''Offers over''

[Icloud54]

So we're first time buyers looking at buying our first home (hopefully), we've seen something and viewing on Saturday, however it says offers over X amount and then says best and finals offers before X date.

Does this mean they've had a offer over the asking price already and will be ever know the offer the person has put in? How much more would you offer?

Literally clueless on this matter so any help appreciated.

Excuse the typos, I'm on my phone- that should read.. would we know the offer the other people have put in**

You won't know the other offers. Put an offer you can afford. A property is only worth what someone will pay for.

Where are you? Offers over is common in Scotland, less so elsewhere I think. There are different system wherever you are.

If you're in Scotland O/O is usually just below the home report value in the hope that a few people will note interest and it can go to a closing date with bids offering more than the o/o price. Depending where you are that can be a little or a lot (Edinburgh - expect around 20% over o/o price).

If you're not in Scotland I'm not sure but presume it's priced at a level to get people interested. The best and final offers wording sounds like the English equivalent of a closing date?

I'm always surprised by the English system of people often offering way below the asking price, Scotland works pretty much the opposite way round.

@TonightMatthew Makes sense! I'm in Yorkshire though not Scotland.

So I'm thinking it's a tactic to get more people interested and make out it's a sought out property? It was only listed online 2 days ago.

I'm looking in South Yorks, and 95% of the agents tell you the exact amount offered and how many offers - I was surprised. It makes them sound hones though, rather than cloak and dagger mysterious offer. I think in populat areas they do this so that people don't waste time offering below seveal higher offers. But don't go overboard.

What usually hapens is, you offer ad they tel lyou yours is below (number of offers, or just one) and then suggest yo usubmit bets and fimal - you don't need to omcrease it. You may be in a bettre position than others so it's not always the highest one that wins. But if you really like the house offer your max, or you are likely to regret losing it.

sorry - past my bedtime so shocking typos, I hope you got the gist!

There are all sorts of wording with “in excess of”, “in the region of”, “guide price”, and so on in an attempt to achieve the highest price possible. Sealed bid and best and final were quite popular in London at the peak in 2013-2014 where 30 people were queuing to visit a 2 bed in Hackney. Not sure about the market where you are, but unlikely to be a frenzy of buyers while most of the activity has already happened in 2020 and the tougher days are starting for the economy so it may end up being no more than a morally questionable sales tactic to gain some traction in a sluggish market. In a normal market, the process is prone to overbidding with buyers subsequently pulling out or asking for a reduction down the line. There is nothing to prevent a buyer offering a lot more than intended to pay to get rid of competing buyers and take the momentum away from the sale, and ask for a significant cut of dubious basis 4 months down the line when prior to exchange. At the end, transaction price follows the market so it’s hard to understand what estate agents try to achieve here.

Property I offered on just before Xmas said the same - we offered 10k less than the asking price and got it accepted - moving in next week!

Deffo worth a try - you’ll likely get an opportunity to increase offer if they think it’s too low anyway

A lot depends on how long the property has been on the market IME. Newly listed = owner will be expecting a fair way above the stated price, but if it has been on a while they will probably be more receptive to doing a deal.

We brought our property in England through sealed bids in 2017.

Speak to the estate agent. We did and they let split that they wouldn't consider anything less than £100k over asking price (I think they already had an offer on the table for that amount).

There were over 10 bids and the top 3 were within £5k of each other. Which meant they considered them all.

Just a tactic, DD is close to completing on a house that was ‘offers in excess of’ £275k, she got it for £267k.

We bought land like this. In our case, we didn’t even get a guide price! We had to get our own valuation. We then offered based on that. You need to know what the property is actually worth. If the figure quoted about right? Or £50,000 under (for example). Then you bid what you feel it’s worth to you. The vendor might choose a winner from those bids. They might ask for final bids from 2 or more people and you have another bid - if you want to. If you are at your maximum, don’t enter into a race.

We put in an improved bid when asked and got the land. It joins our house so probably meant more to us. However in some circumstances, I would have walked away. It’s really down to value. We wouldn’t get another chance to buy this land. You will find other houses so be careful.

Some great advice and tips, thank you all

It isn't the same as the 'sealed bids' system in Scotland, though.

They are not bound by the 'best and final' and might not even take the highest offer.

Offer what you actually would pay, whether it is below or above the suggested price. Aim high if you desperately want the house, rather than trying to get it as cheap as possible.

And emphasise your other credentials as a buyer - are you a FTB or otherwise chain free? Have you got a mortgage in principle? Is your own house under offer? Anything that makes you 'proceedable' as a buyer. This an be more important to a vendor than an extra couple of £k.

Try and find out what is important to them - do they want to sell and complete as fast as possible, or do they want time to find somewhere, not move til the summer school hols, or whatever. And aim your bid as a buyer to that need, if you can. (but be honest)

Our house was listed as offers over - we didn't realise until it was online that the EA would do that so didn't mean we'd already had an offer.

All offers were over, but it was earlier in the stamp duty holiday so that may have played a part with lots of people were looking to move, and it's in a desirable school catchment area.

Is it a highly desirable house/school catchment/area? Have recent sales in the area been a similar price? Think about how much you'd be prepared to pay. If it was £5k higher asking price, would you still want it/afford it?

As a pp said, we didn't actually go with our highest offer, we went with the one that could proceed the quickest.

Go with the presumption there are no other offers, and offer what you think the house is worth.

My 1st property, i made under offer by 10%. Rejected initially, I stood firm, it was accepted.

2nd property, i made under offer by 5%. Rejected initially, I stood firm, it was accepted.

But there was 1 property where I made the full offer / asking price straight away, and was rejected. As another person made the same offer, but was a cash buyer.

Youll know if a house is worth the asking price. V rarely though. Even in these cases, Id probably knock a few grand off the offer.

Offer what you want to pay. I offered 30k less thank the offers over and was accepted