Talk me through dealing with offers

[SnowytheMouse]

It's been many years since I've sold a house and will be on my own this time, so looking for some guidance.

House ready for sale, will probably go on the market in February. Estate agents have visited and value it between 750 and 800k. Accept things may change a little in next few months.

It's in a naice location - goods schools, transport links, well presented; will likely appeal to families. Has lots going for it; there's nothing exactly like it in the locality.

Will sell with no chain in order to get it sold, hopefully, with minimum stress and move in with family while I find somewhere right for me as a cash buyer. Will be downsizing.

My question: how do I deal with offers? Say someone offers 725k. How do I respond considering I don’t need to rush to secure my dream home which I haven't yet found. Obviously I want as much as possible but also want it sold in 2023.

Can you talk me through dealing with offers so I'll be prepared and can make informed decisions?

Your estate agent should walk you through it if you’ve picked a good one.

It will completely depend what level of interest you get in the house. Say you do an open day and have 10 viewings but only one offer at 725 and you don’t have any other viewings booked in… that might be all the market is going to give you.

Or you might end up with blocks of three viewings at a time and you get a 725 offer early but you still have viewings to go then you’re likely to get something higher and that first offer was just chancing it.

You can always leave an offer hanging and say you want to wait and see what happens with viewings over the next few weeks. But unless the market is quiet or your property is unique and you need to wait to for the right buyer to come by then you probably don’t want it hanging around on the market without going under offer for more than 8 weeks. People will think there’s something wrong with it and not view and then you’ll need to discount to generate more interest.

But all that said I’m not an estate agent and I’ve only ever bought and sold in London post the 2009 crash when things were moving quickly and then more recently bought outside of London when the market was ‘hotter’ so my experience may be completely out of date now!

Beggingforsleep I've not got much trust in estate agents as feel they just want a sale and the odd 50k or so makes little difference to them.

I hadn't considered the possibility of an 'open house'. Your straightforward advice is appreciated.

Very much depends how much interest you get. We were selling at slightly lower - started at £750k and sold at £700k. We had lots of viewings in a flurry on two Saturdays but only one offer, and that was after we reduced it. EA said at that point it had probably been viewed by everyone looking in that price range and for that type of house and advised accepting it.

Also depends on your timeframe and buyer's circs. We'd already moved out into rental as work relocation so didn't really want to be paying mortgage and rent for longer than necessary. Our buyers were cash buyers and keen to move asap, accepting the offer meant sale completed before the winter.

Did all the EA value in the same range? We had three valuations which varied between £600k and £750k which wasn't helpful!

Sold two house in the past 18-months with two different agents and had two different experiences. Accept the market is different now but houses are still selling and if yours is desirable then you will get the interest.
Hadn't moved for 31-years so at the time we were completely out of touch.

First agent arranged viewings but on receipt of first offer (same day) advised us to accept and then cancel the remaining viewings. This of course meant they had nothing more to do than admin.
In hindsight this was lazy of them and certainly didn't do us any favours.

Second house a few months later, used a different agent.
A week of viewings and all offers were ignored. Agent then told interested parties that they had 48hrs to make B&F offers. Successful buyer was then chosen from them with the proviso that any further attempt at negotiation (whether then or at last minute) would result in the sale being cancelled.

As I say, market is different now but if desirable you should still get viewings / offers even if not the hoards we did.
Good luck.

The house I rent is being sold - the marketing strategy will be an open house on a Saturday morning between 11am and 1pm, in order to attract as many family buyers as possible (families can miss mid-week viewings if working/picking up kids etc.). It'll go on the market early February(ish) and will stay on the market for 2 months max. Viewers will be told that this is the approach, and that they can expect a 6-8wk bidding period.

Like pp said, I always wondered what was 'wrong' with properties that lingered on the market and being told there was a specific marketing timeframe put me at ease.

The house I've just bought was on the market for 2 weeks but no offers, then a bunch of viewings resulting in 3 bidders and then 2 wks later, after offers had exceeded the asking price, a closed 'best and final' bid scenario to wrap things up.

My first offer (the first offer) was not quite 10% below asking but my final bid was just under 5% above asking. My first offer was accepted by the vendors, as in not rejected as a bid, but it wasn't sale agreed accepted. I reckoned my CF lowball wouldn't be the last offer I'd have to make but as the asking price was close to my budget a low first offer was my only strategy. So don't worry about an initial low ball (unless its your only offer).

Also the potential buyer needs to be checked out by the EA.

My cousin has just had two failed purchases on her relatives' empty house when the buyer decided that they could not, after all, pay the price they'd agreed to several months before.

They didn't even ask for the price to be reduced.

Have you researched other comparable houses to see what they have sold for? Diligent buyers do, so have a look at Zoopla, hopefully the sold for prices will be showing by then, I know Land Registry has a big backlog.

My husband died and I had to sell for the first time on my own.
I found the 'Help I'm Buying a House' book really useful.

I'd also recommend joining the MSE forum house buying, renting, selling, lots of great advice on there.

www.helpmeimbuyingahouse.co.uk/

forums.moneysavingexpert.com/categories/house-buying-renting-selling

Do steel yourself once you have accepted an offer, nothing is certain until you exchange. The one thing to remember is that a house is only worth what someone will pay for it, regardless of what the EA promises.

Hopefully your EA will be diligent in checking the buyer has the funds.

I sold almost immediately to a 'cash' buyer - three weeks later found out he'd lied, he didn't have the cash.

Went back on the market and a few months later sold to another 'cash' buyer - four weeks later found out he'd also lied, and didn't have the cash. So upset, I'd rushed around looking at houses and sold my very expensive huge sofa for pennies as everyone said he'd want to 'complete' quickly.

Good luck.

www.propertylog.net/

Use PropertyLog to follow price drops in your area and gauge if offers are sensible or not.

A work colleague had a flat that was “tired”. It was clean, presentable etc but apart from rewiring nothing had been done to it since it was built in 1972.

The agent suggested a heavy advertising/phone call strategy for two weeks, and then hopefully a week of viewings, and then see what happens.

Lots of viewings, lots of offers, and they settled on the second highest, they were a cash buyer, they wanted the flat ASAP, and they could transfer the money to the solicitors straight away.

The property was completed within six weeks, had they of held out for two thousand more it would have taken weeks longer.

Good Luck

It's not just the highest offer but the position of the buyers. Are they in a chain? Have they sold their place? Have they got a mortgage secured and decent deposit? Do you like the sound of them?