Offering under “offers over”

[MissterMummy]

Hello mumsnetters, help me decide on what to offer for this house!!

Sellers are asking for “offers over” 975k. Our budget is max 980. Thinking of offering 955 but not sure if it’s too cheeky?? Don’t want to piss off the vendors or not be taken seriously. It sold over the summer (initially advertised at 1mil) but sale fell through and it’s been back on the market for 3 weeks now. I hate the “offers over” thing and am crap at negotiating.

Ups: Freehold house, great transport links, catchment area for outstanding primary, 4 bedrooms 3 bathrooms, decent sized backyard (for London standards!) and house in generally good condition.
Downs: Terraced, busy urban area (London zone 2), petty crime, also backs onto an overground line.

We’ve sold our house but not yet exchanged contracts, mortgage in principle and have extra cash for deposit top, so proceed-able but not as attractive as a cash buyer or someone who’s already exchanged.

So should I chance a cheeky offer? Or do the more sensible thing and offer a little over but leave almost no wiggle room?? TIA 🙏

@Twiglets1 yes you are correct in the marketing change already acknowledging to some extent the change in the market

@rainingsnoring yes all good points to consider! We feel the house is worth it given its location and size, and the fact this type rarely comes up in this area at this price range. Hence why wanting to make sure our first offer is at least considered and not immediately dismissed.

Oh the previous sale fell through for failing money laundering checks.. (cash buyer for a 1mil house… only in London!!)

hence I'm taking this week to get all financial docs solid before putting an offer in (aiming for end of this week… wish me luck!! 🍀

Good Luck @MissterMummy !

I was coming onto to say exactly what @Twiglets1 has just said!

I’ve bought a property marketed at offers over before - I offered at exactly the asking price but said it was my first and final offer, and it was accepted. If a) it represents good value compared to other similar properties b) you can afford it and c) it’s the house of your dreams I’d be tempted to do the same. It’s not cheeky, but it’s assertive and standalone.

The problem with going in at £955k (not that I think it’s cheeky - it’s well in the ballpark) is that you just get into that slightly pointless and wearing back and forth only to end up in the same place anyway. Only with slightly less goodwill left intact.

It's super easy to be duped into overpaying at the moment. Just offer what you think is fair and then shelve it in the hope you get a call.

It’s not rare to find asking price 10-20% higher than sold price in this market. Do not pay too much attention to what the seller thinks it is worth, DYOR and offer sensibly on the back of it. 3 weeks on the market in London is quite a long time, bargains are scooped within days so some room for offer for sure. I wouldn’t want to go low then up since you self admit being a terrible negotiator, best and final on the table and carry on viewing other properties.

Which part of London is 3 weeks on the market quite a long time before selling? That certainly isn’t true for every part of London even if it is true for some.

We are selling a property that was advertised like this (on the EAs advice). Our buyers initially offered well under asking, then asked what we would actually consider. This might be a worthwhile strategy. We were happy to accept a bit less than the offers over figure so they still gained from this approach.

Serious buyers will be in contact with local agents, on top of being alerted to any new properties on RM/Zoopla in case. So there is no way that active buyers haven’t had a chance to view and offer on a property after 2 weeks, let alone 3. Of course, new buyers (and sellers) enter the market every day but when price correctly, it should go under offer on first 2 weeks with existing pool of candidates. We are seeing more and more off market, viewing days with often several buyers in and out. I agree that 3 weeks is still reasonably short period of time but would also see it as “not flying off the shelves” and subject to negotiation territory since the first wave did not result in an offer.

It's hard to say whether or not the seller has acknowledged the change in the market or not as they are essentially marketing at the same price but potentially making some buyers feel better psychologically by not starting the asking price with 7 figures. It's just a marketing ploy imo.
Anyway, just offer what you feel it is worth and don't get involved in tricky negotiations.

I'd definately offer 955. If they accept it thats good and if they don't you can always go higher

Call the agent and have a chat regarding the sellers expectations on price. Then you are armed with a but more information before making your offer.

we were once advised to market our property as “offers over” as the agent said we would get higher offers that way. I was dubious and it turned out to be nonsense, all offers were under the offers over prive. Personally I don’t think the “offers over” psychology works in England people want to know a price and then get some money off!

But surely the agent will push for the maximum amount for his client?

Glad that you agree that 3 weeks is still a reasonably short amount of time.

It’s a million pound property or close to it and they generally take longer to sell than cheaper properties. The owner should be open to negotiation sure but will be looking for sensible offers at this stage or they won’t bite. They know their house is desirable because it sold before and has attracted interest again. So any offer has to be pitched right which I believe is the case for the offer suggested by @MissterMummy

It didn`t sell, it was offered on by someone who failed money laundering checks, not a great start really, and now they only have one offer on the table? Sales volumes for London are massively down, a lot of properties in this price range will sit unsold for long enough IMO.

Whatever… the house has attracted interest and at least 2 offers so if I were the owner I would be feeling like the valuation is about right & it will sell in the not too distant future. Not necessarily for £1M but probably fairly close to that figure.

Attracted interest? One buyer was suspected of being dodgy and the next buyer is posting on here about cutting their offer price? If I was the seller I would start getting more realistic.

What are you talking about? Just because @MissterMummy is posting on here about cutting their offer price it doesn't mean they don't have much interest in the house. I think you have to like something a lot to consider paying close to a million pounds for it.

I haven't bought or sold since 2010 but if I had originally marketed my house for 1m and then had to drop to offers over 975k, I would find 955 so low I would discount you as a buyer. Presumably they've done their research and it's priced about right, so why go in 20k under? If you want the house I think that's just too low. Given they want offers over 975.

Their only other offer was considered potential money laundering, they are not in a position to "discount" any buyer at the moment.

Without a link or price history there is very little point in discussing it much more TBH. I suspect that the OP will be overpaying by a lot, but there is no way to prove that with the information available.

The seller would be pretty foolish to discount any reasonable offer (this is approx 2% below asking price so extremely reasonable). I doubt they would do this on a house that has been on the market since June.
I'm not sure why you presume that a seller has done their research, most rely on their estate agent's advice, good or bad. There are so many over priced properties being marketed currently, many of which are slowly reduced, many of these never sell even with reductions. One can only assume that all these sellers haven't done their own research.

ok so lots to think about but I've just had a snoop around land registry for the previous sold price, it went for £430k 20 years ago.

Also checked the sold prices of the neighbours on either side, both are three beds (the one we want to offer on is four). Looks like both neighbours cashed in peak 2021 - one went for £875 at auction (needed full refurb) and on the other neighbour £935 (archive listing looks like it needed alot of work).

So the one we want is in better condition than its neighbours and bigger by one room, but obviously 2021 is a very different market to now...

@zurala yes this is what I'm concerned about... yes 20k drop is alot of money but in the context of a 975 property as @rainingsnoring says 2% so hopefully not too insulting..

Gonna call the agent tomorrow and sound them out...

Thanks everyone the comments are super useful for sounding it all out!!

I think an offer at 955 which is 97.9 of their asking price (or the figure that is close to the undisclosed price they want!) is perfectly reasonable.

Agree with others that you have to start thinking about your next move now. If it’s only been on for a few weeks they likely won’t take 955 and will try and negotiate you up. Question for you is do you leave your 955 on the table and see if they come back to you (but risk them getting a better offer) or try and do a deal now? In this market I’d be tempted to do the former. Depends though how sad you would be to lose it.

Take a look on houseprices.io as well, as it will give an indication of current value based on last sale, plus the colouring will give a flavour as to whether the local prices are now sliding or still rising.