In any successful negotiation, both sides need to feel they have won. For you it'll be that you can carry on buying your dream home at a price that is fair for you. For the seller, they need to feel they are getting a fair price for their home in its current condition. These seem the same, however most sellers will have had an estate agent set their expectations on what their home is currently worth in its current condition. It will be difficult for the seller suddenly to have to shift their thinking from their property being worth £250,000 to £230,000. This shift in return on their sale could mean they can't afford to move or they'll have to buy somewhere else - you can see how this can be upsetting for the seller.

This is why when negotiating with the seller you should appreciate their circumstances and work with the them on finding a price that is more reflective of the, 1. current market value in the property's, 2. current condition.

Before starting any negotiation you should research property prices in the area where you are buying. Prior to online search engines this would have been more difficult, however nowadays Rightmove and Zoopla offer market information linked to all their property listings. You can search for:

This is where you can get the most accurate data about what your property is worth. You need to look for properties on your street, with the same amount of floor space, bedrooms and bathrooms. Where properties differ in size this can become more difficult because more bedrooms and bathrooms will mean a higher purchase price.

You should also be careful not to compare property prices for properties not on your street. A street in itself could add £10,000s to the purchase price (remember - location, location, location).

In an ideal world there'll be a property that has completed over the last 6 to 12 months and it'll compare with a 5-10% increase for your property's current market value.

Where there is a comparable house but it was sold over 12 months ago, then you need to check on the Land Registry to see how much house prices have gone up in your area over the last year (or however old the last property sold is). The Land Registry has a great tool for this and you can such comparable years and months going back to 1996. Click here to go to the Land Registry House Price Index.

You can check under offer properties however don't rely on this data. These properties haven't completed and the online property portals don't update their current offer prices so the advertised price could be £250,000, but the accepted house price could be £230,000.

Looking at other properties for sale is not an indication of what your property is currently worth. Asking prices are not always met and the fact that the seller is asking for this amount of money, doesn't mean this is what the property will finally sell for.

So now we know what the property should be worth if sold in good condition, you now need to factor in the cost to repair the property to a good condition. When you have a RICS property survey highlight defects inn a report, you'll need to get independent costings to repair the property to a good condition (in some cases, such as subsidence, these defects will materially affect the purchase price by tens of thousands of pounds).

If there are material defects the costs of these should be deducted from the current market value to find the cost that is fair to pay in the property's current condition. Or, the seller can make good the works to bring the property into a reasonable condition.

To find out more about a RICS property survey click here.

Once you know how much the current market value is in the property's current condition you can start negotiating with the seller. It is normally preferable to do this directly, however it is not always the case that you'll have their contact details and instead will need to negotiate through the estate agent.

Now remember what we said about the current asking price? It is normally set by the estate agent and so any reductions in this could reflect badly on them. It is important to not make any accusations of the property being overpriced and to, where possible, keep the estate agent on your side by acknowledging how difficult it is to predict the property value in the current market.

The following is an example email to start negotiations with the estate agent following defects being flagged inside your property.

The feeling of only having one property to go for makes the loss of it even harder if you have to pull out. This reaction is common when there appears to be a lack of availability on what we really want - ever seen someone take the last biscuit in the tin and then all you can think about is how much you want a biscuit.

The best solution to this emotion is to keep an eye on the property market and don't stop viewing new properties. This doesn't mean you have to put offers on the properties you find, however it does mean that if something goes wrong and you find another property you like, it makes the decision of pulling out less emotional and more based on facts.

These tips will give you the best chance of negotiating a reasonable reduction in the purchase price of your new home. Remember, every pound you pay over the current asking price in its current condition, will mean the property will have to go up in value, otherwise you will be in negative equity.

For more conveyancing support call our team of specialists on 0333 344 3234 (local call charges apply).