If you were buying a house, how much under the asking price would you offer?

There's no harm in going in with a cheeky offer. I'd say somewhere between 10-15% under the asking price. They only have to say no if it's too low!

I don't think it is quite as easy as that, becasue they may have already factored these things into the asking price.

Our situation 18 months ago sounds similar, as both parties were no chain, and they were off to Canada. We went on Rightmove and used the previous sold prices in the area to work out what we thought the house was worth. We then knocked 1% off as we were no chain and they wanted a quick sale.

HTH & Good Luck!

It cant hurt to go in low but be careful if you are willing to pay more as once the buyers know you are they can keep pushing you.

When we recently sold and bought another house I was keen not to play games and just went in a little under what we could afford.

I work in a conveyancing solicitors...

We've noticed on average house price offers are around 5-10% less than the asking price.

It does no harm in offering less, everyone does it.

HTH

**Thats in my area, may be different elsewhere**

How long's a piece of string?!

It depends on the value of the property, your budget, how much work it needs doing, issues surrounding stamp duty etc.

I don't think it's mega cheeky. As Houdini says, they only have to say no in which case you'll go back with a higher offer!

I really wouldn't care if they thought I was cheap! The offers we've put in have always started at about this point, dependant on how much the asking price is. As CB said, that can make a big difference. I'd explain why to the EA - if the kitchen / bathroom needed doing up etc.

I guess it's a good market for buyers atm, so even if they have already factored wanting a quick sale into the asking price I would probably go 5-10% below that and take it from there, as they will have also factored in what they expect to get, and that's very unlikely to be the full price.

It's hard without talking in real terms, but say if the house was 200k, and the maximum I could afford / was willing to pay was 195k, AND as Chidders says it was typically priced for the area, I'd maybe make a first offer of 185, impressing my no chain status and take it from there. I'd leave some room between my first offer and maximum so that I can counter offer once or twice if knocked back.

Are you house buying atm??

I don't trust estate agent valuations anyway!!

When I bought my flat, I was a first time buyer and she had already left the country, I offered 5% less, we finally settled on 2% less plus they paid to have one of the living room walls replastered where it had blown (no other problems in the wall, I checked!). I probably overpaid tbh but this was before the crash and my eyes are much more open now!

I would not hesitate on offering 10% less for our next house and I would get really picky!!

If you don't ask you don't get, set yourself a maximum and don't go over it.

We are in the process of buying a house at the moment, it is builder refurbished and he needs the money out for his next project.

Had been watching it on the market for some time, it had already had £15k knocked off the original asking price, and we put in an offer of £8k lower than that. Absolute bargain. I figured he would say no if thought too low, so be cheeky!

You definitely shouldn't feel cheeky (although I'm like that too!) I'm always shocked how much they offer under the asking price on location, location etc and very often get it too!

You can also say what you mentioned about it being worth less than asking price, and explain you're comparing to what similar houses have sold for in same/better conditions nearby etc, and that you know your offer is generous considering x, y, z

Eeeek good luck!

This is where it's all relative though - if the house is on the market for £160k then getting £23k knocked off is ace. If it's on the market for £800k then £23k is peanuts.

True point CB. Definitely not £800k, I wish!!

The house was originally on for less than £140k if that puts it into perspective.

Our house was in really bad condition - needed rewiring, new boiler, all new plumbing, radiators, new bathroom, new kitchen, replastering etc. We offered about 20% under the asking price as we felt it was really overpriced and ended up paying about 15% under after negotiation. They can only say no. I'd always go in under what you are prepared to pay so you can move upwards, but set a maximum and stick to it!

darkivy - sounds like you got a bargain - well done!

Claire - what's the market like? Near me anything good is snapped up quickly, and often above the asking price. If the market is quieter (certainly sounds like your vender's experience) then you can afford to be cheeky. Work out what you're happy to pay for it and if you're happy to lose it and go from there.

I think it does all depend on the value of the house. If you think it is over priced by 10% anyway then your if you offer of 18%-15% doesn't seem that drastic. They will probably so no to that but may settle on yur next offer...

Who cares what they think anyway? We paid full price for ours as we loved it and wanted to move quick after having a bad time with some previous houses, but it does play on my mind now how much we could have saved if we had made a lower offer to start with.

I always offer 15% less the go to 10% if they refuse, Ive never paid full asking price for a house before.

I'd say you've got nothing to lose. Our house (an ex-HMO student house which needed a lot of work) was originally on for £275k. They'd recently lowered the asking price to £250k. We offered £220k and they said they wouldn't accept less than £230k. We went up to £225k and eventually they met us in the middle at £228k. This was at the height of the property market in April 2008.

So it can work - our sellers were desperate to sell, so they played ball a bit.