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Original poster

Offers over £300k - what are they really expecting?

19 replies

halfbabyhalfbiscuit · 06/07/2011 19:32

A house has just come on the market that we are interested in.

It's a probate sale, in great school catchment area (the catchment area is tiny), needs a new kitchen (yippee!) and a lick of paint and new carpets but otherwise looks ok.

We've been looking for while and have so far lost out on two places, one of which went to sealed bids and had 5 other offers. EA's are all telling us that doer-uppers are more in demand than those in good order. So, we know places in this area sell like hot cakes and demand a lot of interest.

We are proceedable (selling to a chain-free buyer) and I would expect to exchange by the end of the month.

We're in England and so not used to this "offers over" business Grin We'd happy pay over £300k if that's whats needed. But what is a good starting offer? Or is this whole set up designed for another sealed bids ordeal?? Not sure I can go through that again....

OP posts:
lalalonglegs · 06/07/2011 19:38

I think the "offers over" thing tends to be agents winging it (unless it really is a very unique property that is very hard to price) in England. I'd put in an early offer, perhaps asking price, perhaps slightly below, and stress my credentials as a buyer. If it goes to sealed bids after that, you haven't lost anything by starting too high.

gapants · 06/07/2011 19:41

sorry, need more information, is the house in Scotland? Or is it in England with it listed with "offers in excess of..."?

Original poster
halfbabyhalfbiscuit · 06/07/2011 19:42

Thanks lala

It's in England gapants

OP posts:
SparklePrincess · 06/07/2011 19:53

I would offer no more than 290k as a starting bid. :)

Original poster
halfbabyhalfbiscuit · 06/07/2011 20:03

Eeek - we're really thinking of offering say £15k over - we've lost out on places because we've offered too low and we are thinking if we go in with a strong offer at the outset we can demand request an answer quickly and so avoid getting drawn into a bidding war

OP posts:
SparklePrincess · 06/07/2011 20:06

Depends on supply & demand in the area I suppose. How long has the house been on for etc etc? And most importantly, how much you want the house & how much you can afford...

Original poster
halfbabyhalfbiscuit · 06/07/2011 20:18

Only just come on (today) and I know it'll sell quickly (and probably for a good whack over £300k) - trying to look at comparables now...!

OP posts:
SparklePrincess · 06/07/2011 20:22

Oh ok. If its a good house & youve lost out before then go for it. Depends how much you are prepared to pay really..

lalalonglegs · 06/07/2011 21:33

Have you viewed it yet? If not, get in there asap and, as said before, offer #300k or slightly less if you still like it. If EA sucks teeth, insist that they put offer forward. If they come back saying vendor has rejected the offer, then ask what sort of price vendor is looking for. They rarely refuse to give a clue, they might say something manageable or they might say something outrageous, at which point you say, "I'm afraid we can't go that high, but we could manage xxx. We have almost exchanged on our house and are looking for a quick sale."

You're in a great position, just don't dither.

Original poster
halfbabyhalfbiscuit · 07/07/2011 09:51

Thanks lala - no haven't viewed it yet, it's booked for Saturday and am paranoid (given our recent experience!) of it going before then.

Last time we liked somewhere, we made an offer there and then. Then EA took ages coming back with the rejection, we offered more (as did others) and put a time limit on our offer to discourage getting drawn into a bidding war. That obviously worked really well Hmm as we ended up losing out on sealed bids.

Am so undecided whether to just offer high ASAP or whether to test the EA/seller a bit at the risk of losing out! Guess we can lose out either way and better to not overpay if we don't need to. But definitely won't dither and will just have to gird my loins again if it goes to sealed bids...

Thanks

OP posts:
SparklePrincess · 07/07/2011 23:26

You haven't even viewed it yet!!! When you see it you might not even like it.

If you're that keen & concerned it will sell why have you not pulled out all the stops to view it? Or is it one of those annoying Vendors/Agents who make it difficult to view?

Forget about offers etc until you see it.

Fingers crossed all is good. :)

Original poster
halfbabyhalfbiscuit · 09/07/2011 09:51

Well, we didn't even get a chance to view it. It was sold yesterday at "substantially over" £300k.

So fed up with this now Sad

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lalalonglegs · 09/07/2011 12:38

I think it was a mistake, tactically, not to get in sooner and at least put in some sort of offer but you'll know that for next time. It looks as if you would have ended up in another bidding war if it went that quickly. There will be others. Wine

Original poster
halfbabyhalfbiscuit · 09/07/2011 12:42

I know! The very cross making thing is that the EA's said i/we couldn't view Wednesday or Thursday and we couldn't make Friday.

Will pull out all the stops (and drag DC's along too) next time..

OP posts:
MoreBeta · 09/07/2011 12:45

halfbaby - don't beat yourself up over this. The whole thing was a sham anyway. The agent probably had a developer lined up or the beneficiaries of the Will just wanted to get offers in so they could use them as 'proof' of the value of the house for HMRC purposes and then one of the beneficiaries bought the others out for a sum slightly over the best offer.

Houses that sell this quick are not really 'for sale'.

Original poster
halfbabyhalfbiscuit · 09/07/2011 12:54

As much as I'd like to believe that, I think it really is for real!

We're in a city that has a chronic shortage of school places (and numerous 'black holes' where you don't get into any local school). People are pretty savvy about making themselves chain free (so it's almost expected now) and the 3 rental places in catchment that I have seen in the 6 months of looking, have gone within minutes by people who haven't viewed them! We've made 2 offers on properties and have been gazumped on one and lost on sealed bids on the other.

It's crazy and v stressful (and definitely not the housing slump one reads about!) Oh well, we'll have exchanged on our sale soon (fingers crossed) and so will just keep plodding on, learning valuable lessons and saving for the private school fees!! Grin

OP posts:
catsareevil · 09/07/2011 13:21

The housing slump isnt everywhere.
Have you looked on nethouseprices to see what the houses are selling for - when you do get to make an offer it will help you pitch it at the right level.

Original poster
halfbabyhalfbiscuit · 09/07/2011 14:34

yes, thank you, have been looking. But info is slightly out of date (last years instead of this). We're pretty clued up now having lost out a couple of times. There are no bargains to be had where we're looking but the next one will be ours!!

OP posts:
SparklePrincess · 10/07/2011 23:17

Aww sorry to hear that. :( Better luck next time. :)

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