65 million

Hi all,

Ive been having a good look at the housing in the south eastern suburbs of Melbourne, we are on a low budget and have only about $225k to buy a home.

My question is how cheeky can you be placing offers. When someone advertises a house for say $249k, would they be likely consider an offer of $225K or can you only knock people down about $5-10K????

Look forward to some guidance.
Many thanks,
65KK

TrickyTree

Dont know the correct answer to the question mate.

But I would make the offer anyway whats the worst they can say...no thank you.

TT

banjo

Sorry 65 million....not too sure on that side of Melbourne. When we were looking to huy our house the agent would either say that the vendors wouldn't budge or they would. In our case they wouldn't even come down $1. One house we looked at was prepared to come down a max of 5k. Worth getting in touch with the agent if you are very interested...they'll soon let you know.

good luck

anya4oz

I would say that it's always worth making an offer (start low & you can always up it a little if you really like the house) as you ahve nothing to lose. In all house sales/purchases anywhere in the world, it depends entirely on the circumstances of the vendor/puchaser. If the person you are buying off is really keen to sell, they may even accept 225K, esp if you can 'settle' (ie stump up the cash) quickly - say within 30 days.

If you do it thru the realtor, they will advise you about what other interest there has been (at the mo some of them are keen to get sales, rather than wringing the last cent out of people, but that's not always the case).

Give it a go - & let us lot know how you get on!

BTW, have you been to any Auctions yet...?? I'm totally addicted to them myself!

Cheers,
Anya.

parkhigh

Hi
I dont know about ozzie houses but would agree that the world over its worth haggling. We are trying to sell our house and have only had 2 viewings!! so its a struggle. A house near us went up for sale at 387K and offers were made at 368k so quite a substantial amount below asking price. If you start converting that into dollars that is quite a lot.

Anyway hope this helps
Irene

65 million

Thanks for all the guidance. Im still here in sunny Leicester and looking at property on realestate.com.au We arrive in Melbourne on 8th December.

I'm a bit concerned about the auction side of things, dont you have to give them 10% there and then if you win. Dont fancy carrying that type of cash around. Do the prices usually go above the realestate's estemate?

walaj

not as rich as you name suggests!

As other have said you have nothing to lose - you could put your case so they don't think you are having a laugh, if you can point out faults/repairs, compare it to other similar local properties that are for sale at a lower price or similar price but are in better condition/location etc

Where we live there is one agent that usually markets a house at a higher than others agent would, I'm sure similar practices happen in Oz.

(how many times can I use the word 'similar' in a post? )

joh117

We looked at houses between $200,000 to $300,000 none of the ones we looked at were up at auction. We dropped the price of the house we bought by $10k by offering quick 45 day settlement and we were willing to rent the house while waiting for settlement as the house was empty. The seller bit our hands off. Remember the market has slowed down here so houses are on the market longer therefore it is a buyers market.

Jo

kirsty&al

Yes, definitely worth offering lower. Usually the price is given in a range. We offered 20k below the bottom figure, got refused: then went 10k below and was accepted. Haggling seems to be more acceptable here.

It is worth asking the agent if the vendor has had any previous bids and whether they were accepted or not. Remember the agent is trying to shift the property as fast as they can so they are willing to help you even though they are working for the vendor. But always remember caveat emptor!

Cheers
Alistair

65 million

Thanks eveyone,

So has anyone bought from an Auction, this must be quite frightening?. Do you have to give them the 10% deposit or whatever it is in cash?

cheers,
65KK

anya4oz

Have been out to buy at auctions but not actually parted with the readies yet. The realtors tell me that you take say $2-3000 to 'show willing' on the day if your bid is accepted, then agree to raise a bank check for the full deposite the following Monday (they are usually held on Sats). If you have already made yourself known to the realtor, they'll advise you on what's going to be acceptable - but ultimately, they want to make a sale, so will be try to be accommodating.

If you think you might end up buying property at an auction, it's generally a good idea to go to a few auctions for houses etc that you *deffo* don't want, first, to see how it's done. It's great fun as the auctioneer often does an element of 'stand-up' and can be very entertaining. Also people in the crowd can be chatty & friendly (I met someone who's become one of my best mates here at an auction!).

Cheers,
Anya.

Siren & Brian

LOL no... a cheque will do..... I used to be a real estate agent and an offer of 225 k cash. ie not subjet to finance or subject to a sale of another house could be quite attractive.... it all depends on the current climate, if its a buyers or sellers market.

Auctions arent that scary. you have a budget, and stick to it. No matter what.

kirsty&al

Hello,

we didn't buy at Auction, so I'm not sure about the 10%. I did ask about this and I was given the impression, by the agent, that you could go down the bank and get a counter cheque there and then if you were successful.

We did go to an auction, with no intention of buying, just to see what happens. It was bizarre. Every time a bid was made, the agent would exceed it with a vendor bid. The agent hiked the price up really quickly. As a result only one person ended up doing any bidding. When the real bidder stopped bidding because the price was too high, the agent complained that nobody else had bid and that there would only be one person able to negotiate with the vendor.

The background to this is that if the reserve price is not met then all those people who made a bid are able to negotiate with the vendor after the auction has finished (unsuccessfully), starting with the person who made the highest bid. By hiking up the price so quickly the agent killed off any other potential bidders; and then he complained about it!

Anyway, good luck with the house hunting.
Alistair

65 million

Thanks all,

It sounds quite promising then. We will be buying "cash" as I'm hoping to join a "mature apprenticeship" and re-train. Sounds then that if I'm lucky someone may consider $225K cash on a $249k house.

Am I right in thinking they have fixed settlement days there ie 35 days etc. What are the options?

Sounds so much better than the endless chain hold ups you get in old blighty.

Siren & Brian

No settlement can be anything you offer and the seller accpets.... I have had a house settle within 7 days from the date of the offer.