After a bit of advice on buying a house we like that is "offers in excess of"

TonyTurbo78 · 27 Apr 2017 at 23:23

Hi guys.

Just after some sound advice and thoughts.
Myself and wife have been looking for a house for a few months now. We went and viewed a really nice house today that is 240k offers in excess of. We both really like the house, we'd like to put in an offer tomorrow, but in this day and age with the inflated market, is offers in excess of generally greedy estate agents and a bit of cheek from the seller? Just a sales tactic to drive up prices etc? We are first time buyers, we missed out on a house about a month ago when we put in asking price offer but someone outbid us by offering more and I refused to get into a bidding war. Is it cheeky to offer under 240k or do I realistically need to offer more? I'm trying to work out the psychology in this tactic and how to not be disappointed again.

Now I know a house is only worth as much as you want to pay, to be honest the house I don't believe is a 240k house, but in this day and age it probably is. How would be the best way to play this? We desperately want to get our life going by owning our first home, I don't want to insult the owner but I don't want my pants pulled down either. How is the best way to put in the offer also? Last time we just put in a verbal offer, I just want to put emphasis on our strong market position ie we have money and mortgage sorted and wanting a quick sale with no chain. Their position is they are looking to up size but as of yet have not found a property.

PapaLazaru · 27 Apr 2017 at 23:29

The question should be, how much do you want the house? If it is exactly what you have been looking for, then go in over by £3k and see what happens. Wouldn't go over by much more but it also depends on the local market and how long it has been for sale for. You are in a strong position.

D3K · 27 Apr 2017 at 23:36

Offer lower. If they refuse, offer higher.

If you are about to get gazumped, gazump the gazumper.

Dis86 · 27 Apr 2017 at 23:38

We had the same. Offered lower and they accepted.

Raymond Lin · 27 Apr 2017 at 23:40

D3K said:
Offer lower. If they refuse, offer higher.

If you are about to get gazumped, gazump the gazumper.

I like this thinking.

PiKe · 27 Apr 2017 at 23:41

offer £240,001.99

dowie · 27 Apr 2017 at 23:43

offer what you think it is worth - forget about the 'offers over' bit if you think it is worth less - no different to offering under the asking price in other circumstances too tbh...

NeoVo · 27 Apr 2017 at 23:49

You are first time buyers, you are the desirable person to sell a property to (especially if you have mortgage offer in principal. use this to your advantage and make it clear to the estate agent.
We purchased our first home in October, my initial offer was 10% below , settled closer to 6% (about £8k).

Dont be afraid to offer less, they can only say no.

cadmunkey · 27 Apr 2017 at 23:49

Offer 238, you are in a good position with no chain. Been there done that, estate agent will give you a hint on what they are after.

TonyTurbo78 · 28 Apr 2017 at 00:16

Thanks for the advice guys. I hear stories of people offering up to 15% lower than asking price these days. I was thinking of offering 237500 and playing strong on our desireable market position, but what I'm afraid of is someone coming in with higher offer and being accepted straight away. What's happens then? It's illegal for estate agents to give away what's been bid right and also playing games to get a higher price. Does that kinda thing still happen regardless ?

a1ex2001 · 28 Apr 2017 at 07:21

TonyTurbo78 said:
Thanks for the advice guys. I hear stories of people offering up to 15% lower than asking price these days. I was thinking of offering 237500 and playing strong on our desireable market position, but what I'm afraid of is someone coming in with higher offer and being accepted straight away. What's happens then? It's illegal for estate agents to give away what's been bid right and also playing games to get a higher price. Does that kinda thing still happen regardless ?

Estate agents will often tell you what others have offered I don't think there is anything illegal about it the only thing they can't do is make up offers that don't exist.

Offer what ever you think the property is worth and take it from there if someone else makes and offer don't just walk away bidding wars are common in popular areas and your best bet is to ask the estate agent for a date and time for best and final offers which avoids the inching up a couple of k a day for a week.

If the vendor accepts another offer the estate agent is still obliged to pass on any offer you make in England and Wales house buying isn't over until the contracts exchange try not to think about other people and do what's best for you.

DampCat · 28 Apr 2017 at 08:09

Offer what you think it's worth to YOU.

Lots of people scoff when you offer asking cause you could save a couple grand, but consider this. If it really is the perfect house (very rare), that couple of grand over 25 years of mortgage is a couple of quid a month.

Worth it now?

a1ex2001 · 28 Apr 2017 at 08:22

DampCat said:
Offer what you think it's worth to YOU.

Lots of people scoff when you offer asking cause you could save a couple grand, but consider this. If it really is the perfect house (very rare), that couple of grand over 25 years of mortgage is a couple of quid a month.

Worth it now?

Exactly I'd never want to loose a house I really loved over a couple of grand yes it might irk at the time but as said over 25 years you won't notice.

xdcx · 28 Apr 2017 at 09:37

It's a nightmare of a situation when buying a house. I gather things are very different in England than they are in Scotland but up here as an example:
Viewed a house yesterday which is on the market as offers in excess of £199,995.
Estate agent showing us around confirms they have already turned down £210,000 as they ideally are wanting as close to £225,000 as possible. I am instantly of the opinion that they can **** off. House buying is already enough of a drama without having people guessing blindly at what someone ACTUALLY wants versus what it's for sale at. Utter stupidity.

OP, you really are at the mercy of offering lower and basically crossing your fingers. There is every chance someone will offer more around the same time, equally as much as the chance the sellers will just accept your offer. It's just pure luck on the timing and other interest at the time which is the annoying part as it's such a big life decision but so much of what happens is way beyond your control.

Punt · 28 Apr 2017 at 09:58

Last year we got ours for well under 200K and it was up for offers over 200K. Definitely worth a shot.

Semple · 28 Apr 2017 at 10:11

TonyTurbo78 said:
Their position is they are looking to up size but as of yet have not found a property.

Do you know how long it's been up for sale for?

The last part concerns me (depending on how long the house has been up for sale). Whilst you could be ready to get the ball moving, they may take a while finding somewhere to upgrade to.

Abyss · 28 Apr 2017 at 10:20

Also remember the estate agent is appointed by and works for the seller. I've often seen estate agents try and pretend to be on your side, giving hints about how much to offer and trying to put you in the position of being concerned you will lose the house if you don't offer more. It's all a game they play to get you to part with as much cash as possible.

I would focus on the strengths that you have no chain, have a mortgage in principal etc. Also if you aren't in a rush are potentially flexible as to the move date in order to give them time to find a property.

It's often more important for a seller to know they actually have a buyer so they can offer on the next property than getting an extra £10k-£20k on the property.

scottomus0 · 28 Apr 2017 at 10:25

My property I bought was advertised as offers over £89.999 I put in an offer of 90k and was accepted. Like others said it's if it's worth it to you.

TonyTurbo78 · 28 Apr 2017 at 10:44

Semple said:
Do you know how long it's been up for sale for?

The last part concerns me (depending on how long the house has been up for sale). Whilst you could be ready to get the ball moving, they may take a while finding somewhere to upgrade to.

the house only went up for sale yesterday.

And thanks for all the info guys. We are desperate to move as we want to start a family, we moved in with the inlaws just recently to save some more money whilst we look, but we are now beyond the timescale we both said we'd want to be back living under inlaws roof for.

booyaka · 28 Apr 2017 at 11:02

Make the offer - express that it's no chain, express you are keen to complete asap. Leave it at that.

If it's refused - ask what they are looking for to take it off the market. Don't make a 2nd offer till you know. If they come back and say £260k or something crazy - you know it's time to move on. Most people have massively inflated prices in their heads.

When we sold, we asked offers over £135k. First couple in, no chain, happy to move quickly, offered me £137500 there and then. Sold. Job done, estate agent was trying to tell me I could get £150k for it but even in 7 years since I moved, there hasn't been a house int he street go for over £140k.