O.I.E.O. - Is it rude to offer 10% less if price is Offers In Excess Of?

[luxurytinopener]

Is there much point offering on a house 10% over budget if the price is listed at "Offers in excess of ....."? We saw one last week which we really liked, but I would normally not have looked round somewhere over budget and only did so because I thought the house to be ambitiously priced for the area (not many people looking there with this particular budget and similar house on same street asking 30% less.) We hadn't noticed that the listed price said "O.I.E.O." until we got home having loved the house! Now I don't want to insult the vendor. It has only been on the market a couple of weeks and the vendor didn't sound to be in any hurry, so I doubt that she would consider it, it's just that I am unclear why estate agents in England list some things at price, some at Offers In Region Of ... and others at O.I.E.O., especially as the property in question is not particularly near any stamp duty threshold. Does anyone know why estate agents sometimes now use OIRO or OIEO?

I doubt they'll drop the price but what have you got to lose? Especially as you think they're being ambitious

I think they do it because the vendor has an overinflated idea of how much their house is worth!
I was advised by one estate agent to put my house at OIEO £135k, another advised £139k.
Basically, I would NEVER offer over what the price is, regardless of OIEO or OIRO...

How long has the house been on the market? If it is 1 week, I cannot see them accepting, if it is 6 months, you have nothing to lose. Speak to agent to get a feel for what the vendor might accept.

I've just started working in an Estate Agency (don't flame me) and it is very normal to expect to offer a lower price.

We went on with OIEO. We didn't have to move and we wanted one house. So we went on at a realistic price and turned anything below it down. We did get an OIEO. In fact we got several.

You have nothing to lose and you've put down a marker, they can come back to you if it doesnt sell.

Thank you everyone. I will chat with the estate agent tomorrow and won't feel so embarrassed then to have viewed something which I cannot offer the full asking price on. I have always felt bad for taking up people's time viewing things that I then don't buy, which is ridiculous I know! I offered asking price on the two other properties that I bought, because I loved them and both times the market was fast moving (London), I didn't want to lose out & they were worth those prices to me.
Not expecting vendor to accept offer at this stage, but it might help her to focus on her own property search and if I'm very very lucky then it might still be on the market in a few months time (houses priced similarly in this area are not currently moving fast) when I might be able to offer more.
Thank you again for your opinions.