Negotiating and Making an Offer on a House
It can be an exciting moment when you realise you have found the property for you. But you’re not there yet, you still have to negotiate and make an offer.
Finding the right balance is important and having the room to haggle either side of your budget is key.
Allow yourself some wiggle room when making an offer
The UK property market has increased dramatically in recent months. Therefore property in a majority of areas has seen a dramatic increase in asking price and even then usually sells for over.
If your total budget is for example £300,000, it’s worth considering properties a price bracket lower than this. Offering on a house for £250-£275,000 leaves you that bit of room to increase your offer if needs be.
Be respectful
Remember when putting in an offer to be respectful, coming in miles under the asking price for any property is never going to work and usually feels like an insult to the seller.
In contrast money isn’t everything and if you have rubbed the seller the wrong way they may decide to sell to someone else at a lower price out of principle.
Don’t waste time making unrealistic offers
Everyone wants to get the best deal that they can so no one will blame you for initially submitting an offer that is lower than the asking price. However once it has been rejected, which it often is, repeatedly returning with a slightly higher offer to be rejected again and again isn’t going to help.
If it is clear that a seller is set on achieving a particular price then leave them with your final offer and if they do chose to lower it then they know where to find you. Time spent chasing with an unrealistic offer could result in you losing out on another property.
Get your credit in check
First time buyers are always a plus as they have no lengthy chain trailing behind them. However if you do have a chain then don’t fret, just make sure you are up to date and on top of it.
As long as you can give the seller and agent constant and realistic updates there should be no issues.
Give proof of eligibility
In order for our offers team to qualify you as a buyer and submit your offer you need one of the following.
A mortgage in principle, a large deposit or cash and proof of which ever route of payment you are using.
Alternatively you can provide a letter from your solicitor detailing that he has witnessed one of the three and can confirm it.
With many things in life the offer and negotiation stage can be a nail biting one. If you hit complications keep going and stick it out, if it falls through then pick yourself up and start again. You will find the right property for you even if it takes five or six let downs before you do so.
If you’re thinking of making an offer on a listed property call our expert mortgage team or send and email to info@mashroom.com, and they can help answer any questions you have.
