How to haggle down a house price – according to a property millionaire

Jamey Bowles knows how to pay the right price for a property. Since the beginning of the year, he’s managed to knock off between 8pc and 20pc from the asking prices of houses he’s bought, mainly located in the north west of England.

The 28-year-old describes himself as a “business builder and solutionist”. Having left school at 16 and finding himself homeless, Mr Bowles began working as a labourer before making his way up the ladder to owning his own construction company. Since then he’s bought several businesses – a collection of tattoo studios among them – and also helps aspiring entrepreneurs.

Mr Bowles bought his first property, a house in Northampton, in 2016 with a former girlfriend. The relationship broke down soon after and he had to buy out the other half, becoming an accidental landlord in the process. 

Quickly acquiring a taste for buying and renovating, within four years he was a property millionaire with a portfolio that continues to grow. Telegraph Money shares some of his top tips for house price haggling.

Do your research

His first bit of advice for buyers is to do some desk-based homework. “Before going to view a property you’ve found online, do some digging,” he said. 

“Type in the address of the house or flat into Google and websites such as Rightmove and Zoopla, which will give historic prices for properties sold on the street. 

“Using floor plans, work out what the average price per square foot is for the street and compare that with the property for sale to see whether it has been overpriced. If it has been, ask estate agents why.”

Check for past price drops

Next up his sleeve is Property Log. This is a Google Chrome extension which shows a list of historic price changes for properties listed on the Rightmove portal, which feature on a separate panel. 

“It’s a fantastic tool,” said Mr Bowles. “Most agents will float the property on the market at a high price to see if there’s any interest – if there’s not, they’ll drop the price. 

“Then, if there’s too much interest at that new level, they might put the price back up. The historic pricing tells a lot about how the property is performing on the market and the motivation of the seller.”

Scope out the seller

Face-to-face tactics come next. “Ask the estate agent what the seller’s position is,” said Mr Bowles. “They don’t normally get asked this, and it will probably come as a surprise. 

“Listen carefully to the answer. If the vendor has already found another property, you know they’re going to need to sell, and there’s an opportunity to put in an offer under the asking price. If they haven’t found anything yet, it’s likely you’ll have to pay close to the asking price, as they are in no hurry. In this case, stand back and wait a few weeks.” 

Make a connection

Mr Bowles’s final tip is to open up communications with the seller. “There’s a strong chance the vendor will be there during viewings, toddling around. My advice is to establish an emotional connection with them by making a positive comment about the property. 

“I’ll even try and get the vendor’s phone number and interact around the agent to build respect. It doesn’t go down well with the agents, who like to be the ones to give the vendors all the advice, but time and again I’ve found making this positive connection with the vendor really useful when it comes to negotiating a price and sealing the deal. Being honest and straight to the point will go a long way to building trust and confidence.”

Be sure to consider the market

All things being equal, these tactics should work across the board. However, in the rarefied market of prime central London, agents report what’s described as “a pricing stand-off” between buyers and sellers. But some are shifting their position. According to research by Coutts, buyers are able to secure an average of 8.6pc off the asking price, compared with 5.6pc at the end of 2022.

Buying agents, who are paid a fee (between 1pc and 3pc of the purchase price) to find their clients a property, sell themselves on their skills around the negotiating table. 

Jo Eccles, founder of buying agency Eccord, said there’s plenty of room for sensible negotiation right now, but warns against those who cast doubt on their integrity as a buyer by putting in unrealistically low offers – they risk losing out. 

Ms Eccles has a salutary tale of how it can go wrong. A buyer had a wife whose heart was set on a flat in Belgravia priced at £11m. Against advice, he decided to reduce his offer a few days before exchange. 

“The seller was outraged and not only declined the lower offer, but refused point blank to engage with him after that,” she said. 

“Under pressure from his wife to put things right, and after a lot of persuasion, the buyer did manage to secure the property in the end – at £1m more than the price originally agreed.” 

Timing is a critical factor, agrees Jess Simpson of Jess Simpson Property Search, another buying agency, now that the heat has come out of the top-end country market. 

“Sometimes it pays dividends to simply observe how the marketing process is going rather than rushing to submit your bid,” she said. Ms Simpson’s team recently saved over 15pc on a “significant purchase” for a client by allowing the lack of offers from other buyers to manage the seller’s expectations downwards over a period of time.

“If we had offered at that level straight away our client would have lost credibility with the seller and would have been out of the running. Equally, if we had offered the price they were asking at the outset, we would have significantly overpaid,” she added.

Justify the price drop

In any market, most experts agree that if the property price is going to be renegotiated, there needs to be a solid justification. 

The most common way to knock down the price is when a survey result has thrown up significant unexpected expenses that need urgently addressing, such as asbestos lurking under a garage roof. Another is if the transaction has taken a very long time and the market has softened since terms were agreed, said Ms Simpson.

In a market where vendors no longer hold all the cards, buyers should also underline their strengths. Being a first-time buyer (providing they are in the position to pass an affordability stress test) could be one of them, given there is no chain to hold up the sale. 

“Sellers are much more open to negotiate, particularly if they have interest from chain-free first-time buyers,” said Nicky Stevenson of Fine & Country, an estate agency. Being a cash buyer might also mean the vendor is willing to accept a lower offer – especially if they are in a hurry to sell.

Another tactic is more old school: make a personal plea to the vendor. Jennie Hancock of Property Acquisitions, a West Sussex-based buying agency, recently had a lower offer accepted in a sealed bid situation, thanks to a letter that was presented to the sellers. 

“We included that our buyer’s parents had lived in the next village and she wanted to return to her roots. The sellers remembered her parents and wanted our buyer to secure her dream.”

This article was first published on May 20 2023 and is kept updated with the latest information.