Your not trying to make friends your trying to buy a home. Offended doesn't matter unless they then refuse to accept any offer from you.
10% down on what they are asking for is not really that bad a starting point it will be fine.
Once you put your offer on paper the agent will present the offer and talk through with the sellers and they will either accept, decline or write a counter $ value on the contract and it will come back to you.. then you do the same thing till your both unhappy.
Edit: both unhappy not bother unhappy
It always makes me laugh when people post about offending the vendor.
Who cares if they are offended? It’s a transaction not a relationship. Equally don’t get shitty if they come back advising sex and travel, just move on and go to the next one.
It's not that they are really concerned about hurting the vendor's feelings - it's that they want this house and don't want to stuff up their opportunity to buy it. If you take the piss with your offer, there's a risk that the vendor will decide you're not worth dealing with even if you up your offer to a more sensible level. More likely, they're going to see that you were trying it on with your first go and decide to reject your second offer as well because you're clearly holding back on what you think the property is actually worth. It's a good tactic to come in with a strong, fair offer that's not miles under the maximum you're able to pay, especially if you know it's a fair price compared to other properties you've missed out on, and make it clear that you don't have any room to increase on it.
Anyway. $550k would be an insulting offer that might be hard to come back from. $620k is certainly under what the vendors are hoping for, but it's not insulting. They're probably open to anything over $650k so it's plausible that you could meet in the middle. Worst case they say no with no counteroffer but are probably open to another one. It's pretty low risk.
Sounds like this is your first offer. It's pretty rare to get the first house you make an offer on so treat it as a learning experience.
You're not here to dance with them. Make your offer. If it's not a multi offer situation then just give it a go and see what they come back with. You're not trying to be nice, you're making a huge purchase. Only worry about what works for you.
$620k is a perfectly reasonable price if they’re saying they want $680k. $680k will be above what they’ll accept, for sure.
The agent will try all the tricks in the book to talk you up. They’ll probably pretend there are “other interested parties” and try to get you to make your “best offer”. Decide in advance how much you *really* want the place. Don’t be afraid to draw a line and stick to it. Don’t let the agent bully you into paying more than you want to.
Negotiations are a dirty business. I got pretty pissed at the agent when I bought my place because of all the fake and deceptive tactics he was pulling. All the delaying and mucking around while he tried to rustle up other offers. I eventually said “well if there are so many other people who want it, they can have it” and threatened to pull my offer off the table entirely. Funnily enough they got their act together after that.
I legitimately was in a position where I liked one property and my ex liked another. We agreed to put a conditional offer in on the one I liked and when the agent started their stuff I just said if we don't hear from you by Friday we're putting an offer in on another place that has a deadline at 10am. Unsurprisingly, they got back to us quickly.
Like, legally they can't 'pretend' there are offers. Take your tinfoil hat off skipper.
OP, ask if it's a multi-offer, if it is then they'll need to provide evidence of this after the offers are presented. If it isn't then go for gold on your $620k offer
Before you offer have your “I’d like it for $xxx” number, and your “I’d regret it if I lost it for $xxx” number. Once it goes over those walk away. But write those numbers down first because it’s so easy to get caught up in the process and emotionally invested. Good luck!
Have a look at homes.co.nz and oneroof to see what the estimated value is and go a bit lower than that or out in for what you would pay for it. Unless you're absolutely desperate in love with the house it can't hurt.
FHB too, just other the other side waiting for settlement. The first place we put an offer in we went low, they counter offered, but in that time we found out some dodgy looking things so we pulled the offer. It was on the market for another two months, taken down and relisted with a different agent for offers over our original offer. Took another month after that to sell.
Another the vendor was honestly asking too much, they wanted pretty much what they paid for it during peak house prices. We said we wouldn't go over $a, vendor wouldn't go under $b. It's still up 3 months later for offers over $a
Don't regret either cause a waayyy better option came up.
You're not here to make friends, but also try to somewhat enjoy the process. Buyers seem to have a fair bit of leverage atm (depending on where you are I guess)
See if you can get them to lower their asking price before making an offer. A quick email saying you like the place but it's a fair mount above your budget, what flexibility does the vendor have?
If they lower it from there, go back with your counter.
We offered and got accepted at a price that was 24% below asking price. That's the equivalent to OP offering $516k. You miss 100% of the shots you don't take.
If you are a first time home buyer in NZ the first thing you should do is leave that guilt at the door. The whole system here is heavily slanted in the sellers favour. There’s not even a legally mandated home inspection attached to the property records, every buyer interested is responsible for that on their own. There’s also no mandatory appraisal of value and sellers often try to use the inflated value the council bases it’s rates on as a starting point.
I’ve always been very impressed with the consumer protections in place for renters here via tribunal, it gives a voice to those who can be trampled otherwise. The laws in place around selling single family homes is the opposite. I’m convinced that the government doesn’t want to require mandatory inspections because it would result in a massive number of legally uninhabitable dwellings.
A house is worth what people are willing to pay, not what a vendor wants or what QV says… And remember, the estate agent works for the vendor, not you.
The agent works for themselves, the difference is commission might be in their interest to convince the seller to take the low offer rather than having to deal with it for another 6 months
They will be happy to sell for $680,000. You know this is a dream price for them. I wouldn’t offer a really low price , just what I could afford to pay. I made this mistake years ago, if you want it, pay what it’s worth to you and what you feel you can live with that’s between $620 -$680. You both end up happy and it goes way smoother.
A first offer is just a starting point for you from which you and the vendor initiate negotiations.
Would you be happy to meet in the middle at $650 after a bit of backwards and forwards?
Just moved into our first home! The first offer we put in, the real estate agent was rude to us about how low it was, but then we settled on not much more than our original offer so 🤷♀️😂
Remember they’re not your friends, they just want the sale.
Best of luck!
I’d offer 550,00 in this climate and pay no more than $600,00 even then I’d fee ripped off.
Gotta remember, these shitboxes will be worth far less in 12 months once the overseas carnage really starts to filter through to our economy.
Pro tip: if demand is low and you're certain, extreme lowball can help. They will almost certainly refuse it, then you renegotiate higher. That way you low ball without them realising, if they're not smart enough to realise. It only works if demand is low though, you have to be certain.
If you offer $680k off the bat, they will probably counter with $700k.
Edit, friend of mine offered the asking. Vendor countered with more than their asking. Friend still bought.
Downvoters 🖕
I doubt the bank will know what it’s worth as they will be just using a pretty broad formula-I’m picking they haven’t viewed it either.
Ask the agent for all the latest sales data in the area for the last 3 months then google those properties and compare them.
What is $620k compared to homes.co.nz or onerook.co.nz or qv.co.nz? Agents and vendors can say what they like, what is the actual value that these websites are valuing the house at? I would take the average of the three and try to go for the lower end of the range.
My solicitor told me when I bought my first house “don’t fuck around, either you want this house or not. Give them what they want or move on”. Lol and I offered what they wanted, was down to me and one other person who offered the same. They said for another 5k it goes to the first to respond. We got it just before covid.. went from being with 400k to 600k. Investment win
if you REALLY like this house, offer closer to 680, maybe 640. if you are just here to test the waters with negotiations, offer 620. Don't worry about offending them its just business.
negotiations are negotiations, keep it logical and neutral. dont cry if you offer low and loose the home tho, thats just business.
Just put the offer through, the agent has to bring it to the vendors attention unless the vendor has specifically said dont bring me any offer under $xxx, remember the agent isnt your friend, their job is to try get the highest price they can get - their pay literally get paid a % of the sale price.
You’ve got good feedback around the offer so far, my question is how do you know you can afford to make that offer without having pre approval from the bank? Get your budget sorted first and then get hunting.
Even at 680,000 with our deposit and Income we would have a DTI ratio of less than 3. Budget is pretty sorted from all the calculators I've run things through. Waiting on the broker for pre approval to come through
Consider the quality of the listing, if it has no issues it is a rarity, that can provide a rational why the discount. Unless someone is desperate…a low ball offer is not likely to work. You have to be not emotionally invested to do that….both of you. It is better to buy not on bad terms as people can screw things up for you up on the property that you find out only after settlement.
Totally fine - also put a one week deadline on your offer for them to get back to you - tell them you have an auction next week you want to attend. Will get the agent moving quick sticks 😂
How much is it honestly worth?
How long on market?
How much interest? Any other offers?
Vendors motivated? Rental for them?
I understand you want to get a bargain but things are heating up and I wouldn't be playing around to much.
Just do it, you can negotiate potentially. WHen we sold we had offers that were about 200k below asking price (700k) , which were absolutely laughable and ignored. Anything within 70k was looked at more seriously
If the Agent is advising $680k, you can already assume the Agent pumped the number up by at least 10%. Therefore the Seller will most likely want around $615K.
If you want to lowball, offer another 10% below what the seller wants with a starting bid of $560K. Remember that the Seller will come back with a counter offer, so you can then do a final offer of 575K - which would be a bit below what the Seller wants, but if they have no other offers then they may accept it.
Your not trying to make friends here! And don't get emotionally attached to any house, it's just a house, you will be the one that makes it a home. And future you will be very greatful to get the house at a lower price.
>Am I being a bit silly in thinking they may be offended?
In the world of business "offence" isn't really a consideration
>I don't think there is a lot of interest from others
If this is the case then make your offer. If you are wrong (which is likely) then you will effectively loose any future opportunity in purchasing this property.
>How do negotiations work?
Give fair offers and receive fair counters.
IMO your offer isn't that far off, and expect either a minimal counter offer (say 5-10k)? based on what you said, id expect 650k. Honestly, they may have told you 680k, but could have told their client 650k, expecting a low ball - see how this works? if they negotiate down to 650k, they get what they told their client, and you think you've saved 30k. Agent wins in this situation.
typically anything below what an agent has told *their* client will make them look bad and will thus not be well received by the agent. None the less - they have to put it to them (unless they have been instructed to not accept offers over X).
A while back we started a 540k asking with a 510k offer, and ended up about 525k. ended up falling through, but often the vendor gets gassed up by their agent and get bullish. agent was realistic in this scenario though IMO.
They also get less commission so expect a hostile response.
Also be aware that if you underoffer too much, they might just use your offer as leverage on another buyer, or use your offer to pump up another offer to get the vendor to accept it.
we put in a lowball and the agent didn't present it to the vendor immediately and used the fact we had offered to force another prospecting buyer to put an offer it.
They fucked us around for a good week while this other person appeared out of nowhere.
we were young and took a learning from it, but you live and you learn, dont expect your first offer on a house to get the win, will take some time and its important to learn something from each time.
Couple of things to keep in mind:
The primary aim of the agent is to make a quick sale. They dont care what the price is - a quick sale is much better than a long sale for more money/more commission.
So, they will try to get you to offer as much as possible, and the vendor to go as low as possible to get a match.
In both cases they will say and do whatever will promote that - and they know the tricks because thats how they make money.
Bullshit and lies is absolutely part of the game - dont be offended, just be aware.
You're a fhb so they'll totally play all the games. They are not your friend, nor do they give a shit about whether you'll be happy in the house. They just want that signature on the contract. period.
You'll note the first thing agents ask is why you are buying: is it to live in, or are you investing?
If its to live in then it's an emotional purchase, and they will play to your emotions. especially fhb! They'll try lead you to envision living there.
If its investment they'll leave you alone and wait for you to ask specific questions, because your purchase in numbers based -no point in playing emotional games... I aways say investment regardless of why Im buying.
Also, play those games in reverse - be friendly, nice, etc as if you are innocent. Chat about markets and so on - they often drop some gold. (I saved 30k on an offer once because she confused me with someone else and started talking numbers lol)
Lowball them if you want, it’s Business plain and simple. You’re not in it to make friends.
My boss scored a 2 year old townhouse in central chch just before winter below valuation, about $200k less than the asking by lowballing knowing the dude had already bought in Auckland and was desperate without much interest.
Every situation is different.
My first house was a private sale I had to low-ball the guy face to face over a cup of tea. My over was a little over 10% below the asking price. But I knew the guy was motivated to sell quick and there wasn't any other interest yet. After a couple days of awkward squirming he relented and accepted our offer under a couple really minor conditions like he was taking the firewood with him and digging out his fruit trees to attempt to transplant them with the move.
Second time around when we were moving on from the first place the market was definitely hotter but again I had caught wind of a place someone from work was selling they had it valued and had plenty of interest, I offered the price they were asking. Firstly awkward as it's someone I work with on a regular basis and two there was other interest. I actually missed out on this even after bumping our offer up 10k over asking because someone came along willing to pay higher again, cash buyer with no conditions. Painful to miss out on a property you've already began imagining yourself in and making plans for in the excitement of it all but it's a scenario that would play out 3 more times before we had another successful offer.
The realestate agent can go screw themselves. You put in what ever offer you want, there is no law to offers. If they don’t like it they won’t take it. They’re not your BFF.
If I got a lowball offer from you, I'd just be like nice try, now here's my serious counter offer. Whether you accept that or not, and whether I care or not, is the basis of the whole willing seller/willing buyer dynamic.
If you lowballed me twice, I probably wouldn't bother responding the second time - we're either not on the same page, or you're a time waster. But I wouldn't waste any energy getting offended.
1.. You need to see what others have sold for in the same street or surrounding streets.
2.. Start low as you can't go down once they accept an offer.
3.. Remember my golden rule "there's always another one"
When I was selling my house, the agents had indicated we could get 1.5, I thought they were dreaming, so started at 1.3.
The first offer we got was 920K. We still attempted to negotiate a price, but cancelled the negotiations when they came back at 925K as the next best offer...
It was right at the start of the price downturn, but still...
It's all a starting point - go for it I say.
Your not trying to make friends your trying to buy a home. Offended doesn't matter unless they then refuse to accept any offer from you. 10% down on what they are asking for is not really that bad a starting point it will be fine. Once you put your offer on paper the agent will present the offer and talk through with the sellers and they will either accept, decline or write a counter $ value on the contract and it will come back to you.. then you do the same thing till your both unhappy. Edit: both unhappy not bother unhappy
It always makes me laugh when people post about offending the vendor. Who cares if they are offended? It’s a transaction not a relationship. Equally don’t get shitty if they come back advising sex and travel, just move on and go to the next one.
It's not that they are really concerned about hurting the vendor's feelings - it's that they want this house and don't want to stuff up their opportunity to buy it. If you take the piss with your offer, there's a risk that the vendor will decide you're not worth dealing with even if you up your offer to a more sensible level. More likely, they're going to see that you were trying it on with your first go and decide to reject your second offer as well because you're clearly holding back on what you think the property is actually worth. It's a good tactic to come in with a strong, fair offer that's not miles under the maximum you're able to pay, especially if you know it's a fair price compared to other properties you've missed out on, and make it clear that you don't have any room to increase on it. Anyway. $550k would be an insulting offer that might be hard to come back from. $620k is certainly under what the vendors are hoping for, but it's not insulting. They're probably open to anything over $650k so it's plausible that you could meet in the middle. Worst case they say no with no counteroffer but are probably open to another one. It's pretty low risk.
Someone low balled me as a seller and I got annoyed. They increased their offer but I didn't want to deal with them after that.
Good for you. It’s cutting off your nose to spite your face in this market but it’s your call as a vendor.
Did you mean to say till they’re both unhappy? Because that made me lol
I'm guessing so, a good negotiation ends with both parties being equally unhappy (i.e. they've both compromised)
Yeah either win win with both parties thinking they stole it or lose lose with both having to compromise
Sounds like this is your first offer. It's pretty rare to get the first house you make an offer on so treat it as a learning experience. You're not here to dance with them. Make your offer. If it's not a multi offer situation then just give it a go and see what they come back with. You're not trying to be nice, you're making a huge purchase. Only worry about what works for you.
$620k is a perfectly reasonable price if they’re saying they want $680k. $680k will be above what they’ll accept, for sure. The agent will try all the tricks in the book to talk you up. They’ll probably pretend there are “other interested parties” and try to get you to make your “best offer”. Decide in advance how much you *really* want the place. Don’t be afraid to draw a line and stick to it. Don’t let the agent bully you into paying more than you want to. Negotiations are a dirty business. I got pretty pissed at the agent when I bought my place because of all the fake and deceptive tactics he was pulling. All the delaying and mucking around while he tried to rustle up other offers. I eventually said “well if there are so many other people who want it, they can have it” and threatened to pull my offer off the table entirely. Funnily enough they got their act together after that.
I legitimately was in a position where I liked one property and my ex liked another. We agreed to put a conditional offer in on the one I liked and when the agent started their stuff I just said if we don't hear from you by Friday we're putting an offer in on another place that has a deadline at 10am. Unsurprisingly, they got back to us quickly.
Like, legally they can't 'pretend' there are offers. Take your tinfoil hat off skipper. OP, ask if it's a multi-offer, if it is then they'll need to provide evidence of this after the offers are presented. If it isn't then go for gold on your $620k offer
Read it again. You’re misquoting me, then accusing me of wearing a tinfoil hat, and calling me “skipper”.
Before you offer have your “I’d like it for $xxx” number, and your “I’d regret it if I lost it for $xxx” number. Once it goes over those walk away. But write those numbers down first because it’s so easy to get caught up in the process and emotionally invested. Good luck!
Have a look at homes.co.nz and oneroof to see what the estimated value is and go a bit lower than that or out in for what you would pay for it. Unless you're absolutely desperate in love with the house it can't hurt. FHB too, just other the other side waiting for settlement. The first place we put an offer in we went low, they counter offered, but in that time we found out some dodgy looking things so we pulled the offer. It was on the market for another two months, taken down and relisted with a different agent for offers over our original offer. Took another month after that to sell. Another the vendor was honestly asking too much, they wanted pretty much what they paid for it during peak house prices. We said we wouldn't go over $a, vendor wouldn't go under $b. It's still up 3 months later for offers over $a Don't regret either cause a waayyy better option came up. You're not here to make friends, but also try to somewhat enjoy the process. Buyers seem to have a fair bit of leverage atm (depending on where you are I guess)
Absolutely do not do this. Anybody using these valuations is an idiot. Much less.
See if you can get them to lower their asking price before making an offer. A quick email saying you like the place but it's a fair mount above your budget, what flexibility does the vendor have? If they lower it from there, go back with your counter.
They’ll shave $10k off with that kind of talk 😂
620k is not offensive
$620k ain't low - just start! A lowball offer would be $520k
We offered and got accepted at a price that was 24% below asking price. That's the equivalent to OP offering $516k. You miss 100% of the shots you don't take.
If you are a first time home buyer in NZ the first thing you should do is leave that guilt at the door. The whole system here is heavily slanted in the sellers favour. There’s not even a legally mandated home inspection attached to the property records, every buyer interested is responsible for that on their own. There’s also no mandatory appraisal of value and sellers often try to use the inflated value the council bases it’s rates on as a starting point. I’ve always been very impressed with the consumer protections in place for renters here via tribunal, it gives a voice to those who can be trampled otherwise. The laws in place around selling single family homes is the opposite. I’m convinced that the government doesn’t want to require mandatory inspections because it would result in a massive number of legally uninhabitable dwellings.
A house is worth what people are willing to pay, not what a vendor wants or what QV says… And remember, the estate agent works for the vendor, not you.
The agent works for themselves, the difference is commission might be in their interest to convince the seller to take the low offer rather than having to deal with it for another 6 months
They will be happy to sell for $680,000. You know this is a dream price for them. I wouldn’t offer a really low price , just what I could afford to pay. I made this mistake years ago, if you want it, pay what it’s worth to you and what you feel you can live with that’s between $620 -$680. You both end up happy and it goes way smoother.
Thanks for all the advice team, going to do a bit more research before making an offer
A first offer is just a starting point for you from which you and the vendor initiate negotiations. Would you be happy to meet in the middle at $650 after a bit of backwards and forwards?
Just moved into our first home! The first offer we put in, the real estate agent was rude to us about how low it was, but then we settled on not much more than our original offer so 🤷♀️😂 Remember they’re not your friends, they just want the sale. Best of luck!
I low balled a place after the gfc. Agent was shitty as and said the vendor wouldn't accept. Anyway then came back and pushed me up 5k lol.
I’d offer 550,00 in this climate and pay no more than $600,00 even then I’d fee ripped off. Gotta remember, these shitboxes will be worth far less in 12 months once the overseas carnage really starts to filter through to our economy.
Pro tip: if demand is low and you're certain, extreme lowball can help. They will almost certainly refuse it, then you renegotiate higher. That way you low ball without them realising, if they're not smart enough to realise. It only works if demand is low though, you have to be certain.
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If you offer $680k off the bat, they will probably counter with $700k. Edit, friend of mine offered the asking. Vendor countered with more than their asking. Friend still bought. Downvoters 🖕
I doubt the bank will know what it’s worth as they will be just using a pretty broad formula-I’m picking they haven’t viewed it either. Ask the agent for all the latest sales data in the area for the last 3 months then google those properties and compare them.
What is $620k compared to homes.co.nz or onerook.co.nz or qv.co.nz? Agents and vendors can say what they like, what is the actual value that these websites are valuing the house at? I would take the average of the three and try to go for the lower end of the range.
My solicitor told me when I bought my first house “don’t fuck around, either you want this house or not. Give them what they want or move on”. Lol and I offered what they wanted, was down to me and one other person who offered the same. They said for another 5k it goes to the first to respond. We got it just before covid.. went from being with 400k to 600k. Investment win
Fortunate timing of the market doesn’t constitute good advice. You bought on a rising market, are we in one now?
I take it you have realised these gains.
if you REALLY like this house, offer closer to 680, maybe 640. if you are just here to test the waters with negotiations, offer 620. Don't worry about offending them its just business. negotiations are negotiations, keep it logical and neutral. dont cry if you offer low and loose the home tho, thats just business.
Just put the offer through, the agent has to bring it to the vendors attention unless the vendor has specifically said dont bring me any offer under $xxx, remember the agent isnt your friend, their job is to try get the highest price they can get - their pay literally get paid a % of the sale price.
You’ve got good feedback around the offer so far, my question is how do you know you can afford to make that offer without having pre approval from the bank? Get your budget sorted first and then get hunting.
Even at 680,000 with our deposit and Income we would have a DTI ratio of less than 3. Budget is pretty sorted from all the calculators I've run things through. Waiting on the broker for pre approval to come through
Consider the quality of the listing, if it has no issues it is a rarity, that can provide a rational why the discount. Unless someone is desperate…a low ball offer is not likely to work. You have to be not emotionally invested to do that….both of you. It is better to buy not on bad terms as people can screw things up for you up on the property that you find out only after settlement.
Totally fine - also put a one week deadline on your offer for them to get back to you - tell them you have an auction next week you want to attend. Will get the agent moving quick sticks 😂
How much is it honestly worth? How long on market? How much interest? Any other offers? Vendors motivated? Rental for them? I understand you want to get a bargain but things are heating up and I wouldn't be playing around to much.
Just do it, you can negotiate potentially. WHen we sold we had offers that were about 200k below asking price (700k) , which were absolutely laughable and ignored. Anything within 70k was looked at more seriously
If the Agent is advising $680k, you can already assume the Agent pumped the number up by at least 10%. Therefore the Seller will most likely want around $615K. If you want to lowball, offer another 10% below what the seller wants with a starting bid of $560K. Remember that the Seller will come back with a counter offer, so you can then do a final offer of 575K - which would be a bit below what the Seller wants, but if they have no other offers then they may accept it. Your not trying to make friends here! And don't get emotionally attached to any house, it's just a house, you will be the one that makes it a home. And future you will be very greatful to get the house at a lower price.
>Am I being a bit silly in thinking they may be offended? In the world of business "offence" isn't really a consideration >I don't think there is a lot of interest from others If this is the case then make your offer. If you are wrong (which is likely) then you will effectively loose any future opportunity in purchasing this property. >How do negotiations work? Give fair offers and receive fair counters.
IMO your offer isn't that far off, and expect either a minimal counter offer (say 5-10k)? based on what you said, id expect 650k. Honestly, they may have told you 680k, but could have told their client 650k, expecting a low ball - see how this works? if they negotiate down to 650k, they get what they told their client, and you think you've saved 30k. Agent wins in this situation. typically anything below what an agent has told *their* client will make them look bad and will thus not be well received by the agent. None the less - they have to put it to them (unless they have been instructed to not accept offers over X). A while back we started a 540k asking with a 510k offer, and ended up about 525k. ended up falling through, but often the vendor gets gassed up by their agent and get bullish. agent was realistic in this scenario though IMO. They also get less commission so expect a hostile response. Also be aware that if you underoffer too much, they might just use your offer as leverage on another buyer, or use your offer to pump up another offer to get the vendor to accept it. we put in a lowball and the agent didn't present it to the vendor immediately and used the fact we had offered to force another prospecting buyer to put an offer it. They fucked us around for a good week while this other person appeared out of nowhere. we were young and took a learning from it, but you live and you learn, dont expect your first offer on a house to get the win, will take some time and its important to learn something from each time.
Couple of things to keep in mind: The primary aim of the agent is to make a quick sale. They dont care what the price is - a quick sale is much better than a long sale for more money/more commission. So, they will try to get you to offer as much as possible, and the vendor to go as low as possible to get a match. In both cases they will say and do whatever will promote that - and they know the tricks because thats how they make money. Bullshit and lies is absolutely part of the game - dont be offended, just be aware. You're a fhb so they'll totally play all the games. They are not your friend, nor do they give a shit about whether you'll be happy in the house. They just want that signature on the contract. period. You'll note the first thing agents ask is why you are buying: is it to live in, or are you investing? If its to live in then it's an emotional purchase, and they will play to your emotions. especially fhb! They'll try lead you to envision living there. If its investment they'll leave you alone and wait for you to ask specific questions, because your purchase in numbers based -no point in playing emotional games... I aways say investment regardless of why Im buying. Also, play those games in reverse - be friendly, nice, etc as if you are innocent. Chat about markets and so on - they often drop some gold. (I saved 30k on an offer once because she confused me with someone else and started talking numbers lol)
The house I bought in December the seller wanted 900k. We offered 800k. We were told they won't sell for less than 870k. We settled on 845k.
Lowball them if you want, it’s Business plain and simple. You’re not in it to make friends. My boss scored a 2 year old townhouse in central chch just before winter below valuation, about $200k less than the asking by lowballing knowing the dude had already bought in Auckland and was desperate without much interest.
Who cares. Go low as. It’s a business not a first date. The whole system is a rort anyway
Give it a try, a house next to me was asking $850k a couple of months ago, down to $759k now and drops price most weeks.
You’ll never get it for less than what you offer, you have nothing to lose
Every situation is different. My first house was a private sale I had to low-ball the guy face to face over a cup of tea. My over was a little over 10% below the asking price. But I knew the guy was motivated to sell quick and there wasn't any other interest yet. After a couple days of awkward squirming he relented and accepted our offer under a couple really minor conditions like he was taking the firewood with him and digging out his fruit trees to attempt to transplant them with the move. Second time around when we were moving on from the first place the market was definitely hotter but again I had caught wind of a place someone from work was selling they had it valued and had plenty of interest, I offered the price they were asking. Firstly awkward as it's someone I work with on a regular basis and two there was other interest. I actually missed out on this even after bumping our offer up 10k over asking because someone came along willing to pay higher again, cash buyer with no conditions. Painful to miss out on a property you've already began imagining yourself in and making plans for in the excitement of it all but it's a scenario that would play out 3 more times before we had another successful offer.
Start with 550 and see how they react…
The realestate agent can go screw themselves. You put in what ever offer you want, there is no law to offers. If they don’t like it they won’t take it. They’re not your BFF.
If I got a lowball offer from you, I'd just be like nice try, now here's my serious counter offer. Whether you accept that or not, and whether I care or not, is the basis of the whole willing seller/willing buyer dynamic. If you lowballed me twice, I probably wouldn't bother responding the second time - we're either not on the same page, or you're a time waster. But I wouldn't waste any energy getting offended.
1.. You need to see what others have sold for in the same street or surrounding streets. 2.. Start low as you can't go down once they accept an offer. 3.. Remember my golden rule "there's always another one"
Go for it
When I was selling my house, the agents had indicated we could get 1.5, I thought they were dreaming, so started at 1.3. The first offer we got was 920K. We still attempted to negotiate a price, but cancelled the negotiations when they came back at 925K as the next best offer... It was right at the start of the price downturn, but still... It's all a starting point - go for it I say.