How much less to offer on asking price '%' ...

Hello, 

Iin the current market how much less should we offer for a €375,000 town house in a pleasant area. 

Tom ...

As an estate agent my self I would offer between 95% and 98% of the asking price if it is an english owner depending how much you want the property.

Take a punt and offer 300 to 325K and see what happens - worst they can do is say no and you can always go back with an increased offer.

Nothing ventured nothing gained

It all depends on the owner's urgency to sell. 

If you offer considerably less than the asking price, the worst that can happen is that it is refused.    You can then offer  more if you still want to buy.

Prices have fallen by up to 50% since 2007, and may be continuing to fall, unless you believe the sales patter by estate agents, desparate to talk-up the market.

Sound advice from johnzx, I'm currently looking at buying and have cash. One agent told me that having cash is neither here nor there as buyers can easily get mortgages and would not give a deposit unless they thought they would get a mortgage. The way some agents have been talking up the market you would think properties were selling as soon as they are on the market and there are loads of buyers around.

re the property you are looking at, if it is a British buyer and they are returning back to the UK they will be looking at the £=€ exchange rate, as this will determine how much they end up with, at the moment the euro has gained back some strength but not in comparison to 12 months ago. With Spanish sellers I find they pick a price and wait until someone pays it, no matter how long it takes. Each sellers circumstances are different, good luck.

I haven't seen a price tag of 375,000eu on a town house since the boom days I wonder were it is in Spain considering property has dropped 50% since the boom days that would put the asking price of you're town house in the region of 750,00eu back then takes some beleaving that it is worth anywere near that .

What town is the house in?

It seems a lot for a town house but as always location is key to valuation and price.

Recently I have purchased, albeit not in Spain, and as a cash buyer negociated the asking price down a considerable amount and exchanged and completed in 7 days.

Rossetti

@windtalker

haven't seen a price tag of 375,000eu on a town house since the boom days

Really? A quick look at Kyero shows a terraced town house in Malaga for 750,000 euro, one on a community in Manchones for €360,000 and even one in Alora fronting on to the street for €450,000. The one in Manchones is only 2 bedrooms as well. Even in Torrevieja (traditionally a cheaper place) there are quite a few terraced town houses going for 3 to 500 k (bit silly when a detached, 5 bed villa is on sale for 299,000).

However, programmes like a place in the sun (or whatever) do give a little bit of a false sense. The other day, the presenter mentioned property had dropped 40 to 50% in the last 7 years and the average detached house was now £137,000 but it "was the norm" to offfer 10% under the price. We had a Russian near us who paid €235,000 for a corner town house those 7 years ago and has just sold it for €132,000. However, he has got about the same in rubles as he paid for it. Just makes anyone selling start to lose heart when they see their properties going down like that.

But making an offer. I'd probably offer about 10% less on a property at that price and see the reaction. Some people are desperate to sell and it seems a bit callous to profit from their obvious misfortune, especially if they have already reduced the price by a lot. But it's a buyers market (still) and many offers are being accepted.

I know a neighbour who was selling for €170,000 and someone said they can buy a similar one over the road for €120,000. He told them to buy that one, then. (He wasn't desperate to sell, just wanted to move to a bungalow as his wife was finding the stairs and cleaning of theirs a little harder nowadays).

The townhouse is in the Los Arqueros area of Benahavis ...

Tom ... 

I have offered 10% less on a property in Murcia its a bank repo ( Solvia ), and they will not move on the price, it is a good price but you would think if they have a buyer offering a bit less they would go with it ( as i could walk away ), it would save the bank money on not paying the commuinity fees for years and wear & tear ( thats if they are paying them ) but  i will pay the full asking price.because it is a good deal.

Your talking creme de la creme Benahavis is exclusive La Zageleta nearby properties 10 mil stop been a clever C---k people that way are loaded and will laugh in your face 

Better of up by us where the scutters keep the prices low 

Love Hughsie xxx

€375k for a town house? Where is it......... in Chelsea?

The banks still have in excess of €80bn worth of homes, developments and land they can’t shift, house prices are still dropping and as usual some deluded Estate Agents are talking the job up! There are so many different ‘departments’ issuing house value/sales statistics (all with different results) that it is impossible to know the truth as many base the published data on asking prices not ‘achieved prices’

Fact is, Spanish built homes are amongst the lowest standards in Europe and the lowest priced, it is logical that buying prices are dictated by Spanish incomes and they are still too high for a normal Spanish family to buy. 

There are a large number of over-valued houses on the market that were bought before the crash with the sellers now believing  that they can find a mug to buy at an unrealistic level in order to clear their huge mortgages.

In most of the Western world, when buying or selling a property, an estate agent ought to able to provide an extract from the land registry, etc giving the number of registered sales within the area in the last three months (for example), a short description of the property so one can work out its relevance to your enquiry, the price fetched, etc. Surely this is the easiest way to get an idea of what a property is currently worth? 

, ................  an estate agent ought to able to provide an extract from the land registry, etc giving the number of registered sales within the area in the last three months (for example),

A great idea but that might be a very short list with the real market the way it is. Maybe sales over the past 12 months might show at least a couple of sales !!!

Unfortunately not in Spain Guy! The banks seem to still rely on TINSA valuations. The very same TINSA who valued ruins at astronomic sums several years ago and were said to be contributory to the collapse of house prices.

In a depressed, overstocked market the value of a house is determined by the price a buyer is prepared to pay. Owners who put their properties on the market at crazy prices are just as bad as the agents who take them on and advertise them – in the hope that a mug may just fly in from UK with a wad.

No matter where the property is located you will not buy it for less than the seller is willing to settle for, the buyer's task is to get to the sellers bottom price, this is as it has always been and always will be..

Obviously any exchange will only take place at the meeting point of what the seller will take and the buyer will pay.

But surely there are land registry records of transactions, even if, as John suggests, they are likely to be sparse?

It would give prospective buyers/sellers insight into the real world. I'd have thought this was a better place to start than just looking at what might be a thumb-suck price and offering 10% less. 

Start with the market rate minus 10% then negotiate from there.

The asking price may or may not be in line with the market rate as some sellers have inflated expectations. A property is only worth what people are willing to pay for it. As others have said, do some research on recent sales of similar properties in the area. This should give you a view of the current market rate.

What we have found is that beach front properties that are nicely turned out haven't moved in price since their pre crash high. However we know a development in La Fustera that cost circa €380,000 for a 2 bed, 2 bath apartment 10/12 years ago, you now have a selection starting at €160,000. The development is situated circa one killometer inland from the coast road, had it been beach front the apartments would have held their price. My advice is to find where you would like to buy and then talk to owners.

Am I right in thinking that the Spanish government are still taking sales tax at a percentage closer to the price a property was initially sold for....rather than the price paid today?