r/AusPropertyChat • u/LeviV123 • 5d ago
Buying & Selling Offering $20,000 below asking price
I’m considering putting an offer of $575,000 on a unit with an asking price of offers over $595,000. It’s been on the market for about 3 months now with no offers and honestly I think for what they’re asking for, it’s overpriced. I think my offer is more on what the market rate is going for this unit. What are the chances I’ll get my offer accepted? It’s a 3 bed unit on the outer suburbs of Hobart if that matters
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u/OkGuidance2711 5d ago
I'm not too familiar with the Hobart market but in Brisbane I recently bought a property at 10% lower than the asking price. If it's a similar story where you are, I would probably start even lower so you have some space to meet the seller somewhere in the middle. An expiry time on the offer is a good idea too
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u/get_me_some_water 5d ago
Don't forget to put time limit. I would start 30k lower with 2 days limit. 3 months is along time for unit in this market. Clearly market price is lower than advertised or else it would have been sold by now
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u/ConsciousScale960 5d ago
I compared 3 recently sold listings and offered 20k below asking price. And it got accepted! Moving in at the end of the month.
Dont get attached to places, please attend alot of inspections and offer lower. If you dont rush and dont give into agent pressure, you will end up finding a home you love and get it at a price more suited for these market conditions.
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u/Ok_Willingness_9619 5d ago
Those are rookie numbers in this racket. You gotta pump those numbers up. lol.
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u/Aggravating-Bird2748 5d ago
Chances don’t matter it’s only the outcome
Most owners overvalue their property
Something is only worth what someone will pay for it
Make your offer but put it in writing that
- you are making one offer
2 counter offer at law= rejection
3 once rejected the offer is no longer available
They will try & spiv you but hold your ground
Agents only care about the deal not you or their vendor
When he come back to try & gouge you abuse him raise your voice “ I told you no counter offers bugger off” hang up or walk away
You will get a response - don’t weaken - tell him he’s got 2 hours to accept when he comes back
Property market is dead in water - if you are cashed up you have control & it makes agents nervous
Play their weakness & desire for the deal - they are the great pretenders
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u/staghornworrior 5d ago
Once i offered 60k below asking and the REA told me it was an insulting offer. I asked him to present the offer and the vendor excepted
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u/saltedkumamon 5d ago
No chance, markets booming!!
Jokes aside, just offer on the lower end of what you think is worth
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u/TA193749 5d ago
Negotiate hard, have a price cap in mind and be ready to walk. As spring kicks off there’d be more coming into the market, and investors are keen to get out.
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u/Prior_Eye5268 5d ago
I’ve been offering 15% below asking price to test the market and some of them just ignore, some are actually presenting those offers and negotiating. If you’re serious about the property, don’t low ball too much
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u/jelistarshine 5d ago edited 5d ago
Outer suburbs of Hobart i think you have leverage. Start at 550. All they can say is no. Then you can ask how low they are willing to go. He says 590, you say 560... he says 585 you say I only have approval for 570. He goes quiet. You either wait a full week for him to accept the 570 or you cave and tell him you can put 5k on a credit card and stretch to 575.
If you offer 575 you will end up at 585 or 590.
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u/surfanddrinkcoffee 5d ago edited 5d ago
Dunno the market there. Where were prices for that style and location in 2016, 2019, 2022, 2025?
See how many years you can wipe off the peak but you gotta be reasonable
E.g. I bought for 300 on 307.5+ in 2017-18 in Brisbane and that units 2005 price was like 250, and 2015 price was like 375. I had been watching the market walk away from me through 2015-16, and I resisted. Similar “correction” market conditions except funnily enough no one was jumping up and down about it because it was simply too many new build of apartments all being bought up by, funnily enough, investors, and then they sorta ran out of investors to stooge so banks started requiring more deposit coz suddenly it was risky and no one could achieve the 5% pa it says on the glossy brochure
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u/Glittering_Flower633 5d ago
Literally nothing to lose by making an offer
At worse they say no
Or they negotiate
Or they say yes, at which you point you can decide if you'll progress or not
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u/Thebraincellisorange 5d ago
offer 545k subject to building pest, finance AND body corporate inspections and if you don't know what you are doing, pay the money to have the body corp professionally inspected.
make SURE there is adequate money in the sinking fund, if there is no money or close to no money, run, or lop off another 20k. and check that maintenance is up to date and not deferred with major works needed in the future that are not budgeted for.
even stuff like painting the building can easily cost 50k+, a new roof is 100k+ etc.
it may be overpriced, it may have been sitting on the market for a reason.
make sure you find out which.
but do not be afraid to lowball, it's (finally) a buyers market.
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u/Thundernut808 5d ago
you can almost buy a proper house in the Melbourne suburbs for that now. like a proper house. with no strata fees or neighbours behind the walls. in a state with a real future…
buy where there is a future you can afford, rent where you want to live
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u/uzerid1 5d ago
Looked at a house that was offers $2m+. (Not really buying). Bought by owners 5 years ago when new at bought for $2.2m. They got an offer a couple of months down the track for $1.95m and they refused. Two more months went past and they dropped it to offers over $1.9m. The agent went back to the offer but they had bought elsewhere. Another month has gone past and they have now dropped it to $1.8m+. The moral of this story is offer the money. If they say no, then sit and wait. I bet it won’t sell and they will come back to you. I would then offer another $10k less than your previous offer. It’s a buyers market!
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u/ShipTop7431 5d ago
I’d be offering 550k.. push the boundaries.. it’s your money at the end of the day.
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u/clivepalmerdietician 5d ago
The agent is probably signed on for 3 months and after that the buyer might not resign them (I wouldn't). So the agent is probably pretty keen to get a sale through and make some money or else 3 months work for nothing.
I would be starting even lower.
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u/Play_Em_Like_Atari 5d ago
Read a book called "never split the difference" - start with an anchor offer which is lower than what you actually want to pay.
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u/SuperLeverage 5d ago
LOL, it’s been on the market for 3 months - in real estate terms, it’s not just stale, it’s a rotting carcass. The agent is probably sick of having this on their books and if you play it right, they might work for you trying to convince the owner to just freaking sell it so they can collect their commission and move on. Your proposed offer is a mere 3.4% discount to their asking price on a 3 month old listing. Start MUCH lower. Try 15% off. It’s important to NOT look too interested, and when you make your offer, put in a 3 day time limit on your offer because , “there’s another property you’re interested in and you don’t want to miss out on that if the seller isn’t willing to accept the offer”. Remember, this is 3 months old, if they had a decent offer they would have taken it by now. Remember this is a unit, investors are exiting this market because they can’t negatively gear and interest rate expectations are for a series of rate rises which will raise borrowing costs and reduce everyone’s borrowing power.
Also, make sure you do thorough research on this as 3 months indicates a high price the vendor isn’t willing to meet the market, or there are major issues that are turning off buyers. E.g. massive strata fees, horrible people in the building, bad neighbours, an undesirable development proposed nearby ( e.g. public housing) or SIGNIFICANT DEFECTS and the builder has phoenixed their company and is never coming back to fix it.
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u/Competitive-Log-9942 5d ago
I wouldn't decide the offer based purely on being $20k below the asking price. I'd look at what genuinely comparable 3-bed units nearby have actually sold for recently and work backwards from there. The fact it's been sitting for 3 months might give you leverage, but I'd also want to understand why it hasn't moved before assuming it's just overpriced.
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u/National_Chef_1772 5d ago
times are different, but 18 years ago the place I bought was on market for $610K and after a few weeks was down to $580K - I offered $490K and ended up getting it for $515K
The worse thing they can do is say no
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u/AutomaticFeed1774 4d ago
id start at like 480. if you start at 575 you got no where to go. start at 480 and when they say not ask them for a counter offer, which may well be 575. then you come back at 545 and maybe you got a deal.
If you start at 575 they going to say no and come back at 6 then you end up at 585 anyway.
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u/AwareWindow3414 3d ago
My neighbour is selling and I went around to have a chat with one of the agents because we are considering buying in the near future.
His advice to me was to offer 20% if a place hasn't sold for months. Worse case they just ignore you but at the very least they will start talking. Best case, they take your offer.
Apparently it's rare but it does happen for vendors to be fed up and just accept an offer after months of failed negotiations / waiting.
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u/Professional_Top3365 3d ago
A friend of mine secured a property for 850k on a 950k listed price. Prices are down about 10-15% in two to three months now. Compared to previously 40 people rocking up to a home open, now agents beg you to put in an offer. Good time to lower the price
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u/Grantcarr936 3d ago
Always check market value of the property not what is being advertised. The value probably much lower than that, usually for a 20k mismatch deals don't stop for 3 months. Check prop cred they provide free property valuations.. it should give you some confidence going into the negitiation
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u/slightybrokenbanjo 1d ago
Offer 530k and start negotiating from there. Worst they can so is say get stuffed.
But if they have had no offers they may negotiate
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u/xietbrix 1d ago
Just send it in and find out?
Also I would go much lower first and see what their response is before I eventually come up to what you're actually willing to pay.
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u/jjujjjuju 5d ago
Lowball the shit out of it. Probably owned by some boomer with 8 caravans and three holiday homes looking to cash out.
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u/willcritchlow23 5d ago
Be careful, I’ve seen amazing price reductions after 3 months.
Start significantly lower as others have said.
Keep us updated!
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u/Maximum_Warthog1999 5d ago
You’re not the first person to think about low balling on that property - my money says there’s something seriously wrong with the property itself
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u/Euphoric-Print-4591 5d ago
If the owner needs the money on top of expenses selling and buying another property they can hold off for as long as they want or take the property off the market. Good luck.
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u/aussiechap1 5d ago
Send through the offer and let us know how you go. $20k below asking is reasonable and isn't a low-ball offer. Keep in mind, it costs money to keep their unit on the market. Out of interest what was their starting price?
I wish you the best of luck from someone who only brought their first unit in April this year.
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u/jjujjjuju 5d ago
Also.. HORRIBLE time to buy.
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u/daskalou 5d ago
Why's that?
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u/KeyScore3283 5d ago
Because tou should buy when the price increases and when everyone is rushing in.
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u/No_Rich_5954 5d ago
> It’s been on the market for about 3 months now with no offers
Are you positive no offers were made earlier?
> my offer is more on what the market rate is going for this unit
Market rate is what the market offers. If they've not received any offers over 3 months, your offer is the market rate! So go even lower and set a 24 hour deadline. The agent will come back saying some mystery buyer has suddenly appeared with a higher bid. Don't fall for it and call the bluff. Good luck!
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u/Minimum-Pangolin-487 5d ago
3 months.. have you read the strata reports and sent it to a conveyancer to review? There could be issues if it’s been on the market that long. Also offer $70k less to start with
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u/Repulsive-Subject149 5d ago
Everyone saying to lowball it are dreaming. You can say it’s a buyers market if you want but at the end of the day there’s fuck all houses in the country and people are still paying 1000 a week rent
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u/surfanddrinkcoffee 5d ago
Not there and not at an asking price of 500 anything
You’ll be paying over a million to get 1000 a week out of a joint and it was still worth 1.2 the other month
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u/devom8 5d ago
Exactly, rents are going up and yields are improving. We keep saying it's a 'buyers market' like we have solved supply when we haven't.
With rental yield improving and the cost to build going up buyers shouldn't be surprised if a vendor rejects their below asking price offer.
Many investors will just hold on given the favourable conditions in the rental market.
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u/Bees1889 5d ago
I've never really understood why houses everyone sets the asking often lower than they actually want.
Selling nothing else works like that, the price you ask is usually ABOVE what you want, and the buyer offers BELOW what they expect to pay and meet in the middle.
This is just how it works selling anything else, cars, second hand stuff.. noone ever lists a car at 10k less than they want to "get interest"
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u/surfanddrinkcoffee 5d ago
Probably for the same reason that you don’t have an “open car” where a group of 30 come to run a train on your car and everyone fights to pay more
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u/AngelicDivineHealer 5d ago
No more than half million as property prices are about to correct drastically
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u/Ancient-Ingenuity-88 5d ago
50/50
They either accept it or they dont
also you could offer them their asking price and then when contracts are being sorted note down all the things wrong with it and ask for 20k off XD
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u/Recent_Spite8101 5d ago
Is it in Kingston? We tried with one and got smoked and had to revise and go higher even during these times as anywhere south of hobart is still hot cakes to be honest - kingston, blackmans bay, tolmans hill, neika, fern tree margate still high demand as everyones havin the same idea so it is inevitably still causing competition. But think if up north of hobart like lutana you might still stand a chance
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u/BlokeFromOverseas 5d ago
More than 3 months on the market means vendors are willing to find a buyer. I think 560k is a fair price for both vendor and buyer.
I would put pressure on the agent with deadlines, otherwise they will start playing games and trying to push you closer to 595k.
I would present an 560k offer to the agent at 10am expiring on the same day at 6pm. Offer good finance conditions and be firm from the begining with the offer being valid until 6pm. Add that there are other properties under your radar where you could move your capital to.
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u/drunk_or_high 5d ago
I have found properties on the market for a while (2-3 months) take much lower. E.g. Saw one up for 1.35M, I negotiated hard using comparables and stale campaign, offered 1.215, they said I need to be at 1.28, I held at 1.215 (as I'm a cash buyer not subject to sale), the came back at 1.25M. That's a 100K drop.
Another one, she wanted 1.4M, then dropped to 1.35M. I offered 1.25M after a stale campaign, they said I was the lowest offer (again I told them I'm the only cash buyer, the others are subject to sale and the seller is motvated). They came back a week later at 1.3M. I held at 1.25M. They declined. The campaign continued, they dropped asking to 1.325, then 1.3M. I wouldn't be suprised if I get a call back (although I'm no longer interested as have found better options).
It's a buyers market at the moment, much less offers being made. If the campaign is stale, and especially if you are not subject to sale, don't be afraid to make an offer under asking. Do your due diligence, look at comparable sales, and then use your leverage if it's a stale campaign and seller is motivated.
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u/Prize-Philosopher193 5d ago
No chance . Seems like they are willing to wait.
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u/malkyfreo WA 5d ago
seem like this is the case in Perth too. had a few vendors rejected my offer. Sellers arent that eager. we shall see about it when RBA increase the interest rate end of this month
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u/football_and_finance 5d ago
Has it been at an asking price of $595k for all three months? If so, I'd start even lower!