Offers over ?????

[ANiceSliceOfCake]

Yes it's offers over again.
I haven't seen a house near me for offers over for ages.
It's 400k in South Manchester. Lovely house, no work needed, move straight in.

So what on earth is 'over' ?

Thank you.

[Lovelilies]

I was thinking this too, the house I want is 'offers over'.... £1? £1k? I dunno!

[ANiceSliceOfCake]

It's rubbish isn't it! I really don't know, I hate playing games. Grrrrrr

[HouseOfGoldandBones]

We routinely have this in Scotland.

Be guided by the Estate Agent, or see if you can find some info online regarding how much "over" the current market is dictating.

15 years ago it was around 20% over, in November when we bought our house, it was around £5k under.

[HannaSolo]

It's really "adopted" from the Scottish system.

Realistically in the UK it's a way of the buyers saying "don't even bother viewing if you are not prepared/can't afford above X amount".

It's generally used to stop people "time wasting" by viewing a property and putting in a very low offer compared to the asking price.

Viewing can be a PITA so if you've got a house in good condition, in a great location and thus very desirable it can be a good way of filtering out people who might have been tempted to put in a cheeky offer that the seller would never have (or needed to) accepted.

[missyB1]

Yes it’s annoying, why don’t they just have a set price and say “no offers” if they don’t want a cheeky offer.

[HannaSolo]

Sorry - just to add...there's nothing at all to stop you putting an offer in at £1 over the asking price.

It's very rare in England that "offers over" is also accompanied by "sealed bids" in the same way it is in Scotland.

If it is the EA will advise and the you really need to think about what the property is worth to you and what you can afford over the OO figure - and hope someone hasn't put bid you.

Usually though you'd just put in your offer as normal to the EA if you were interested.

[ANiceSliceOfCake]

Thanks. Well after a bit of internet searching, it was on with another agent a year ago, same people in as it's the same furniture etc, it was on at £435! And now it's offers over £400, I've not viewed it in the flesh yet, but that's a big drop for my area. These houses literally get snapped up in days. Hmmmm.

[ANiceSliceOfCake]

It only went on today I should add.

[BorgQueenie]

It sounds like £400 is their minimum but that doesn't stop you putting in a lower offer

[MillStone]

Last year In South Yorkshire, 'offers over' turned out to be +22% for me - gulp. Don't regret it though.

[GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER]

Seems to be common after a reduction.
One near a dd in Oxford was up for £450k, 'sold' for ages, evidently fell through, then back on the market for 'offers over £425k'.
If I were interested I'd still try an offer, though!

[Cacofonix]

I would start first offer at 400k. Then work up from there if you need to or want to. In my experience offers over mean 'this is our minimum price' in England.

[CantChoose]

We've just had an offer accepted at 10k under the 'offers over' price...

[Pixiedust1973]

Depends on the level of interest in the area & how cheeky you are prepared to be. We had our house on at 425 & had got lots of interest & viewings at that level & secured a buyer. Forward on a few months & our sale fell through, we didn't want to lose our ongoing purchase so we thought we'd do offers over 400k to show the minimum we wanted for it, but expecting some degree of negotiation. We've had 2 offers of 370k & one buyer say they can't afford more than 350k! I'm all for trying your luck when someone is motivated to sell, but when a house was priced correctly to start with & reduced for quick sale, someone offering 55k below original asking price or viewing a house that's almost 80k below what they can afford is simply wasting everyone's time!

How much can you afford to pay? And what have recent comparables sold for? Gauge a realistic price from there & try your luck by knocking a bit off if you think you'll get away with it! Good luck!

[Viviennemary]

I think offers over means something different in England than it does in Scotland. In England it usually means that anything over that price will be considered. In Scotland it's usually closed bids by a certain date and highest bidder gets the property. AFAIK anyway. I'd view the house, come home and talk it over and think about it and then make an offer. I might even offer lower than the offers over especially in Mancehster.

[wowfudge]

What's your rationale @Viviennemary for making a lower offer in Manchester? If the OP is considering the house I think she is then it's a sought after area.

[another20]

Always do your own homework and get on RM "sold" prices page to search for similar houses in a nearby streets that have sold in the last year. That will give you an accurate view of the max you should pay, depending on the local market - ie going up, down ,staying the same.

There are many sellers who will sit for years determined to get the right number - one of my neighbours has been on for SIX YEARS !!!

Asking prices mean nothing really unless you can tie them up tightly with the real value as per RM sold section.