another buyer is interested in buying but is in the early stages of a business set up and so needs 2 years accounts for mortgage approval....these will be ready early next year

Probably another auctioneer line....but I think I would like to get in there before them

To be honest I wouldn't worry too much about that. Having viewed a considerable number of houses at this stage that seems to be one of the standared estate agent lines really. I'm guessing you also got the other standard line I for one have come to expect from EA's in these times.... It might go a little something like this..."The house came on the market for €380k two years ago, seller wasn't getting much interest so he dropped to €280k. He moved back into the house for a while and took it off the market and now has it back on the market for €230k. I would have to check but think he would take €220k or maybe even lower if you have your finances in order and are ready to close the deal quickly"....or something along those lines No matter how much it appears these guys are levelling with you do bear in mind that they are the vendors agents and they are acting on behalf of the vendor. Some may say they are solely acting on their own behalf but perhaps thats another debate.

coup1917 wrote: »

....I'm thinking of making a bid in the next month or so and holding off till January to see

I think at the end of the day you have to decide whats best for yourself by yourself. If I were you I would first make sure my current house sale was completed first...buyer has committed without the sale being subject to certain conditions and so on...I'd really hold off until the money is in my bank account. Be careful you meet the criteria of the government guarntee and don't place over the limit on deposit in any one bank (just in case things go really Pete Tong). I liked your original idea of holding off six months and renting in the interm but then again I'm not you and don't fully know your circumstances obviously. Any offer I would make now or in the next few months would be well under the €200k and I make that call based on the figures you have thrown out at us previously...to that extent information is limited to me and as such that suggestion is only half baked based on the information I have. Any offer I make I would leave it on the table for a certain time period. For example say to the EA that my offer will remain on the table until a certain date, maybe six weeks after the date you make offer. After this date I will be actively looking at other properties....

Hope I was able to help somewhat