Here are some tips on the following:
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- What to check before making an offer
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- How many viewings should I attend?
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- What to ask before offering (see previous blog on house viewing)
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- Should I offer asking price or lower?
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- what not to tell your estate agent
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- Negotiating house price after offer accepted
What to check before making an offer:
Making an offer on a house can seem daunting, even if you have done it before! Ensure you have assessed figures well enough to know you are comfortable with the amount.
Before you make an offer:
Ask people ‘in the know’ i.e. friends or family
Anyone you know recently completed similar work? You could ask for rough figures on particular aspects or if that is too personal, ask if they recommend the tradespeople they used and you can try and gain rough quotes yourself. This is slightly more difficult without them actually visiting the property before you own it (see below for more on this) You can gain a list of tradespeople whom you can go to when ready.
Find a builder:
Plenty of people take a reputable builder with them to a viewing to assess costs and workload and this is a great idea If you aren’t too confident yourself.
This depends on how much work needs doing but websites recommending tradespeople have grown in popularity and can be a handy way to find people who have received positive reviews and feedback, including photographs of their work to reference.
Work out what you can do yourself:
Be realistic on what tasks you can do yourself i.e. labour work of stripping wallpaper/filling skips but don’t sign yourself up to fitting a full bathroom if you never have and aren’t that confident because you will then need to find the extra money that you haven’t budgeted for to either do it all together or worse – fix bodged jobs and damage caused!
Extra pointers:
Get your finances in order first:
Making an offer without pre-approval is risky and a possible waste of time for all involved – make sure you know how much you can borrow from the bank before making offers you may have to retract.
Always view the property sufficiently:
Making an offer without seeing a property is not for the faint-hearted! You may offer in haste so as not to miss out during a crazy market but it is important to understand how much work is required first. This practice is more suited to an experienced property developer than picking your home; even then, it is still a big risk!
Make sure the property is ‘fit to live in’
Mortgage lenders will only work with properties that are in a suitable habitable condition – this includes kitchens and bathrooms in full working order upon completion.
How many viewings should I attend?
This entirely depends on your confidence/previous knowledge/condition of the property and how popular it is with other buyers but once is good if it was a longer viewing – twice if the house is larger/more work/the initial viewing was rushed. Request more if you really aren’t sure!
Should I offer asking price or lower?
Again, strongly depends on the guidance of the estate agent on the market at the time and on this particular property.
Listen to your agent:
Putting an offer on a house can be stressful if other parties are interested or you are hoping to gain a bigger reduction than the seller is willing to make. Listen to your estate agent’s advice as they will know the situation of the seller and the local market/climate at the time to give the most appropriate guidance – we all know how quickly the market can change!
Don’t offer too low:
Everyone likes a discount but don’t offer too low
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- You may miss out to someone else who offered a higher price – that you would have been willing to pay yourself
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- You may not come across as a serious buyer
Cash is king:
Making a cash offer on a house is a great incentive to the seller as it can often speed up time as there are fewer hoops to jump through when no mortgage lender is involved. This can lead to price reductions if you are lucky.
What not to tell your estate agent:
The agent works for the seller – they are their client, not you. It is up to them to ensure all buyers are serious and not time wasters. If you are offering on several other properties, only offering on this on a whim or aren’t fully committed – your agent will probably not advise the seller to go with you as the strongest candidate. Genuine advice on this point though is – be honest with yourself and try not to waste people’s time!
Negotiating house price after offer accepted:
This usually comes after a survey has been conducted on the property and raised several red flags. Hopefully, the seller will be agreeable to a reduction on the agreed sale price – the power within this depends on what other offers were made and whether another buyer is willing to pay more knowing the issues – be careful about pushing sellers too far!
First time buyer advantage:
‘Property chain’ means that your purchase, is dependent on a sale going through. If you are a first-time buyer or without a chain then you gain an advantage when the seller is considering interested parties as you are classed as a lower risk for the sale falling through. The longer the chain – the more problems that can arise as more people and their personal situations are involved.
Let me know your thoughts! Have you found this helpful? Is there anything you would add to it?
Leave a comment below – Would love to hear from you!
Remember to seek professional advice at all key stages – this is just my opinion!