What to offer for house

A while ago we had planned to build a house, but due to the current climate our house drop in price and the seller of the site would not drop down any more. So we pulled out of the deal.

We were told that a house across the road the same as we were going to build might be coming on the market. The house would have cost 500k-550k before everything dropped, but the said they are looking for no less than 450k.

Our house has dropped from about 380k to 300k , if were luckly.

The seller is in no hurry to sell as he is emigrating.

Any suggestions on what we should do in terms of an offer, if we decide to go for it.

Thanks

Have you sold your own house? If you haven't, there's no point putting an offer on some other house because I doubt it'll be accepted.

haven't sold it, but im not selling and then not getting the house for what i want

Given the current climate, very few sellers will agree a sale which is subject to the sale of your own house. Your house may take far longer to sell than you anticipate, sell for less than you expect, and bridging finance is now somewhere close to impossible to secure. That would leave the seller of the other house not knowing when - or indeed whether - the sale will close, or whether you will actually be able to raise the finance.

I think you'll unfortunately have to face up to the likelihood that no offer you make will be accepted because of these factors, so questions as to what to offer are just not relevant.

CKT said:

haven't sold it, but im not selling and then not getting the house for what i want

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If you sell and have the money in your bank, you will be in a far stronger position to negotiate a better price. Most EA will only tell you to come back when you sell your own house, they will not accept your offer unless you have cash or mortgage approval.

Also no seller will tell you their in a hurry and every seller says X amount of euro is the lowest they'll take, but end up taking less if they want the house sold.

I agree with all of the comments, but, the seller is in no hurry to sell and the ea is a cousin of theirs and a friend of ours. We are all aware that our house might not sell and for less than we think it will. That is why I want to get a ball park figure that I could offer them if we sell our house for app. 300k

The EA maybe a friend of yours, but dont expect him not to screw you over for the most money he can get. Bloods thicker than water.

A 30% reduction in price is an a normal reduction for the start of 2009, so 385k. But that price is dropping by the week.
(That's assuming the house would have ever sold for 550k even in 2006) Without knowing more about house type, area etc, its just speculation.

CKT said:

The seller is in no hurry to sell as he is emigrating.

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Is that EA talk or your friend or the relation of the vendor. Wakey Wakey !!
So he is emigrating but wants to keep a house in Ireland for the odd weekend away. Come on.

Thanks Senna, that's what I was asking about. I am aware that EA might not be acting in my best interest...

There is a business book called 'Rich Dad, Poor Dad' writtten by a very successful entrepeneur. The main thing that I took from the book was what he said about assets V. liabilities...along the lines that most people see their home as their greatest assett but in reality it is their greatest liablity...There is an advertisement for insurance on the radio at the mo that identifies your home as your greatest asset...I sold my home last year and as my financial situation is not certain at this point I am happy of the choice I made as it would now be a liability to me. Think long and hard about your wants and needs and how much the property is worth to you...stick to this figure and offer it!

CKT said:

.... The house would have cost 500k-550k before everything dropped, but the said they are looking for no less than 450k.

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I had our house valued april 2007 at 550k, just got it valued yesterday at 375k, even 350k to shift. That is the bottom line - a 30%+ drop in just under 2 years. Reality is there are no buyers out there and just MASSIVE amounts of stock available at knock-down prices.

My advice is to sell your own, rent even for a while and then go looking with the cash in the bank to do the real hard talking.