Found my house. Do I act keen or attempt to play it cool!?

[Howdidthathappen1]

After a bit of a panic at not seeing anywhere we liked we have found our perfect house (ours is under offer). My only previous house buying experience was paying over the odds for our current one as we were very naive and blinded by 'its the one!!'.
So trying to be a bit more grown up this time and intend to put in an offer tomorrow- its guide price 425k - which also confuses me as guide price wasn't around 18 years ago.
Potential house only went on market on 11th and has had 3 viewings. Its a bit quirky and won't appeal to everyone so I'm not sure if I should offer near to full or risk a lower offer. Im terrified of losing it!
Current market around me is bonkers - houses selling in the blink of an eye!

I would hope that you can start with a lower offer. If there are other offers, they should ask you to go to best and final.

Compared to everything else you’ve seen, do you not feel the house is worth the 425k? I’m a head over heart person and would happily offer 425k if I feel it’s worth that. However, if I felt that it was worth 375k (because it’s small for example), no way would I overpay because I ‘love’ it.

I’d offer close to asking, with the condition it gets take off the marker if accepted and no further viewings. It’s only been on four days and three viewings so it might have some competition,

That's a tough one. The property market has been so busy, but have seen on here that it's starting to slow down now. You can always try low and go back with a better offer if it's declined. The sellers will likely accept from a buyer who is in the best position to complete. Good luck.

Show you are keen and love it, but go in a bit under the asking price but not too much, assuming you can afford it.
We got two asking price offers on our house, we went with the buyer who was most enthusiastic as we felt the one going on about everything she “would have to do” to the place was more likely to start chipping away later in the process, which I hate.
Where there is a lot of interest, you need to present as keen, likeable and reliable.

Houses are personal, I’m always careful to be positive about something that is someone’s home, even if once in the car with DH I change my tune.

Pick a number and get the offer in; you can negotiate from there but be mindful that the number you start with can only go up! Maybe 400k? Labour how good a buyer you are and how great your situation is. Do you have a mortgage in principle yet? If not get one.

How quirky is it, & can you see any comparable sales?

If it’s only been on a few days, I’d expect they are looking within at least 5pc of asking price to take off market, but you will have to research if it’s worth that

I think you should DEFINITELY see it again to make sure you still like it

I fell head over heels for a house a few weeks ago, was thinking of making an offer but haven’t (no garden). It’s now been sitting on market since August so I’d have felt silly going in high

What about it is quirky? Does it lack any obvious features that are typical for area & would make resale hard? Also ask agent if owners have found their next house etc : you might learn a lot

Agree it’s your ability to proceed that will be important: you can always offer more, you can’t easily offer less

Oh & sorry if it’s obvious but having your finance in place (AIP), solicitor lined up & sales memo on your own place to show the EA will show you are serious & proceedable would swing me to you as a buyer & close things off quicker if you get it to avoid other interest

I’d consider with more unusual properties viewings are not necessarily going to generate offers as easily as with a standard property as there it’s more about price, with this it’s more about pros & cons of that specific property

I think it depends just how upset you’d be if you lost out for the sake of saving a few £££’s. When we found our house we knew we’d be absolutely devastated if we lost out to someone else so we offered full asking price.

Some might think we were silly for that, but we knew from past experience that whilst what we were looking for was rather niche, it was also highly desirable and wouldn’t be on the market long. We were also afraid if we did go in lower in an attempt to “play the game” we could lose out completely if someone else offered full asking price and didn’t give us the chance to up our offer.

Just be honest. I was... I asked when I viewed my current house what figure they had in mind to take it off the market for me. I explained how and why the house would be perfect for me and what I was able to afford. I told them I was fed up with everyone playing games and just wanted to be straight forward. It worked! We agreed, at the viewing, on a price, I offered and that was that. The bonus for them was no more viewings etc.

It very much depends on the market where you are.
We went to 360k on a house that was on at 325-345 and didn't get it a couple of weeks ago. The agent they used puts them on under market value to create a bidding war. So know the agent, the position anyone else is in (we lost it to FTB and we were under offer but cash on completion ) and your area.
It's bloody brutal atm.

I'd speak to the EA, explain £425 is the top of your budget, how likely are they to accept that /something near that say £415 and take off the market given yours is SSTS and (I assume) your finance is in place?

Under the circumstances, I wouldn’t mess about with a low offer. I’d offer £420,000 and make it clear that you’ve accepted an offer on your own so are ready to proceed.

Guide price on the place I just bought was 400-425 - we offered 370 initially - after lots of back and forth we agreed on 381

This was a very popular street / area of London - but we still
Managed to get quite a bit off the price

So deffo worth starting low and go from there I’d think

I'd go in at 10K under asking, purely as it's quirky. If it was standard I'd offer full asking in a hot area like yours. It's close enough but you wouldn't be overpaying if no one else offered.

Also if someone does offer asking price via agent, the agent is VERY Likely to give you a chance to up your offer as yo uare not miles away. Of course if they can offer directly to vendor that's a risk as the vendort can just accept on the spot (like with online agents or if the vendor does viewings).

Thanks all. The experience of selling mine has shocked me as we went live on tues and by Friday evening we had 7 offers. Its a shame the estate agents are doing the viewings on the new one as the owner is an older lady whose husband was obviously a chippie and has done some lovely work (not all of which we will keep!) But I could definitely enthuse and sell myself as the new owner!!
Think I'm gonna go higher than I would have liked - but within budget to make sure its mine after second viewing tomorrow assuming I still feel the same.

Never tell an ea your max budget unless it is less than the asking price
If you tell the agent your max is 425 and its on for 425 they will know you can pay 425 snd will extract it sll from you

I'd go in at 410 hoping to get it around 415. But if things are going fast and its comparable to others sold in the neighbourhood then go in at 420. Figure out the max you are comfortable at first.

they will know you can pay 425 snd will extract it sll from you

with bells on! Ariela you are naive if you think they will try to work in your favour by helping you save money . They want the asking price if not more as there is competition, and would only try and influence the vendor to accept lower offer if you are a cash buyer so that they get their comm sooner, and possibly to get a repeat business from them. Even then will try to push a bit.

Decide on your top price then offer ay least 10k less. You need to have some room for negotiation, as the estate agent will be very skilled at squeezing every penny from you. I recently bought a house, we offered 10% under asking, and paid 7.5 % under, as far as the buyer knew we were at our limit, but really we could have paid more if we had to. Good luck.

It is not just about the money. You are proceedable which is a big deal. I would ask for a second viewing. Then make an offer and make it clear that you are in a great position and already have a mortgage, solicitor etc. If they still say no you can have another think.

Aarrgghh work getting in the way of life! I'm not able to view today now so am going tomorrow morning. Will now spend day praying I don't recieve a call saying taken off market.
It the experience selling mine that has shocked me - in a good way as a seller - but awful being a buyer!

Good luck for tomorrow

We are in the process of moving atm. We were looking for something quite specific, we found a suitable property that had only just come to the market. We offered full asking price to take the property off the market & cancel the future viewing that were booked in. We thought the price was fair & it was the perfect property for us. Good luck OP, keeping everything crossed for you.

So offer accepted at 415! We initially went in at 400 as there is a fair amount needs doing. Agent said 415 and its off the market today.
So happy and can't wait to move. Am now trying to keep a lid on emotions till exchange

Congratulations op! That’s a real result,,,😃