Making offers for property

Do you have a query about moving to Andalucia and buying property in Andalucia. Find out by posting questions and reading about other peoples experiences.
User avatar
Loopy Lisa
Andalucia.com Amigo
Posts: 46
Joined: Tue Jan 10, 2017 6:31 pm
Location: London

Making offers for property

Postby Loopy Lisa » Thu Mar 02, 2017 8:11 am

We have found a property we really like - in fact we love it but after the last time when we rushed in we are holding back on making offers etc.
My question is - what do you think an opening offer should be? We have thought making a cheeky offer of 90% of asking price .... but we don't want to insult the seller as he has already dropped the price with the agent by euro 50000.
Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks

Lyric
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 2532
Joined: Fri May 16, 2008 12:36 pm
Location: Torrox Campo

Re: Making offers for property

Postby Lyric » Thu Mar 02, 2017 8:39 am

It is a buyer's market, he is still not at his 'bottom line' figure out what that might be and start there.

Torrox_campo
Andalucia.com Amigo
Posts: 183
Joined: Thu Sep 17, 2015 10:23 am

Re: Making offers for property

Postby Torrox_campo » Thu Mar 02, 2017 9:41 am

Depending on the "perceived fair price" and how long the property has been on the market! My offer of 85% property price was accepted.

User avatar
Enrique
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 9488
Joined: Tue Mar 24, 2009 9:47 am
Location: Mytchett/Alcala La Real

Re: Making offers for property

Postby Enrique » Thu Mar 02, 2017 9:54 am

All good advice............above

Is it a stress sale...............will take what you offer :?: ...... I've seen 90k sale going for 28k

Forget your London prices..........you may get £1m for your London shed..here you could buy half of La province de Jaén.......... :D

Standard marketing ploy.........take a chunk of already over priced item................ :crazy:

To me the area is more important than the house..........builders can always sort that bit out............ :idea:

Have fun...........hope it works out for you............. :D
All my best learning experiences start with a problem I need to solve.

User avatar
Wicksey
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 5879
Joined: Mon Sep 20, 2004 1:21 pm
Location: Axarquia coast

Re: Making offers for property

Postby Wicksey » Thu Mar 02, 2017 9:59 am

Houses are sometimes very overpriced to start with. I'm sure a lot of agents just ask what the seller wants rather than doing a fair valuation of a property. The house we bought came down 26% because they were simply asking far too much originally. We had the advantage of living in the area for some time and knowing how much similar properties were selling for. If the price has come down by 50,000, then they must have been asking 50K too much! Offer what you think it is worth.

Miro
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 3584
Joined: Tue Feb 27, 2007 8:20 pm
Location: Merseyside, formally Torremolinos

Re: Making offers for property

Postby Miro » Thu Mar 02, 2017 10:24 am

Is the owner Spanish? Don't be surprised if the price goes back up if you show too much interest. No such thing as a buyer's market - a market can't exist without buyers AND sellers. Just offer what YOU feel the house is worth. If that's anywhere near what the seller thinks it's worth , you may have a deal. If not, move on.
Don't worry about what people think, they don't do it very often

"Acquiring a dog may be the only opportunity a human ever has to choose a relative," Mordecai Siegal 1935-2010.

User avatar
costakid
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 5754
Joined: Sun Feb 13, 2005 11:55 am
Location: malaga este

Re: Making offers for property

Postby costakid » Thu Mar 02, 2017 10:28 am

Our friends villa was on the market for 795K. They took 400K 3 years later as they wanted out to buy there dream home back in the UK. I all depends how quick they want to sell and if they are Spanish it can be a different ball game. Non Spanish who want to sell are a lot easier to deal with.

User avatar
Loopy Lisa
Andalucia.com Amigo
Posts: 46
Joined: Tue Jan 10, 2017 6:31 pm
Location: London

Re: Making offers for property

Postby Loopy Lisa » Thu Mar 02, 2017 12:12 pm

The seller is English and has already returned to the U.K. due to family reasons. He has dropped the price in increments to where we are today. I don't know how much it is worth but we are thinking of offering €225k and moving upwards. The asking price is €249. He has already drained the pool according to the agent as it was "costing too much to maintain". He also said he thought an offer around €240 would secure it all furnished - we don't want the furniture but would be interested in buying a few pieces from him.
Thanks for the advice .... as always and thanks for saving my sanity when the other one was falling through - more news on that back on the other thread in a minute!!!

BENIDORM
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 3982
Joined: Tue Nov 28, 2006 2:15 pm
Location: Granada Province

Re: Making offers for property

Postby BENIDORM » Thu Mar 02, 2017 12:30 pm

First I would suggest that you put in a very low offer and don't worry about insulting the owner, if they are keen to sell they will probably come back quickly with a higher price, but don't rush to make a counter offer, contact them and tell them that you are 'thinking about it', then I would be most surprised if they don't come back and say 'maybe we can give you a better price'.
If the house is unoccupied you will stand a much better chance of getting a good deal, but remember that if it's occupied then the transaction could take longer and they may need a 'certain price' for them to move on.
Basically you could split secondhand housing into three categories.
1..Bank Repro..offer a daft price, the banks are desperate to off-load and would probably also offer you a mortgage.

2.An inheritance house owned by Spanish families who don't want it and are struggling to keep up with the standing bills and upkeep of the property.
Again another 'daft' offer will start the ball rolling, probably in your favour.

3. A foreign owned property belonging to someone who wants to return to their own country quickly or a former holiday home that is no longer in use.
With all of the above you may also get many items of furniture ,fixtures & fittings included in the price, or at least on sale for a 'knock-down price', some owners may be willing to include the contents rather than lowering the purchase price too much.
When buying a property including contents it's also wise to ask for a comprehensive inventory and this should be lodged with your solicitor/gestor/
Hope this helps you :wave:
Regards,
Gordon

User avatar
Loopy Lisa
Andalucia.com Amigo
Posts: 46
Joined: Tue Jan 10, 2017 6:31 pm
Location: London

Re: Making offers for property

Postby Loopy Lisa » Thu Mar 02, 2017 2:43 pm

Thank you for your replies and Gordon thank you for taking the time to give background to the types of sellers. We are going to be really cheeky and expect them to say no but we hope that we can show that we are serious buyers. I think the agent knows that we are so hopefully they will be able to pass that onto the seller.
Thanks guys and a BBQ n pool party if it comes together :shifty:

jhonie99
Andalucia.com Amigo
Posts: 134
Joined: Fri Oct 23, 2009 12:05 pm

Re: Making offers for property

Postby jhonie99 » Thu Mar 02, 2017 3:29 pm

You don't seem to know much about buying property in Spain. If you're going to base your knowledge on what the vendor is asking, you will get screwed.

No such thing as fair price or fair market value. People price their house based on how much they think they can get, relying on the fact that a dumb foreigner is a dumb foreigner. My house might have a fair value price of 50k. But, why not price it at 300k and see what happens. Who knows, someone might come along and offer 270k thinking they're getting a bargain. I'll reject the 270k and express how upset I am and the buyer will probably up it to 280k which I'll begrudgingly accept.

Get it?!!

Unless, you the buyer can work out what a fair price is for a property you should not be buying anything. It took me about 10 years of renting to get the right house at the right price.

In your previous post(s), you have mentioned a particular house selling website that you are using. Its the ONLY website that I didn't use when I was searching. It's geared at foreigners with no knowledge of the local market. Virtually everything is way overpriced.

Good Luck.

User avatar
costakid
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 5754
Joined: Sun Feb 13, 2005 11:55 am
Location: malaga este

Re: Making offers for property

Postby costakid » Thu Mar 02, 2017 3:40 pm

Don't hold back what ever you do. LOL

User avatar
Enrique
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 9488
Joined: Tue Mar 24, 2009 9:47 am
Location: Mytchett/Alcala La Real

Re: Making offers for property

Postby Enrique » Thu Mar 02, 2017 4:35 pm

Hi,
"He has already drained the pool according to the agent as it was "costing too much to maintain". "............or it leaks like a sieve and the pool pump is defective.

From what I gather from our Pool gurus on this site that's the one thing you don't do............. drain the pool.
All my best learning experiences start with a problem I need to solve.

Unicorn
Resident
Posts: 1670
Joined: Sun Jun 30, 2013 5:06 pm
Location: Estepona

Re: Making offers for property

Postby Unicorn » Thu Mar 02, 2017 4:51 pm

Enrique, I know ever less about pool maintenance than I do about posting links, but even I know draining a pool is at least suspect and at worst catastrophic!

User avatar
peteroldracer
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 7774
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 5:56 pm
Location: Los Alcázares, Murcia

Re: Making offers for property

Postby peteroldracer » Thu Mar 02, 2017 7:56 pm

Regular readers will know we have just sold - in fact completed at the notary today. Our buyers offered 80%, were told no way and came back with c88%, to include the furniture bar a few personal items. We agreed on this figure, provided they bought separately our 4x4, which is what they did.
If asking 249000 I would go for 200k, saying that your limit for a cash deal with no mortgage to get is 220k, which with legal fees and transfer tax etc would be about that.
And if there is anything, anything at all that is unclear walk away. You could go for a retention of say 10k until the pool is filled and proven to work properly?
He will be saving money on his estate agent's fees with a lower price, which at the normal rate of 5% +VAT is a big lump for him.
I used to cough to disguise a [email protected] I f@rt to disguise a cough.

User avatar
concorde
Resident
Posts: 1588
Joined: Sun Jul 23, 2006 8:52 am
Location: UK

Re: Making offers for property

Postby concorde » Fri Mar 03, 2017 6:22 pm

I would have thought buyers would be better paying for the furniture etc separately, after all if the price includes it then they are paying transfer tax on the full amount and depending what is included could add up.

Also bank repos can have a nasty way of coming back to bite you if the taxman decides it was undersold, there are a few stories about this from bargain buyers having to cough up.

User avatar
peteroldracer
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 7774
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 5:56 pm
Location: Los Alcázares, Murcia

Re: Making offers for property

Postby peteroldracer » Fri Mar 03, 2017 6:32 pm

"I would have thought buyers would be better paying for the furniture etc separately,"
Or you can try to keep the price up by suggesting the purchase at, say, 300,000€ is broken down into house at 285,000 and furniture at 15,000, so the buyer pays 8% on the house transfer but only 4% on the furniture...saves them 600€ which you can split with them..
I used to cough to disguise a [email protected] I f@rt to disguise a cough.

User avatar
Loopy Lisa
Andalucia.com Amigo
Posts: 46
Joined: Tue Jan 10, 2017 6:31 pm
Location: London

Re: Making offers for property

Postby Loopy Lisa » Wed Mar 08, 2017 12:18 pm

We have reflected on our visit and given thought to the offer we want to make etc. And we are going to be calling up the estate agent and making an offer which is around 80% of the asking price. There are some other bits that the agent kept suggesting (added value) but we are agreed that they were specifically built by the owner to satisfy his business needs! In all honesty he can knock the buildings down and it will not be a loss to us! We have agreed that they make nice brick built sheds but don't offer additional living space or space suitable for rentals/friends sleeping in.
Watch this space ..... And thanks for your answers and help x

User avatar
Terry Tibbs
Resident
Posts: 309
Joined: Tue Jan 15, 2013 7:14 am
Location: Arroyo de la Miel

Re: Making offers for property

Postby Terry Tibbs » Thu Mar 09, 2017 9:18 am

Lisa, good luck with your purchase, but just a quick question... Regarding the extra 'bits' that the owner had built, have you (or your lawyer) checked to see whether these are shown on the escritura? In other words, have you verified that the property is legally registered in its current configuration?

User avatar
fincalospinos
Resident
Posts: 1008
Joined: Sat Jul 16, 2005 9:17 am
Location: Caleta de Velez

Re: Making offers for property

Postby fincalospinos » Sat Mar 11, 2017 9:23 am

concorde wrote:I would have thought buyers would be better paying for the furniture etc separately, after all if the price includes it then they are paying transfer tax on the full amount and depending what is included could add up.
If furniture is included in the sale price the normal procedure is to show this as a separate, but realistic figure, thus avoiding transfer and other taxes. If paying with cheques or bankers drafts it is important to pay the amount for furniture as a separate entity.
Hardworking resident !!


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 18 guests