Making an offer

We are moving house…have seen a property that would suit at €320k.
My dilemma is that we really don’t want to go above €300k as we will need to change things in the property.
Q: do we go straight in and offer €300k and say that’s it, accept or not…
OR
do we go in lower at say €290k…expect a response halfway at €305k…then say we can go to €300k maximum…

…with the added information that it is in effect a cash offer and the compromis can be signed as soon as it it ready.

The house has been on the market quite some time, albeit at a higher price.

Based on a single purchase experience here, I’d say offer 290, then go up a little if needed.

That was my thought too - 10% off basically.

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Ours was on for 72K - we offered 65K and bought for 67K with contents included for the extra 2K.

At least, possibly a bit more as most vendors will be assuming they will settle between 5 and 10% under the asking price.

That could make the vendor less likely to come down more, at least in the short term.

What is the price like compared with similar properties in the same area?

This site can help with that… Explorateur de biens vendus - DVF - data.gouv.fr

Very useful link…shows the low and high valuation range for the property we have just sold,…
Net seller price
€502,700
i.e. €2,205/m²
Low fork€438,316
High fork€566,996

…we sold for €555 net venduer.

Interesting the house we may buy shows a range between :
Net seller price
€263,300
i.e. €1,841/m²
Low fork€223,805
High fork€302,794

Big considerations for me would be how long it’s been on the market and how driven the owners are to sell. It’s a very interesting market in France as the turnover is so relatively low and, above all, some house valuations seem totally out of kilter with the market, normally driven by owner’s input on the sell price, ignoring the agents valuation, or at least not taking it onboard.

I’ve known folks selling who have held out for years for the advertised price and I’ve seen a couple of others who had to reduce their prices by almost 50%.

On top of all this, it also depends on your interest and how much you are willing to pay i.e. would you be ok to walk away and find something else if they don’t accept your offer. Personally, my general approach is ‘if you don’t ask, you don’t get’, so without knowing anything about the house other than the advertised price, I’d initially offer 240k and be ready to negotiate. Again, depends on how long it’s been on the market and how keen the owners are to sell, and the risk you want to take on with losing it. If you’re a cash buyer you’re obviously in the ideal position and the owner has less risk of losing a buyer versus someone who is mortgage dependent.

Have to say €240k would be taking the P*ss and a bit of an insult.

IF I can’t settle at €300k I walk away as I could not afford to do what I would want with the house.

There’s no simple answer to this as it depends on so many variables such as how keen you are to buy, how keen the seller is to sell, how long it’s been for sale etc.

Personally, we went in at 20% below asking and settled at around 10% below asking and, I’m looking for a house, not a new friend, so don’t care if they feel insulted. They may, to coin a phrase, be taking the piss with their asking price and I’m not paying for their feelings. There are enough houses on the market to go elsewhere.

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You need to remove all emotion and think of it as a pure business transaction, unless you’ve got money to burn. I sold two houses here about 3 years ago and I can tell you I had plenty of very low offers, but the choice was mine whether I wanted to negotiate or not. I always tried to gauge how keen the buyer was. Ultimately there were two folks in each case I negotiated with and got what I wanted. Also helped that the asking prices were quite inflated, anticipating negotiation. Over the years I’ve saved a substantial amount from negotiation - love it.

If you want to throw your money away, throw some my way and I’ll save you a
substantial amount by negotiating :grin::grin:

Like taking candy from a baby, dealing with folks who don’t negotiate.

Can’t help, sorry, we bought ours for the asking price of the FF equivalent of £7,000 I think it was, and didn’t have the cheek to suggest lower. :rofl:

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If I remember we offered around FF20,000 less than the asking price back in 1989 but felt bad about it as the heirs were four children of the defunct owner and it would not have gone very far but the Notaire said it was fair and they accepted it. Some vendors think spending money on a property means they must value it at that investment, hence ridiculously high and stupid asking prices for what was standard improvement work such as new electrics, drainage, windows etc - you can’t ask a buyer to reimburse you for those if they were needed badly.

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My house started out at +/- €140k. In 18 months it had come down to €87k. The agent suggested a bid of €76k. I expected the usual Brit tactic of ‘Let’s split the difference’, which I would have accepted. The sellers, the three 50’s/60’s age children of the deceased owners, accepted my offer.

I’m not a fan of ‘dark brown’ furniture but on a gig in FR I once slept in one of these and as a token of now being a resident in FR.
image
decided I would have one.

There was one in the house. The sellers wanted €300 for it. These beds were going for +/- €100 on LBC. I found one at €100. When I went to pay and collect I offered €80. Again, expecting to split the difference I was surprised to have my offer accepted. The mattress was still in its plastic wrapping .

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My English gran had a sleigh-bed in beautiful cherry wood… part of a bedroom suite she bought at an Exhibition in London in the late 20’s/early 30’s (when she’d got a job in the civil service and was earning good money…)

I was too young to “grab it” when she died so the whole lot went to the Salvation Army…
I was sad at the time, but as a grownup I like to think it went to someone in need.

Just an update…we had offer accepted €20k less than advertised price…In Practise, how long does it take to complete Compromis and move in?
Seems the house I am selling 4466m2 with land) has to be referred to something called SAFERS?
Is that for every sale or because we have woodland? Apparently buyer can pay €380 to try and get it done quicker…but no guarantees.
How can I speed up processes…I want to be in new property before new college term.

I will check with Mairie but the slope from the road up to the driveway…just loose gravel at he moment…want to make it good…do I need permission for that?

You cannot rush the paperwork, there is now a lot more to be included than ever before so the Notaire will be the only person to give you an idea. SAFER get involved when there is land etc in a property and it can be offered to local farmers if they wish to make an offer for it. Woodland not so much. As a rule of thumb, anything exterior that can be seen from the road or neighbours needs permission even if only verbal but never take that as gospel and always get in writing as it can come back and bite you. I honestly think your drive won’t need any permission but if rain runs down and onto the road or a communal ditch you may have problems.

The wheels of bureaucracy turn slowly, normally about 3 months. It normally makes no difference paying the extra to fast track SAFER (It’s an agricultural thing so farmers have first choice on the land). Friends of mine tried and it took longer :roll_eyes:

Need to try and find some sort of solution to be in that area before end August. I do not want my sone to have to start in local here and then have to start all over again in a month or two further on.

Need some lateral thinking…maybe we go that area and rent somewhere…IF can get for short time…

We bought in early April and moved in on July 4th - so Mark’s 3 months is about what we experienced and SAFER were involved. The difference is that we were before the July/August holiday period. Your deal is going to be processed right through it - so no, there’s no such thing as “speeding this up”. Maybe look for a gite arrangement for August/September/October?