Thoughts on bidding strategy?

[Greenstone]

Sorry if done loads already.
But: Saw house we love. It's within our budget. There are apparently multiple interested parties though, one of whom is ready to make an offer this coming week.

I sense that the house was slightly underpriced to attract interest (though it certainly needs a great deal of sprucing up). We could scrape up to another 20k on top of the asking price. But are bracing ourselves to be out - bid (desirable area).

Any thoughts as to what would be the best strategy here? Make opening bid or wait to hear what the other offer (s) was first?

Are you ready to buy, e.g. cash buyer or mortgage offer in principle and offer accepted on property you are selling, if you are selling? If you are in a really strong position I would get in there first with the hope of agreeing a deal and having the house taken off the market before any other offers are made. Push to sort the deal out quickly.

If you are not in such a strong position then another strategy will probably be needed.

Who has told someone else is going to offer this week and what exactly did they say when they told you?

Thanks very much for your reply!

So, we are pretty much ready to buy: FTB with a mortgage in principle. The EA told us that there has been a lot of interest in the property and that one prospective buyer has already had a second viewing and had a survey done and will be making an official offer this week (we viewed it on Saturday).

So yeah that could be nonsense but I did believe him. In any case you reckon getting in there first would be a good idea? Thanks again.

the EA might not tell you what the other offers are, ours didn't. I'd offer the asking price and if they reject it then maybe go best and final. Depends how much you want it. We got into a bidding war and ended up losing. We eventually put a note though their door with a higher offer which they accepted. Was 40k over the asking price though. We were always prepared to pay that but tried to be careful. Nearly lost out because of it.
In my experience cash buyers/good position don't always win, sometimes the vendors are just greedy. (We were cash buyers).

I'm sceptical of the supposed timeline - I don't know of anyone who's had a survey done before their offer was accepted.

It sounds like you've viewed once. See if you can get a second viewing with the vendors there. You need them to remember you if it goes to best and final offers so ask questions, tell them about yourselves, make sure that they know you're chain-free, etc.

In terms of strategy I agree with Star - offer asking price at first, heavily emphasising your FTB status and attaching your decision in principle. Be ready for it to go to best and final offers, though. Good luck!

The story was that the other viewers surveyed before offering to see about the possibility of an immediate extension. So if that's true I guess it's likely they'll have a biggish budget.

Good advice about trying to meet owners! We'll definitely go for a second viewing. Ok, seems like getting in there with asking is the consensus so far. Thanks all

I am quite sure that a full survey was not done prior to making an offer, perhaps it was EA talk for having a builder look at it!

If you really want it then offer the asking price after you have viewed a second time. Once you have your offer accepted you should be prepared to act quickly as if it is as desirable as you say then there will be other prospective buyers waiting behind you.

We were in a similar situation, we offered the asking price after one visit and when outbid by 10k went in at 15k on the proviso that it came off the market immediately.

Never looked back on that day!

Could well be Aesop's!
Thanks for sharing your experience. We'd be prepared to max out our budget for this place, we really love it but there's only so far we can go so we'll just have to see. I may be back with an.update tomorrow!

Good Luck!