Negotiating while house buying...

[DimPrawn]

Always go in at 20% over asking price.

You don't want to miss the boat and not get on the ladder before it's too late do you?

[BlasterBates]

At the moment houses are hardly selling. One thing is "almost" for certain, prices aint going to go up, but they'll probably go down. The consus is 10% this year and another 5-10% next year. If the UK goes into recession it will be substantially worse.

So what have you got to gain by buying now...not at lot. What have you to lose....a substantial amount.

I would wait and see how it plays out over the next 6-9 months.

[scooby]

If you realy want to play hard ball then read the thread on gazundering.

that DID cross my mind, altho am not sure I'm that much of a tw@&!!

[The Lone Gunman]

If you realy want to play hard ball then read the thread on gazundering.

[Turion]

Go in low! The worst he can do is say no and you will have to go back a bit higher. If you go in too high you will know as he will accept straight away and you will regret not shaving a bit more off.

Why the desperation to buy now though? Wait another 6 months and you might get another 10% off, buy now and you could have lost 10% of what you paid for it. Go find a mortgage calculator and see what the interest on 10% of what you want to buy it for costs over the period of the loan and then ask yourself if you want to potentially waste that much.

Tricky one I know but don't be afraid to put in a very cheeky offer in this climate

This is good rodent advice. Play hardball. Better still, rent for 3 yrs and then got back into the market. Probably get 30% discount.

[ferret]

Go in low! The worst he can do is say no and you will have to go back a bit higher. If you go in too high you will know as he will accept straight away and you will regret not shaving a bit more off.

Why the desperation to buy now though? Wait another 6 months and you might get another 10% off, buy now and you could have lost 10% of what you paid for it. Go find a mortgage calculator and see what the interest on 10% of what you want to buy it for costs over the period of the loan and then ask yourself if you want to potentially waste that much.

Tricky one I know but don't be afraid to put in a very cheeky offer in this climate

[scooby]

are there any rules to this?

from talking to him, i feel the chap wants a quick sell, but this is my first buy, so i'm in no rush. its been on the market for 6mths or so and i know he's not happy with estate agent. he also wants to be nearer work.

do i go in at 10%, 20% under or the asking? i know the figure i want to settle on, and its about 6% lower than list price. the list price hasnt dropped since it came on the market, and i think he had just a few offers and one agreed offer that pulled out.

any advice would be much appreciated!