how much should one offer?

A question about : how much should one offer?

say on average when you wanna buy a house what would you offer for it? say for example 200k
would a offer of 195 be reasonable? or would you try for more?? i know there are many factors that come into play but just say on the average

Best answers:

• On the average.
• First point:
  A seller would probably ask Ј210,000 hoping to get Ј200,000 approx.
  You would then try to get the price down below Ј200,00 by offering Ј195,000. You would probably both then be happy to agree to Ј200,000.
  In a fast rising market it might be worthwhile to pay the asking price even if that price was a bit "full" as we say in the trade.
  In the present market you can perhaps afford to haggle the price down a bit.
  Use the surveyors report as ammunition to get a reduction in price for essential repairs that are requred.
• I sold my last house 7 years ago .The buyer was the third person to see it and she was a first timer buyer who was over keen .She told me her limit was Ј1000 over the asking price and she wanted to make a deal to bypass the estate agent .
  I told her others where interested and if Ј1000 over the asking price was her limit she should put her bid in before someone else did . The result was I got Ј1000 over the asking price and she couldnt haggle when the survey was done .
  The moral of the story is dont tell sellers or estate agents what your limit is .
• how much you offer depends on how much the house is worth to you.
  Dont pay over the market value but if its the house of your dreams you might pay more for it than someone else would.
  personnally i would go in at 185 to test the water. you can always up the offer but you cant go less after your offer has been accepted.
• Re Above two posts.
  N.B. !Anyone , buyer or seller, can haggle or drop out until contracts have been exchanged and more particularly after they have seen the results of the survey.
• Different in Scotland where its offers over and once your offer is accepted that is your contract point.
• If you are a cash buyer or 1st time buyer then use it to your advantage. People at the bottom of the chain hold most of the cards at present.
  If a house is in v good condition with all decorating nice and recent, modern bathroom and kitchen and tidy gardens etc. then they'll be after 195 plus on a 200k place. Being a cash buyer, push them for 185k. Let them negotiate it up through the chain - they will if they're serious about selling.
  We moved summer '03. The house was up for 200k, we paid 191, but it needed a little tidying cosmetically.
• With all due respect, I don't beleive that the time to haggle over a house price is at the time of the survey- unless there is something significantly wrong with the house that could not have been reasonably predicted at the time you made the offer.
  The reason for this, in my opinion, is that surveyors are so cautious in their approach they will generally high-light anything that might be of concern. For example, in an older house you could expect wall ties and sub-floor ventilation to always be raised- leading to perhaps Ј1000 worth of work- but there's no way that a surveyor can tell without commissioning a specialist survey.
  In my opinion, someone purchasing an older house should be prepared for one or two problems (such as damp and perhaps some historical movemement), using this as a tool to negotiate a lower price at the eleventh hour is either underhand or a display of ignorance (in which case they should be purchasing a modern house).
  With newer houses, providing they have been adequately maintained (which can be spotted on a house viewing even by an untrained eye), there should be nothing wrong that could warrant a demand for a reduction in price.
  Unfortunately it's attitudes like this that can cause housing chains to collapse.
• The buyer is paying for a survey which will usually uncover some some faults which might have gone unnoticed otherwise.
  The vendor might be an entirely innocent person.
  The Estate Agent, to get the business, may have suggested an initial asking price.
  An innocent buyer might actually offer the asking price.
  When prices are rapidly rising this might be a wise move.
  All the negotiations are "Subtract to contract" i.e. !Not legally binding.
  So if the surveyor were to note that the property needed rewiring, damp proofing, dry rot treatment, !had subsidence problems, needed retiling of the roof etc etc ....
  Then you should renegotiate the price.
  all I M H O.
• Your initial offer depends on how much you want the property. If you would like it but there are also a few more properties you like the look of, knock 20% off and see what happens. If you don't get it, you can either up your offer or walk away.
  Of course, if you are making an offer on a two bedroom flat in South London you should add 50% or more to the asking price and promise to complete within 3 weeks.
• I always start at 10% below the asking price. If you are a first time buyer you might get lucky. You should take into account the length of time the house has been on the market. If over 3 months ask the agent why. Also ask the estate agent and seller if there have been any surveys on the house.
  The first house I tried to buy many years ago we agreed a price and had a survey. The survey uncovered subsidence, dry rot, penetrating damp and rising damp. We pulled out as this was too much work. what was annoying was that 2 previous buyers had surveyed the house and all had uncovered the same things and pulled out. The estate agent and sellers knew the problems but didn't disclose them and we wasted Ј300. 10 years later I read in the local rag that the whole street had serious subsidence problems so we had a lucky escape.
  My advice would be to get your own surveyor, not mortgage company valuer, to check over the property. Make sure you instruct them to lift carpets, check all electrics, test heating system and go into the loft. Well worth the Ј500 it costs you as if it highlights costly problems you were unaware of you should be able to negotiate the price.
  Also legistlation has now changed and if you show the seller and agent your survey they are obliged by law to disclose the results of the survey to any other potential buyers if they ask. failure to do so could result in the buyer sueing you later on.
• I was interested in a small property in Liverpool that had an asking price of 58k. I offered 52k which was turned down. The agent came back 2 weeks later and said his client would accept my offer of 52k. I told them sorry if your client is that desperate that my new offer is 50k.
  That made the agent choke on her cup of tea, and asked if I was joking. No I was not, I now knew that I had a better hand than the seller and just upper the stakes. I was not that fussed either way.
  I bought another house in a better road for 54k
• Some you win .. Some you lose
• I think Ј195 is way too high as a first offer. I offered Ј175 on my house which was reduced from Ј220 to Ј200 at the time. We settled at Ј178.5K.
  There are always plenty more fish in the sea.
• Not always and particularly not in a fast rising market.
  However I have no doubt you are right in a particular case.
• thanks for all your responses...
  Anyone have any views on buying offplan?? the prices they quote will they budge on it?
  the housing markets seems to be slowing a little maybe its time to get some bargains
• [quote]I think Ј195 is way too high as a first offer.
  I agree, especially in current market.
  My other half has just sold his house. It went on the market a year ago at Ј550k and has just sold for Ј460k. It does need a bit of decorative work, but there are no structural problems etc and it's in a good location, excellent schools etc and good access to London.
  He reduced the price after 4 months to Ј495k (i.e. under the 5% stamp duty break point) and we really expected it to sell then. However, he had to reduce again to Ј475k in the summer and it still sold for a lot less than the asking price.
  I know it's all house dependent etc. etc. but this is a house that 2 years ago would easily have sold for over Ј500k.
  We are looking at a house to buy together now. It's priced at Ј395k but we know it's been on the market for 8 months and had a sale fall through 6 months ago with no offers since that we are aware of. We intend to offer Ј345k and hope to get it for around Ј360k.
  As many others have said. If you offer low, you can always go up. There is so much around about house prices possibly falling and interest rates going up, it's definitely a buyer's market at the moment. Take advantage of that and make a low offer to start - you might get lucky.
  On an average, in your position, I'd probably offer Ј180 and see what they say.
  Good luck!