What is considered reasonable offer?

Janelle77

Registered User
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We have found a house that we like that is open to any reasonable offer on €290k, there is another house in the area with an extra bedroom at asking price €285k but we just like the 2 bed better. We know the owners are anxious to sell as they are buying another house themselves. What is the lowest we could go in to offer? If anyone has an opinion...we know the max we can afford is €285k but the cheaper we can get it the less we have to beg,borrow,steal from our families to top up mortgage.Thanks
 
If a 3-bed is only asking E285,why the hell do they think their 2-bed is worth E290 !
I'd offer 260,000 and wouldn't go a penny above E270,000.
 
Don't bid anymore than you can afford. Remember that you have to pay legal fees and furnish the place as well.
 
I'd agree with thewatcher. Just out of curiosity...why the two bed? Does it have more land, driveway, orientation or what? Please say it's not just the decor you fell for!
 
It's a different style of house but still in the same area all the same. EA says cos it's in walk in condition and has new windows etc, but other one looks nice decor etc too. Thanks for that, we were thinking of offering 275 but thought they'd tell us where to go!
 
It has bigger gardens front and back and a different nicer exterior, lets just say might have more potential for building on improving in the future
 
Thanks for that, we were thinking of offering 275 but thought they'd tell us where to go!
Let them! :p

It's up to you what you wish to offer, it's up to them if they wish to consider it or not. Don't be afraid of offending the seller, the initial shock of a very low bid may make them more responsive to a slightly higher one later on (e.g. bid €270k now, they say "no". Bid €250k now and in two weeks €270k may seem a lot more attractive).

There's no rule that you must bid at least 80% or whatever of an asking price. Bid what you feel it's worth (or a bit under that and try and get a bargin), the worst they can do is say no.
 
An extra bedroom normally warrents and extra E15-20,000 if you do bid 260,000 and they tell you where to go you can always say that 3 beds are asking 285,000 and that in the current market that E290 price is unrealistic.E270,000 final offer,whatever you do,do not overpay for a property in the current market !.
 
Jannelle77 I think you did the # 1 thing most people (novice) always do, you fell in love with the house 1st. What exactly is the extra money for? Bigger garden, bigger living room or what? I never get this big garden thing most people are always looking for? It's too cold most of the year to fully enjoy it and most time, people just mainly use it to dry their clothes.

Basically what I'm trying to say is this: How often do you realistically use your garden and if you are FTB and moving from an apartment, the novielty of a garden will soon wear off when it's time to cut the grass. Does this warrant the €5000 extra (less interest for the next 25 to 35 years). With the way things are going in Ireland, we will soon be charged taxes for using our eyes to see.

The house in question is a two bedroom and 2 beds should not cost more than a three bed on the same street in my opinion. You might really want to think this through thoroughly (just my 2 pence or cents as the case may be).
 
Thanks for that, we were thinking of offering 275 but thought they'd tell us where to go!

Any vendor who gets an offer before xmas is not going to be dismissive of it. And either will the EA.
 
Thanks everyone for your replies. We've offered 15k under the asking so lets see what they come back with (fingers crossed). Topsido I know what you're saying about how much you actually use a garden, but our thinking with the big garden is we'd have the space to build on in the future as we are starting our family. However, still going to have a 2nd viewing with the other property and going to consider making offer on this too as don't want to put all our eggs in one basket..it's a buyers market after all.
 
To change the subject just a little bit - I'm looking to buy a new house in a development of about 100 houses. There are about 10 houses left unsold and I was wondering if I can put in an offer of slightly less than the advertised price or is this just not done. Has anyone ever negotiated a price with a builder/developer or would the builder/developer just hold out indefinitely until he gets his asking price.

Thanks
Zag
 
To change the subject just a little bit - I'm looking to buy a new house in a development of about 100 houses. There are about 10 houses left unsold and I was wondering if I can put in an offer of slightly less than the advertised price or is this just not done. Has anyone ever negotiated a price with a builder/developer or would the builder/developer just hold out indefinitely until he gets his asking price.

Thanks
Zag

The builder might be reluctant to agree to this but may throw in some sweeteners in the sale price as new carpets, kitchen etc..... Business is business and if the builder can't unload the remaining stock he would be foolish to refuse an offer of say 10% less than asking. There could also be flippers in the area who want to offload and if they see that there is still unsold stock they might be amenable to an offer under the builders one especially if they have a big mortgage to service.
 
Thanks Beattie,

I'm going to make an offer of 5% - 10% less than the asking price and see how it goes. If I don't get any joy, I'll try for some 'sweeteners/extras'.

I don't think the builder will want to hold on to these properties for too long - 10 unsold houses @€300k is €3m - he may need this money to fund his next project.

P.S. What are flippers?

Zag
 
Flippers are people that generally buy off plan and then sell on before -or just after closing. They take the risk that property only ever goes up and that preceeding phases will sell for more, thus netting them a nice profit. Its not without risk and at the moment some flippers cannot offload property they have closed on. Any profit on the sale is liable for Capital Gains Tax. If they do this frequently they can be regarded as property developers and then have to pay income tax on the profit-which is regarded as trading income, and not a capital gain.
 
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