Bargaining on property

I would also say its very dependant on the nationality of the vendor. If its Spanish owned good luck in any discount.

On a property programme I watched years ago, one of the professionals involved (an American) said that "Unless you were embarrassed by the first offer you made then you were offering too much."

Makes sense to me. You can always improve your offer and meet at a mutually agreeable price, somewhere in the middle, but if you start off too high, and meet somewhere in the middle, its going to cost you money.

If you talk about offering say 10% less than their asking price, then you are letting them set the price they think it's worth, which means nothing. Their price may or may not have any bearing on reality. Go in with a very very low offer and see what they say.

If the property has been on the market a good while without any interest or offer, and you go in with a real low offer, they may realise that they have totally overpriced it and act accordingly.

That's my tuppence worth anyway.

There are so many variables that I would say it's difficult to generalise. Offer what you think it's worth to you. I would say that if you are low-balling the seller then it may help to explain the thinking behind your offer- otherwise I suppose there is always the risk of offending.

Black wrote: Offer what you think it's worth to you...

Good comment. That is ultimately what it is about... People can get too clever sometimes or get distracted by the idea of beating someone down or getting a ' bargain'. If it is to be your fulltime home you might have a different idea of what it is worth from if you are buying it as a holiday home or even just to rent out. If you are making an offer you think is ' embarrassing', why is that? Why is it embarrassing? If that is all you are willing to pay for the property and you are happy to move on if the seller says no, well go for it. If in fact you really want and like the property then why are you risking the offer being rejected out of hand? In the latter case I would think ( IMO) you should make a better offer, not necessarily the asking price, but something not laughable, including ( as someone suggested) saying that you are making an offer that takes into account you have to renovate/ redecorate/ upgrade etc. Certainly I would doubt if 10% variation would offend anyone esp if there's an obvious reason. But where offering eg 63k for a 70 k property is , ' why not' territory but offering 50k on a 70k property ( nearing 30% under the asking) should to my mind ( only my opinion of course!) only be done if you are genuinely not bothered if the seller tells you to get lost, you are not ' in love' with that specific property and are happy to move on. They are only likely to accept such a low offer if its effectively a 'fire sale' and if for whatever reason the seller is desperate.

So sorry Dinkelhopper for that hijacking of your post. Still a bit uncertain of what to do on here.I have opened up a new post regarding my request for Almoradi information .Once again sorry for that

Regarding pricing most people have a rough idea of what a property is worth to buy & to sell or are advised by there sales agent or Lawyer on pricing but having just recently sold a property & weve been watching prices for some 5/8 months prices on most decent properties are rising not decreasing & the days of expecting to get 10/20% off of a good property are on the way out. What we found is check on prices around the area set your price to sell or buy then it depends how desperate you are to buy or sell. As if you really love a property why risk losing it by offering a silly price & losing it for the sake of a few thousand €. Having said that i know a sales agent whos property is on the market at a reasonable price but has not been sold & hes not selling it himself hes using another company to do it for him. We also have a friend desperate to sell a property in Quesada its a lovely property but was priced at around €450 K but due to divorce probs its now down to €285 K & still not selling but others can sell in days or weeks but some take months but its your choice & offer on any property.

bluejock45 wrote:So sorry Dinkelhopper for that hijacking of your post. Still a bit uncertain of what to do on here.I have opened up a new post regarding my request for Almoradi information .Once again sorry for that

Sorry, was meant more of a joke. This happens here sometimes that it puts it in the wrong place. Darn that cache memory...hahaha

Hello All

I want to thank everyone for all their input. On this particular property it is priced higher than other homes in same area. Same area have loads of properties for sale and most seem to be on the market for quite some time. I think I will give it a go low-balling it and maybe they accept maybe they don’t. Maybe they’ll counter a offer or maybe they tell me to get lost. No biggie, like I said loads of other options.. Keeping fingers crossed

I would be very wary about buying a property in an area where lots are up for sale and have been for a while. Do you know why so many are selling up? It makes me think there is something wrong with the area. Maybe a high crime area or imminent new builds very close or some other reason. Just something to keep in mind.