Exact times you should haggle on house prices when buying a property as discounts hit decade-high

A PROPERTY expert has revealed the best times to haggle when trying to get the best deal on a house.

Recent figures from Rightmove show that price-cut properties are at the highest number in a decade.

According to the property website, 36.3% of properties that are currently for sale have been reduced in price.

On average this equates to around a £22,700 reduction (6.2%) nationally.

Rightmove suggests that this is down to a combination of interest rate rises and buyer and seller activity slowing down due to the summer holidays.

Tim Bannister, Rightmove's director of property science, said: "It's been a slower than usual August, so all eyes will be on market activity over the next few weeks, which will set the trend for the rest of the year.

"The combination of 14 consecutive Bank of England interest rate rises and many buyers and sellers still catching up on lost pandemic holidays has contributed to a bigger than expected summer lull."

However, the market is expected to pick up again in Autumn so if you are thinking of buying a property now could be a good time to test out your haggling skills.

We spoke to Jonathan Rolande, property expert from the National Association of Property Buyers, to get some top tips on the best way you can haggle.

When a property is overpriced

Jonathan says you must do your research to ensure you are in the best position to haggle on a property.

He said: "You must be able to know a bargain when you see one and be able to spot what is good value and what may be overpriced.

"If you are househunting you will quickly get to know what is good value and what is not.

"It might not always be necessary to haggle if you spot a bargain."

He recommends setting up alerts on websites such as Rightmove so that you can start to get a feel for the properties that are on the market.

He added: "When you are looking to buy or sell a property you very quickly become an expert and start to know what is a good price and what isn't."

When owners want a quick sale

Jonathan recommends that you get yourself in a good position before you start haggling so that sellers know you are serious when you make an offer.

Jonathan said: "Make sure you have been awarded a mortgage already.

"It will also put you in a better position if you have already sold your house.

He also says you should try and find out the buyer's timescale too, as it will help to determine how quickly they want to sell.

If someone is desperate for a quick sale they might be more open to receiving an offer that is under the asking price.

After a survey

The expert suggests making an offer for 5% less than what you think the property might be worth.

He adds that some people are not always focused on getting the asking price but that dealing with a sensible buyer is often what is important to them.

Jonathan said: "Most buyers don't want someone coming and telling them they have put an offer on five other properties.

"They want someone who is going to be focused and committed to buying their property."

He says that it may also be possible to negotiate again if a survey reveals problems with the property that were not apparent when you made your first offer.

"If you have a survey done that reveals other things you did not know about when making your original offer, you could try to negotiate again.

"Things such as woodworm, dampness or problems with the roof are all going to cost money to fix so you could negotiate based on how much the work is going to cost.

"You should be prepared to share the results of the survey when doing this."

Negotiating on the price isn't the only way to get a reduction - check out first-time buyer schemes that could be worth as much as 75%.