UKC

If I'm considering a property in the Glasgow area, does anyone have an idea how much over the o/o figure houses are currently going for? (I'm thinking Milngavie, Bearsden, Kirky, Lenzie type areas)

The only info I've been able to glean online is that lately, Edinburgh final sale prices were typically 6.5% above o/o figure.

In reply to Fraser:
Can't help directly, sorry - it will probably vary between areas as it always has done with market supply and demand - but I have always found in the past that your Solicitor who will be dealing with your purchase is in a good position to advise on what to offer over (or under) the asking price.

Unless its changed since I last bought they had a good feel of the market through their sales/purchases and contacts. Was part of what you were paying them for if you really wanted to be in the running for a property as opposed to a speculative offer where you would tell them what the offer was to be.

In reply to Climbing Pieman:

Yep, cheers for that, I appreciate it's a bit of waving-a-damp-finger-in-the-air situation. It's years since I bought anywhere in the open market and that was pre Home Report days, so it was often way over the o/o figure that sellers were expecting.

In reply to Fraser:

Agree with what Pieman says. And if you don't have one yet, and want a recommendation of a good west end solicitor, then drop me a message.

In reply to jonny taylor:

Cheers for the offer. Got a good pal who assisted last time round but he's in the criminal sector rather than conveyancing and has moved since then, so I might get back to you if his new place doesn't have such a dept.

In reply to Fraser:
was once within a nat's boll*ck of buying Glasgow(shawlands/top end of Viccy road)... did the viewing morning where there was very little interest, got no clues from owners or agent... they said only dealing in sealed bids, no communication etc... so we bought into the survey, went 10% over.. and didn't get it. Found out after through a contact, they accepted roughly 12% over on the day during the viewing. Never looked to buy in Scotland again, despise the system. It appears fair and transparent, but it's as rotten as anywhere else, only in different ways.

In reply to summo:

Understood. I've tried sounding out a few owners during viewings, when it's just been me, but they've just kept shtum. One wee old woman was almost in tears after I delicately broached the subject so I didn't push it. Didn't really want the place, more just curious as to what she might be expecting or have been told to expect.

I've lost out on a couple of properties in the past to what I assumed was some shady dealings by the agent or solicitor.

In reply to Fraser:

My family sold a 3 bed semi-detached chalet bungalow in Lenzie last summer. It was marketed at offers over £175k and we accepted an offer of £185k. The house was only on the market for 3 weeks so potentially it could have gone for more if we had waited longer but due to circumstances we were keen to sell the house.

In reply to rossh:

Thanks for that, it's very helpful info.

In reply to Fraser:

You could try and do some matching of prices off Zoopla? I.e. try to find a recently sold house that you know what the asking price was. Not sure what the delay is between a house selling and the price going up on Zoopla though. (it comes from the Land Registry)

In reply to Fraser:

Live in Bearsden, and what I would say is that everything seems to be shifting very quickly in the last 6 months. As for prices achieved, unfortunately, I cannot help. Bonne chance!

In reply to Alasdair Fulton:

About a month or so.

In reply to Fraser:

A friend who's been looking recently ended up getting somewhere with an offer 10% over the asking price in Clarkston. The same approach in Bearsden etc didn't work. They put in a lot of offers over the asking price on various properties before they got one. They were looking at the most popular properties in popular areas though.

In reply to JSTaylor:

Thanks, I grew up there so know it well, and am not surprised they're shifting fast. I 'blinked' slowly before seeing a couple of properties there a few months ago and missed them both.

Re the zoopla suggestion Ali: about 6-8 months ago I was interested in a house just next door to one I saw this evening and can't find the first one's sale price anywhere online. It was sold before I could arrange a viewing so I know it *should* be noted somewhere. Very confusing!

In reply to Fraser:

I bought in the area you are looking in about 18 months ago. At the time, houses were going fast and we paid about 13% over the o/o price. We assumed we were paying well over the odds but we really wanted the house and we could afford it. It in the event, it turned out that we only won by a couple of hundred pounds, so actually we were pretty much on the money.

The solicitor we used advised that we base our offer on the valuation price rather than the o/o figure. Our offer was the valuation price plus about £2000, so it seems that this was good advice. If the market is slower, or you aren't desperate for that particular property go slightly under the valuation. I don't know if it still holds though - as above talk to your solicitor as they will have a better idea what is going on now.

In reply to kathrync:

Thanks for this, interesting to hear. The viewing last night went well, although a couple of issues became apparent, but things are progressing okay so far. On checking the Home Report, I'm considering going in slightly over valuation as a final figure, but initial offer will be lower than that due to the issues mentioned above. I'm speaking to the solicitor in next day or two hopefully. Thanks again.

In reply to Fraser:

Good luck!

Our house had some issues too, but they were all accounted for in the Home Report and the valuation took them into account. We might have tried a similar approach to you anyway, but we viewed on a Tuesday and the sellers were closing on the Friday so we didn't have much time to faff around with offers and counter-offers - we just went straight in with the high one.

In reply to kathrync:

Cheers, I agree that sometimes a straight, max. high-ball offer is the way to go.

In reply to Fraser:

Hmmm, spoke to the solicitor who said in her experience over the last 2-3 months, properties in M'gavie & B'den are often going for about 10% over Home Report valuation figure, yikes!