Quick advice on offer needed please!

[Worriedmum40284]

Hi all, we've had 2 viewings of a house (house 1) we like but takes us further away from schools etc so have been doing our homework and seeing if we can make it work.

Viewed one other house this morning to help us make a decision either way. Fairly confident we do want to offer on house 1.

EA has just called to say an offer has been made. House is on at £550k, been on just under a month. What do we go in at? Would 530 be too low considering there is now another offer on the table?

Ask the agent what the current offer is.

Think it will really depend on your area. Where I am there's little stock and high demand and I offered asking price because it was the top of what I could afford and I wanted it, so it felt more honest and open to go with that. Got the house! Think game playing is risky if your area is a high demand area, but if you know it would sit on the market for a while then offer the 530k. At the time I remember thinking- how gutted would I be if someone else got the house for the sake of the £10k (20k in your case)?

It’s not just price that matters with an offer. Are you in a good position with mortgage deposit etc

Can they tell you the current offer? I always thought they couldn't (or wouldn't!)

We're hopefully in a good position, sold to first time cash buyers and have an agreement in principle ready to go.

No, go for it. It is a good offer. Totally reasonable. If they are interested they can negotiate

It's been slowish, but houses with little work needed that are reasonably priced have been going more quickly.

I know exactly what you mean and that does worry me. It's just with interest rates being what they are, 530 is a much more comfortable monthly repayment and 550 would potentially stretch us too far.

They can’t tell you the current offer, or at least aren’t supposed to. But they can drop big hints. For example, if you offered 520 say, they would either say they will take that offer to the owner or advise you that you would need to go higher to secure the house as they have already received a higher offer.

Also worth considering they you are in a good position to proceed but the other potential buyers may not be so don’t rush to offer close to asking until you have gauged how interested the owners are in your initial offer.

The agent is unlikely to tell you the other offer (if they are doing their job right). Offer £530 - you have no idea what the other offer is or their position. When you say you've sold - have you exchanged yet? But still, offer see what they say (and be cautious about jumping to asking price when they reply).

I think you maybe need to change your search to houses you can afford? Knocking 20k off the price because you can't do the monthly payments makes me wonder why you even viewed it. If they've got an offer in, I'd be very surprised if it would be anywhere near that low unless the house is a fixer upper and was initially overpriced.

I don’t agree with that - people knock money off houses all the time. In fact I imagine in most areas an owner would be happy these days with a 530k offer on a house listed at 550k.

I’m more concerned their initial offer may be too high! Personally I would be offering lower at first but that’s up to @Worriedmum40284

Thanks all. No we haven't exchanged yet but have had a committed buyer for a few months who's happy to go as slowly or as quickly as needed.

I'm not saying we absolutely couldn't afford 550k - we can borrow that amount. This house ticks a lot of boxes but there are a few compromises so it's coming to terms with whether we feel 550k is worth those compromises I guess.

In this situation no matter what you offer, the EA is likely to encourage the seller to go to best and final offers, unless one of the offers is ludicrously low and therefore not considered serious.

It will also be very relevant what your circumstances are if there is a competing buyer. Would you be cash, chain free, when do you want to move? etc.

If you do think this is the house for you and can afford it I think £530k is a good opening offer - but I’d imagine they’ll try to get at least one of you up to asking.

Thank you. 530k would give us wiggle room to go up if needed. We have a cash buyer who will move as and when we need to so we can pass on that same flexibility and present a relatively chain free position.

That’s great and puts you in a good position! Fingers crossed - it’s a nail biting time!

It has gone to final and best offer now - apparently both offers are very similar in terms of proceedability and I presume their actual offer must be similar?

Any advice on what might be best to do?

What to do depends on how much you want the property.

Offer the lowest amount that would mean you won't regret walking away if unsuccessful.

So if you think 540k is as much as you'll go to and the other buyer offers 542k - will you regret not offering £3k more? Or will you think that you'd have never considered over 540k at all, so good luck to them?

If you are going to always regret not getting the house, go as high as you possibly can.

They are not allowed to tell you. I'd offer £531k as the other offer could well be £530k.

What amount did you offer @Worriedmum40284 before they told you to give your best & final offer?

We offered 530k. The EA originally said she didnt think it would be enough but I guess we can't be that far off the other offer as they didn't just go for them outright?

530k sounds reasonable.
Say it's your last and final offer and then sell yourselves! You have a buyer, you are ready to go with the house, you are committed etc.

I think including a note personalising your situation and how much you are committed/love the house often works if both offers are similar. It’s a nerve wracking time waiting to hear if you win out - but I do think you can end up not feeling so much like you got a good “deal” in this scenario, as you often go slightly higher than you would have liked.

Yes the 2 offers must be close together.

I would go up a bit to 535k maybe or even 540k if you can afford that without putting too much strain on the finances. You don’t want to feel you lost it over a few thousand you could have found.

But also write a note as @ibelieveinmirrorballs suggests to show you are a committed buyer.

Thank you - that's really useful. Torn between 535 and 540k. Will sleep on it and decide in the morning. In the grand scheme of it, the difference is neglible I suppose but would be frustrating if the other buyer stuck at 530 (or potentially even lower!) Although guess we would never know that.

Will definitely write a note, the vendors have brought two boys up in the house which is part of the appeal as we can see exactly how it would work for our two young boys. So will mention that. Sensitive one though as believe they are selling due to a separation so don't want to cause any upset if selling isn't what they would ideally want.

I'm overthinking it now....!

Personally I would not mention too much emotional stuff in the letter @Worriedmum40284 but more stuff that directly relates to you being a good buyer because you are in a strong position to proceed, love the house so won’t drop out further down the line etc. Good Luck!

The note would annoy me rather than influence me.

Just offer as much as you can afford and feel the house is worth.

Take the emotions out of it.

Best of luck.