The top cities to get a discount on properties as homeowners drop asking prices by up to £70k
THE regions where property sellers are most likely to drop asking prices by up to £70,000 have been revealed - and they're all in the South East.
Estate agent Property Solvers has compared Rightmove asking prices with house sale prices from the Land Registry over the past year to find where buyers can bag the biggest discounts.
And there's promising news for buyers who face unaffordable, rising house prices, as negotiating down costs may be the only way to afford buying somewhere.
Surprisingly, asking prices in London appear to be the most out of touch with reality, because the six regions where asking prices have reduced the most are in the capital.
Prices in South West London dropped by £71,178 on average, while sellers in North West London dropped theirs by £68,840.
In West London, prices were reduced by £53,998, it was £37,597 in North London, £28,147 in Kingston Upon Thames, and £27,818 in Harrow.
How to haggle house prices
HERE are some tips from on how buyers can negotiate a better deal on property:
Get a mortgage in principle - The seller is more likely to accept an offer from a buyer who knows they can borrow the right cash rather that someone who doesn't.
Do your research - Ask the agent how many viewings the property has had. If it's very few, you know you can go lower than the asking price. Check how long it's been on the market for too because the seller may be willing to accept a lower offer if they're looking to sell quickly.
Research other properties - Knowing the going rate for properties in the area may give you a strong case to argue it's too expensive.
View it throroughly - Any flaws that need working on give you the opportunity to knock cash off the asking price.
Promote yourself - Let them know if you're a first-time buyer, chain-free or paying in cash because it means the seller may pick you over others as the sale is likely to go through quicker and it may mean they're more willing to negotiate on price.
Imply interest elsewhere - There's no harm in applying pressure by letting them know that you're interested in another property elsewhere.
Start with a lower offer - Explain how you came to that figure to show you're a serious buyer and the seller may think twice about the valuation.
Outside of the capital, sellers' expectations were slashed by £27,584 in Slough and by £25,705 in Watford.
This was followed by £25,435 in Guildford, £20,966 in St Albans, and £18,001 in Southampton.
Buyers won't have much luck knocking down prices in Scotland though, where sellers reduced them the least.
Perth prices dropped by just £2,435 and those in Kilmamock were cut by £2,595 on average.
In the North of England, Wigan saw the smallest reductions of £3,890, while in Hull costs were slashed by £4,258 on average.
Ruban Selvanayagam from Property Solver said: "Even some of the most experienced estate agents are failing to understand the current realities.
"Arguably due to the cloud of uncertainty surrounding Brexit, we're operating in a buyer's market at the moment and the fact that agents knowingly state exaggerated valuations at the initial stages is a disservice."
The firm plans to repeat the research next month to see if anything changes.
Of course, to take real advantage of the findings, home buyers will need to be prepared to move into the areas - not something that's possible for everyone.
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We spoke to a first-buyer who left London to move 200 miles away to Manchester, just so she could afford to buy somewhere.
If you are struggling to get on the property ladder, we've put together a round up of the cheapest homes in the UK that are selling for £20,000.
Yesterday, we reported how first-time buyers can buy a house without a mortgage under a new scheme.
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