What to offer when the asking price states 'In the Region of...'

Hi All,

Im looking to buy my first home, just wondering how much 'around' the asking price should be offered when the asking price states 'in the region of x amount'.

Seen a property that we really like to buy, however dont want to offer too little to be not taken serioussy or to get into bidding wars, nor offer too much to be taken advantage of.

Been in bidding wars the last two properties we looked at so i really just want to get the offer in and get this moving as fast as we can

apologies in advance if there is a thread similar to this.

Thanks

It's difficult this one. I think in these times all offers are taken into consideration. Your first offer will be rejected most likely, but the EA will then tell you what figure the seller's would consider. And then you try and get it for less than that! Do as much research on the house as you can, how long it is for sale, has it had any price drops so etc, what is the age of the sellers, could they afford to accept less than the asking etc.
Look at it from a percentages view: so look at 20% below, 15% below, 10% below, 5% to show you what kind of figures you are looking at.

On my last attempt to buy a house (it's a nightmare out there as I'm sure you agree) my first offer was 22% below asking and the figure we finally agreed on was 13% below asking. Seller pulled out for other reasons.

Also read this:
http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?t=123191

check daftdrop and see if its come down much, might give you an idea of how eager they are to sell

Talk to the estate agent and see what he thinks they will take. We were looking at a house that the EA wasnt even sure the seller would take at the price he was advertising and he suggested somewhere that we loved where the seller was willing to come down on and do a deal

We found the estate agent was very helpfull

Find what a similar property sold for in 2006,if in Dublin knock 60% off it and there's your ball park price.If the property has been on the market for a while all the better,ignore the sticker price,view the property and talk to the E/A,a good E/A will add the detail and if asked what will buy the property may give a frank and honest answer,though to be honest you really need to looking at a 60% discount from peak prices.

As for the offer,if its under offer them all you can do is bid upwards if its not then make an offer and give the E/a a time frame in which to come back to you,24 hrs etc and if agreed property to be removed from websites immediately...be prepared to walk away if they start to mess around.

I recently bought at 18% below sticker price with no bidders phantom or otherwise,if you don't think your opening bid is insulting then you are offering too much,I expected to be laughed at but only had to increase the bid by 3k to secure it.

Here are some useful sites/tools

[broken link removed]

http://www.property-bee.com/

http://www.thepropertypin.com/index.php

Hi, just wondering what approach people would recommend taking after a first offer on a house is rejected?

I'm planning on making an offer on a house in the next couple of days, which I know will most likely be rejected. I'm willing to increase it by up to about 20k. What I was wondering is, if the EA rejects my offer straight away or comes back to me with the rejection, should I make an improved offer there and then or wait a day or so?

I haven't been through the process before, so I'm still not sure how to expect it will play out.

When an EA calls you to reject an offer, what's a suitable thing to say or how should you act??

PolkaDot said:

When an EA calls you to reject an offer, what's a suitable thing to say or how should you act??

Click to expand...

Do not react as though you're upset, do not then up your bid, and certainly not by 20K. Try and find out more info from the EA. Like what would the buyer accept, he'll probably volunteer this, he might say to you a certain figure will secure it etc. Just play it cool. And wait then a few days, say you'll think about it, discuss with your partner, or say that's a pity but you've another property you're interested in.

EA may also tell you there is another bidder higher than you, some play games like that, some are genuine.

Just only bid what you are happy to bid.

Have you got mortgage approval, are you in a chain?

Yes, we have mortgage approval. We know what we can put in as a max bid. If we got this house at our max bid we would be very happy because it would be about 15% below the asking price.

So we'd like to put in an initial offer and then hopefully work towards getting an acceptance of what we can afford to go to. (Ideal situation is obviously that our first bid would be accepted!)

Say I enquire about what the seller would be willing to consider, after rejection of our first offer, and it's only say 5% below asking price, where does that leave me? Suppose all I can do is try my luck with an improved offer even if its still way off.