Sealed bids tactics

[Binkybix]

Just as the title says really. I know it's ultimately about how much money you have and what sort of position you're in to move, but any tips from those who've recently taken part in one, or been selling via one are very welcome.

We're in London btw.

Thanks!

We bought our first house by sealed bid. It was a repossession and we were in a bidding war with two other couples. The building society called time on it and insisted on sealed bids. At that stage one couple dropped out.

The house had been stripped. Among many things missing was the kitchen. Literally not even a tap. Along with our bid we enclosed copies of builders quotations to show we knew what we were taking on and were serious buyers who wouldn't pull out. I think that's what swung it in our favour.

The EA said the bids were so close they couldn't tell which way the building society would decide.

I've read on here that some people send a bit of a personal letter with their bid, ie say how much they love the house and how it's perfect for their family etc,I have no idea if this works but have seen it a few time now. Good luck!

Thank you! We love nearby so actually popped round and spoke to the owner this afternoon, just to set out our position on the chain as it seems complicated on first look but actually isn't. He was very happy to chat and took our mobile number. I saw other people looking at it on my way home later this evening. Waaaaahhh!

There is no other tactic than to put in the offer that you can afford/are willing to pay for this property. You have no idea how much other people will be putting in so can't second guess. Just go with your gut, offer your best and explain your chain. Good luck.

One tactic is not to offer a round sum.

So, if you want to offer £250,000 make your bid £250,001.55p

Don't know if it works or not, but can't hurt.

A little tip (but you never know, it might just swing it). Don't choose a round number. So instead of 200,000, put 200,500. People do tend to work in very round numbers. The chain situation and other circumstances might override the additional 500 but all else being equal, it might just help! It worked for us!

It's sealed bids in Scotland and I've had plenty of experience. Once we lost out 4 times in a month- once by £26, and we had to pay for surveys for each house before we bid.

Don't get emotionally attached (fear that might be a bit late).
Pay the maximum it is worth to you but don't get carried away. Make a list of the negatives which will soften the blow if you don't get it.
Agree with the others -our solicitor always added £57 to whatever figure we came up with as that was his lucky house buying number.

Just offer as much as you can afford and the house is worth to you, that way at least you know there's nothing you could have done differently if you don't end up getting it.

I lost out on a house in sealed bids earlier this year - offered £20k over the guide price and was in a good buying position and put a letter in to say how much I loved it and how committed I was to a quick purchase, but they had 5 different people offer the same amount and in an equally good position and eventually seemed to choose at random! (And the amount we offered was just under a high stamp duty threshold which is probably why all had offered the exact same figure.)

Offer as much as you can afford/want to pay for it.

In London in the current market it is norm to bid 5-10% over the asking price where properties go to sealed bids. Sometimes more, depends on how much competition.

We've been through and lost out in 2 sealed bid scenarios in London recently and were gutted both times, but now we are living in our beautiful dream home which we didn't even have to bid for in the end only because it was a further 5 minutes walk from the tube near all the other houses that everyone was bidding on. Now we are so thankful we didn't get those houses we bid for because the house we have has oodles more space and a garden three times as big.

It's a very stressful process buying in london but I honestly believe that you end up in the house you are supposed to be in. Wishing you luck x

My BIL and SIL are going through this in London at the moment. Things are going way over guide price. They've been looking between £600k and £700k and things have been easily going around £100k more than asking price on sealed bids. First couple they offered £20k more and were way off the mark. They have no chain, a huge deposit and have still missed out on houses they have offered £100k over the asking price on.

So my advice is def make the positives of your position clear and offer the most you would be willing to pay. Think at what price you would be annoyed to miss out on it at and bid that.

Hello all. Many thanks for the advice and good wishes. We offered two different amounts given different scenarios for our chain and he accepted the lower amount, but it does mean we need to do buy to let for current place to be chain free. It wasn't my preference but we've been waiting a long time for a vaguely affordable house to come up, and I think we cab make it work although times will be tight for a while. Still a few stumbling blocks in the way, but fingers crossed we can overcome them!

Good news! I hope it all goes well.

That's great news! May I ask what you mean with the different amounts? Did you make 2 bids then? I'd of never thought of that, it's genius!

Yes, two different bids. One was a bit lower and was based on the fact we'd be chain free (because doing a but to let which is just about doable but not our preference) and the other was higher but based on us getting a seller for our house, so not chain free and slower. It's just dawned on me that we will probably be leaving this place where DS was born and where we spent his first year . Happy, yet sad.

Ps it must be gutting to have to keep spending on surveys before bidding. But I guess you then know that when your bids accepted it's all binding.

That's interesting to hear thanks. We've been bested by sealed bids a few times now so that's good to know. When we've nodded though we've not had a survey first, there hasn't been time as most wanted final bids in a few days.