When it comes to buying a house, everyone wants to get a good deal and get it below the asking price. Putting in lower offers can be tricky, as you don’t want to offend the buyer and put them off you completely. It may leave you wondering, what is a cheeky offer on a house? And how cheeky is too cheeky? Let us solve the mystery for you, as we have the answers you need!
If you’re here as you have a specific question, this menu will help you find the answer. If you’re here to immerge yourself in the world of cheeky offers on houses, then great! Get stuck in…
- How do you make an offer on a house that is overpriced?
- Do sellers always take highest offer?
- Do sellers usually accept first offer?
- Can you offer 15% below asking price?
- Is 90% of asking price a good offer?
- How do you make an offer on a house?
- What is considered a lowball offer?
- What conditions will affect how low your cheeky offer is?
- How do you get a seller to accept a low offer?
- How do I know if my house is worth the asking price?
- What brings down property value?
- Should you accept a low offer on your house?
- How much lower can you offer on a house?
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How do you make an offer on a house that is overpriced?
When offering on a house, it’s often that the estate agent has given the seller high hopes and set the asking price of the property too high (annoying I know). Due to the asking price being set too high, the seller may have a different opinion to you as to what is a cheeky offer on a house and see any offer below this as a cheeky offer. This means when going into an offer on a house that’s overpriced, you need to take care and make sure you have evidence to give proof that your offer is in fact reasonable. The seller is likely to take a disliking to you should you go in stating you think it’s overpriced, with no evidence to suggest this.
The best way to make a cheeky offer on a house that is overpriced is to do your research. Firstly, an easy way to establish if a house is overpriced is to look at the average days on the market for this area and if the house has been on the market for longer than this average, the chances are it’s overpriced, hence why it’s sticking on the market. This could be used as proof, when putting cheeky offers on houses, that the house asking price is too high.
Another way to find evidence the house is overpriced is to view the property thoroughly and compare to other houses in the area. If the house is of a significantly lower standard or there seems to be repairs which will cost a fair bit to fix, then this can be used as evidence to state the house is overpriced, making your cheeky offer look a little less cheeky.
Do sellers always take highest offer?
The answer to this is dependent upon the seller. Different sellers will have different motivations, for some a fast sale may be the preferable option.
Let’s say a seller wants a fast sale – they get two offers; your offer, what is a cheeky offer on a house at 10% below the asking price, but can complete in a month and an offer which is the full asking price, or only 3.5% below asking price but they’re in a chain, haven’t sold their house and don’t know when they’d be able to complete by. Which offer are they more likely to accept?
Since they want a fast sale, they will choose your offer as, although yours is the lower offer of the two, you have stated you will be able to complete within a month, making your cheeky offer on the house look a little less cheeky.
Do sellers usually accept the first offer?
Once again, this is dependent upon the seller and their motivation. If they want a fast sale, naturally they’re likely to accept one of the first, if not the first, offer they receive, even if it is a bit of a cheeky offer, providing it’s not too significantly below their expectations. However, if a seller is in no rush and want to get the best possible price for their house, it’s likely they’ll be ignoring the cheeky offers and waiting around for the best offer they can get.
Having said this, the first offer sellers receive are often actually the best. This is because it’s fresh on the market. If a seller ignores the first offers they receive and their house sits on the market, the agent is likely to encourage the seller to reduce the price, by 5-10%, which is then often in line with the first offer they received.
If you are first to putting in an offer, don’t be afraid to put in a cheeky offer, as the seller’s estate agents should be advising them that your offer is actually in line with what the house is worth, as estate agents tend to overvalue houses by 5-10%.
Can you offer 15% below asking price?
Yes of course you can. The truth is you can offer whatever you choose on a property, but you have to be careful to not give too cheeky of an offer or the seller may think you’re rude and disregard you completely. However, an offer of 15% lower may be considered a cheeky offer, but it isn’t so cheeky the seller will think you’re being disrespectful.
An estate agent will generally over value a property by 5-10%, making an offer of 15% lower closer to the houses actual value. Having said this, a seller may counteroffer your cheeky offer and try get you to increase your offer, to only 10% below the asking price, for example. This shows the seller is up for negotiation on the asking price, meaning an offer of 15% below asking price may not actually as cheeky as you think.
If you’re wanting to put in a cheeky offer of 15% below asking price, also check the number of days the property has been on the market. If the property has been on the market less than 90 days, it’s considered fresh on the market and so the seller may find a cheeky offer offensive or your offer may not be competitive if they’re receiving other better offers.
It may also be a good idea to check the sold prices of the area and similar houses. This will help give you an idea what houses are selling for, giving you proof to use to back up that your cheeky offer is actually worth accepting.
Is 90% of asking price a good offer?
What makes a ‘good offer’ is subjective and will differ from person to person. As we mentioned earlier, an estate agent generally overvalues a house by 5-10%, meaning an offer of 90% of the asking price is probably in line with the true value of the house.
If you want our advice then we say if you’re happy to pay 90% of the asking price, put in a cheeky offer of 85% of the asking price. Why? This allows room for movement and the seller may negotiate up, so you end up paying 90% of the asking price. Compare this to if you offer 90% straight away, there’s less room for movement and the seller may try to negotiate until you pay 95%, 5% above what you were wanting to pay.
Having said this, check with the estate agent before submitting a cheeky offer, you don’t want to offend the seller and have them discount you completely.
Once again, you need to consider number of days the property has been on the market. A seller will be more open to your offer of 90% of the asking price if their property has been on the market for a few months rather than if it’s been on a few weeks.
How do you make an offer on a house?
Before making an offer on a house, it may be good to get a rough idea about what sort of offer the seller would accept. You can do this by asking the estate agent, but if they’re doing their job correctly, they shouldn’t be giving you an exact answer.
Estate agents, however, are chasing a sale and so may be open to giving you a few hints. They could give you an approximate range of what they know the seller will accept, which may be able to help you with putting in a cheeky offer, as they may be willing to accept 10% or 15% below the asking price.
Also, before putting a cheeky offer on a house, it could be beneficial to see if there’s already been any offers on the property and, if there has, what the approximate value was of the rejected offer to give you an idea of how cheeky you can go with your cheeky offer.
The reason we say ‘approximate’ is because, again, an estate agent isn’t allowed to disclose the amount of anyone else’s offers.
When making a cheeky offer on a house, how much you want the house will dictate how cheeky you feel you can be. We would recommend going in lower than you want to pay with your first offer, leaving room for negotiation with the vendor.
However, it’s important your offer isn’t too low that instead of being seen as a cheeky offer, it’s seen as rude or disrespectful. You also want to make sure your offer stands out from the crowd, which brings us onto…
How do I make my offer stand out?
People often assume the answer to this question will be putting in a high offer. However, it’s not always price that gets the sellers attention and there are ways you can put in a cheeky offer and still stand out for the right reasons (yay). Try and find out the seller’s motivation – is it they want a fast sale? Do they want a cash buyer? Do they have a set completion date they’re aiming for? Whatever it is, you need to use these to your advantage, in order to make your cheeky offer stand out.
The average deposit people put down is 15% (Trussle) but if you can afford a 20 or 25% deposit, offer to put this down on the house. This will reassure the seller your offer is serious and that your cheeky offer is one they should accept. Another way to catch the seller’s attention is to offer a flexible completion date. A flexible completion date is more doable if you have no chain, or a small chain. This is because in a chain, buyers and sellers are dependent on each other’s sales completing and if one sale falls through, it’s likely the chain will break, and the rest of the sales will fall through.
However, if you find out from the estate agent the sellers motivation is finding the highest offer, you may have to submit a less cheeky offer, only 5-10% below asking price, which the estate agent should advise the seller to consider, as this is actually the true value of the house.
What is considered a lowball offer?
‘Lowball’ is a slang term for an offer that is significantly below the asking price. These offers work best when the buyer has an upper hand, giving them the ability to negotiate. A lowball offer is considered to be 25% below the asking price. Anything below this will likely be considered rude or disrespectful, causing the seller to disregard you completely (and we really don’t want that!)
Sellers naturally will always want as much as they can for their property and may often be reluctant to accept a lowball offer. However, there are occasions when accepting a lowball offer is actually in the seller’s best interest. For example, if the house has been on the market a long time, offers on the property will start to slow and cheeky offers will begin to become more appealing. Or the seller may have already purchased another property, increasing their urgency to sell and likelihood of accepting cheeky offers.
What conditions will affect how low your cheeky offer is?
When wanting to make a cheeky offer on a house, there will be certain conditions which will dictate how low you go.
To help you with assessing how low to go, we’ve got the different things you will need to consider before putting in your offer listed for you here:
- How desperate is the vendor to sell – This may sound a fairly obvious statement, but the more desperate the vendor is to sell, the more likely they will be willing to accept a cheeky offer
- Who is the vendor – By this, we’re not meaning you need to know their name and personal details, but more what their job is. For example, if they’re a property investor and selling off properties from their portfolio, they will likely be more open to a cheeky offer
- The location – If the property is in a highly sought after area, then it’s less likely the seller will be open to a cheeky offer
- The housing condition – The worse the condition and the more work that needs to be done, the more likely it is your cheeky offer will be accepted
- The property market – If the housing market is going through a ‘dry spell’, then houses on the market won’t be shifting as quickly, making a seller more open to a cheeky offer
- Your level of interest – If you’re really interested in the property and not willing to have your offer turned down, then it’s more likely the offer you put in will be closer to the asking price
- How long it’s been on the market – If the property has been on the market a while, the seller will likely be more desperate to sell, which brings us back to the first point on this list, which is the more desperate the vendor is to sell, the more likely they will be willing to accept a cheeky offer
- Any previous price drops – Try looking online at the pricing history of a property, as if a seller has had to drop the price of their property multiple times, it will change their outlook on accepting a lower offer
- Relationship with vendor – If you’re negotiating with the vendor directly, then this is key in deciding what to offer. If you have a good relationship with the vendor, then you may be less willing to ruin this by putting in an offer too low
- Strength of your position – If you’re in a strong bargaining position, for example if you’re a chain-free cash buyer, then you’re more likely to get away with a cheeky offer
- Your ability to take rejection – Unless you’re happy to take no for an answer, you may be more reluctant to putting in a cheeky offer
How do you get a seller to accept a low offer?
Sellers will always be reluctant to accept a cheeky offer as they will always want the highest price possible for their house. However, sellers do and will accept cheeky offers, it just may take a bit of negotiation from you.
It may be that you offer a big deposit or get a mortgage in principal to prove you will have no issues getting a mortgage and you will be able to move the process through quickly. It’s also important that you do your research. Look at recent sold prices or look for something similar on the market to compare prices. If the house you’re wanting to buy is priced higher, you could state this to the seller, showing their house is slightly overpriced and that your cheeky offer is actually more in line with what the house is worth.
Another thing you can do as a buyer is to view the house yourself and view it thoroughly. This means you’re almost looking for what’s wrong with the property – is there work that needs doing? Are there problems with the skirting boards? Does something look structurally wrong? If there are any issues with the house, these can be used as ‘bargaining cards’ to help the seller to see why your cheeky offer is one they should accept.
You could also advertise to the seller what makes you a good buyer, whether that be a fast sale, a big deposit or that you’re flexible to work around dates which suit them.
How do I know if my house is worth the asking price?
As we’ve previously mentioned, as a general statement the asking price will be 5-10% above what the house is worth. However, sometimes an estate agent may value your house even further above its worth, as they’re aware when valuing your house you will have asked other estate agents to also value your house, meaning they’re competing with them for the chance to sell your house. Due to the competition, an estate agent may value it too high, so you pick them to market your house, giving you unrealistic expectations about what your house is worth.
There are a few ways for you to check the value of your house, to ensure it’s worth the asking price. Many different property websites, such as Zoopla or Nethouseprices, have free valuation tools. Other websites, like Nestoria, display the market value of the property under the asking price. These tools will allow you to get a good idea how much your house is worth compared to the asking price and so will help you decide whether some cheeky offers you receive are worth accepting. Although, it’s important to keep in mind, the valuation tools aren’t always 100% accurate and may be based on old information and could undervalue your property as well as overvalue.
Another method you can use to check the value of your house is to compare to other similar properties on the market and also to check recent sold prices in your area. If, however, you have a unique property it may be hard to find something to compare your house to. Often a unique house can charge a higher price due to the scarcity of similar houses.
What brings down property value?
When putting in a cheeky offer, there are many different things that bring down property value which you can use as evidence to justify your lower offer. For example, a property in an area of high crime will mean house insurance is higher and so could be used to justify a lower offer. Also, a house with a messy exterior or poor efficiency ratings can decrease the value of the house as these aspects will take money to fix.
Other things that could be used to justify a cheeky offer is too much clutter, over personalisation and pets in the home. Although these are aspects of the home which aren’t sold with the property and are down to the owner, they still make the house appear less attractive when viewing and could be used to justify a cheeky offer.
Should you accept a low offer on your house?
Once again, the answer will differ from person to person and will depend on your situation. If you’ve had loads of successful viewings and offers, then a cheeky offer may not appeal to you. However, if you’ve already bought your next property and so have an urgency to sell, a cheeky offer may seem more appealing if they’re offering completion within a few weeks. If you’re low on offers and viewings are starting to slow, a cheeky offer will again seem more attractive.
It may also depend on how low the offer is compared to your expectations of what your house is worth. If you’re selling your house for £100,000 and someone offers £85,000 (15% below) but you feel your house is worth £95,000, then you’re going to be reluctant to accept the cheeky offer and may want to try to negotiate with the buyer.
Another thing to consider is how long your house has been on the market. If this low offer has come after your house has been on the market for months and hasn’t moved, then it may be time to consider accepting that lower offer. However, if your property is new on the market a cheeky offer may seem ‘extra cheeky’ and you may want to hold off accepting this.
So, what is a cheeky offer on a house? How much lower can you offer on a house?
It’s important to remember your first offer is seen as a starting point and will help the seller decide if they feel they want to negotiate with you. If your first offer is too low, the seller may think you’re being rude and may refuse to negotiate with you completely. Ask the estate agents what your buyer is expecting and if they’re open to negotiation. Your offer should be no more than 25% below market value, anything less can’t even be excused by being cheeky!
Sellers tend to accept offers 5-10% below market value, so you can maybe test the waters and offer 15% below market value initially. This will give you room for negotiation and will often result in you getting your cheeky offer on your desired house accepted!
What do you think is a cheeky offer on a house? How low is too cheeky? Don’t hesitate to get in touch and let us know!
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Millie is a perfectionist with a passion for property and writing articles. You’ll find her researching the latest housing trends and the newest up and coming areas worth investing in. Read more about Millie here.
Great advice Millie.
Thank you! 🙂