Looking for a sanity check on house buying offers
TLDR:
Is offering 250,000 on a 270,000 house realistic or offensive to sellers? Need a sanity check on the house buying process
My wife and I have been looking at houses as first time buyers. We have a Help to buy ISA which means we get a government bonus on our deposit if the house we buy is £250,000 or less.
We started only looking at houses that are 250. Made an offer on one that a previous buyer who pulled out on after a survey identifying extreme levels of damp. The house sold for approx 230.
Family and on mortgage broker are saying to look at houses 260-270 as its normal to offer up to 10% less but also acknowledge the sellers might not accept the offers.
The question is are we wasting our time looking at 270,000 properties and getting our hopes up? We really don't want to offend a seller either.