Know The Score
According to Jonathan Haward, expert negotiator and the managing director of property search and negotiation specialists County Homesearch, a combination of variables will affect the offer you decide to make.
"It's a matter of having confidence, being aware of your facts, and being conscious of competition from other buyers," says Haward.
As well as thoroughly researching the area and inspecting the property carefully for any flaws that might alter the asking price in your favour, being aware of your facts also means finding out where everybody involved stands.
It includes assessing, maximising and then advertising your own readiness to act on a sale, as well as engaging in some polite information-gathering in order to evaluate the vendor's situation, and then turning it to your advantage.
Lie Of The Land
There's nothing sneaky about it - it makes sense to know where everyone stands. "Engage in conversation with the vendors if at all possible," advises Haward, "and find out how, why, when, where - what their plans are and what sort of time they are working with.
"If you are in a hurry to move but they haven't found a house yet - and actually, they'd quite like to stay there and see the summer out, then that could affect the offer you are making."
On the other hand, he says, if you discover that the vendors have fallen in love with a house that they are keen to buy, and that they can't wait to move into - and school starts soon, and perhaps a recent near-buyer has let them down - then the situation is a different one and they may be more receptive.
It's a matter of testing the wind and pitching your approach accordingly - or, as Haward puts it, "reading the tea-leaves".
TOP TIPS: HOW TO HAGGLE LIKE A PRO
Sets of interlocking factors that will influence the offer you make also include the following:
1. Expect To Haggle:
Vendors will very probably have priced the property slightly higher than what they expect to get - so be aware that haggling is the name of the game. You make your initial offer to the estate agent, they take it to the vendor and then it's a case of whether you can find common ground.
2. How High Can You Go?
Decide what you can afford to pay - although your offer will probably a bit less, to give you room to manoeuvre. Have a maximum in mind and don't go above it in a bidding war.
3. Make Your Position Clear:
If you are not in a chain, or if you have the money sorted and a mortgage-in-principle, for example, then make that clear. It may swing the decision in your favour if there is competition for the property.
4. What's The Market Doing?
You can only haggle effectively if you know what the market is doing: if house prices are rising (a sellers' market), you won't have much room to put in a lower bid; but if it's a buyers' market, you may be able to offer less. Check our
property news pages and market reviews for regular updates.
5. Check Sold Prices:
There are now websites that allow you to check sold prices - you can check what's been achieved on the street for similar properties. You can use this info to negotiate. Remember, though, the data is a little behind the times - in a fast market prices may have gone up, in a slow one, prices may be on the wane. See our free and easy to use
Sold Prices information page to do this.
6. Left On The Shelf?
Try and find out how long the house has been on the market, and whether its price has already been reduced - will a lower, but still reasonable offer, be accepted with relief by the vendors?
7. Rivals To Outwit?
Find out how many other people are interested in the property, and whether there are any other offers on the table. 'Sealed bids' will be requested if there are a number of potential buyers, and if this is the case, you will need to pitch your offer higher than the asking price - but not so high that you end up paying over the odds.
8. No Mug:
Once you've done your homework, ask intelligent questions. Let the agent and the vendor see, without showing off, that you are well informed about the market, and that you know the value of the property.
9. Poker Face:
Cultivate a friendly but confident manner, and don't let on how much you like a property - let them know that you are viewing other places and keeping your options open.
10. Batteries Not Included?
Be in no doubt about what you are offering to buy: get any fixtures and fittings that are included in writing, and take a very close look at them to make sure they are worth it.
11. Subject To Contract:
When you make an offer in writing (after the initial verbal offer, but usually before having a survey carried out), make sure you write 'subject to contract' on the letter, in case you change your mind or are forced to withdraw for any reason - or in case you decide to renegotiate the price following the survey, for instance.
12. Too Clever By Half?
"If the property seems fairly priced, and there are tell-tale signs of a lot of people coming round the place, and you really do want it, then really there's no point in insulting the vendor with a low offer, otherwise you simply won't be taken seriously," warns Jonathan Haward.
"They may even decide, if you go about it the wrong way - and I've seen this happen - that they won't have you in the house. Some people try to be too clever for their own good. But it's not about being clever - it's about securing the property that people want, and doing a deal that suits everybody well."
Claire Rigby
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