We are first time buyers with a mortgage agreed in principle. After various viewings, a colleague told me about a house that had just gone to market on his road, we were interested and booked a viewing for the open day next Sat (12th).
My colleague mentioned this to the vendor, who then invited us to have a look around that night (this was on Thursday). We absolutely loved the house, and assumed he was keen to sell quickly given his keenness for us to look around.
Then, right at the end of the viewing, I asked him whether he'd like us to proceeed directly with him or through the estate agent if we decided to take things further. He said to go through the estate agent, and that he wouldn't be accepting any offers until after the open day, as he was unsure of how much it would go for, as another house on that street had gone for a good price that week, despite being in worse condition.
He is asking for offers over £240k. Our comfortable max is £245k. My question is, should we offer £245k now and risk him using it to ask for higher offers, or wait until the open day, where we are likely to be outbid?
We are not hopeful that we'll be the highest bidders, but want to give it a shot in the most stategic way!
Thanks!