What was your first offer & what did you end up at

[ROYGBIVain]

Will be offering on a property we like today. Will offer below asking price as it is overpriced I think, based on other similarly priced houses in same area which are larger and have bigger gardens. Most houses are being reduced before they get a buyer too.

What did you offer initially, what did you go up to, and what were the reasons? Is 10% below too low?

We offered £915k and have had £925k accepted. When we sold our flat, the first offer we received was £475k and we sold (at asking price) of £525k.

On the one we offered on, there’s just nothing to compare it to price wise because nothing has sold recently. We took a punt. we were initially told a rough sale price or £1-1.1m but we knew there was no chance of that when we saw its condition.

Can't remember on first property.

Second property, we offered £79k while viewing, property on market for £80k. Properties were selling like hotcakes at the time and we had many viewings cancelled before even looking and, other times putting offers in when we got home to find someone had beaten us to it. They said they wanted asking price and would include wardrobes, which we didn't want. Agreed on £79,500.

Next property - on market for £265k. Put in an offer of £245k to be told they were insulted by that. then £249,950 (as wanted to keep below stamp duty threashold at the time). Refused. Told them we'd suck stamp duty up but final offer was £254k (thinking we'd go up to £255k) - they came back with counter offer for £255k.

Good luck!

We offered 8% under and where accepted instantly. We are in a strong position (no chain, cash buyers) and the seller is motivated to sell quick.

This always makes me smile when people say the people say there are other similar priced houses which makes me think the house you want must have something that makes it stand out from the others and want you to buy it! Sometimes it’s something like a south facing garden or more parking. is it just you think you can get a better deal,on this one?

I offered asking price and got accepted. Houses that fitted my criteria in the area I wanted were very few and far between. The an absolutely perfect one came up at a very keen price. I got the first viewing on a Thursday morning and made an offer Thursday afternoon. They accepted and cancelled several viewings they had lined up for the Saturday.

I had to act decisively as it was the only house that fitted the bill and was priced very well. Had it been overpriced, or if I had a lot more houses to choose from, then I would have offered lower.

We don’t mess about with house offers. I would never buy a house unless I really wanted it. And if I really want it I am not risking pissing off the seller or losing it.

So ours is always asking or over and final.

I haven't bought or sold in the last few years so the market was totally different and not relevant to you.

This is one of those 'how long is a piece of string' type questions.
It's totally individual. In your case, if you think that the house is over priced compared to similar properties that have recently sold in the area, and houses are not moving in general and sitting on the market for ages, offering 10% under is perfectly reasonable. I would try to ascertain how much it is roughly worth, compared to those that are actually selling (sounds as if most are not selling). Also look at how much other options you have and how much this particular property means to you. All you can do is research and then offer the maximum it is worth to you. Different sellers will have difference circumstances that will affect what offer they accept too.

Offer what it’s worth based on the market and to you. Whether 10% is reasonable or not entirely depends on the house in question and the local market: if it’s already priced to sell in a strong market, the seller might not find it attractive.

I’ve always just offered what I can afford or what I think the property is worth based on recent sale prices and condition etc and made it clear that I’ve no wish to play games, that’s the only offer I’ll be making, I don’t have any more money to give etc. I’ve never had an offer declined: I think agents and sellers can recognise when somebody is making a serious offer versus somebody who’s just faffing about coming in low, and wants to play the game of gradually going upwards in increments etc, and know that those people are often a hassle to deal with through the whole process.

House had been on a while - had been SSTC and then fallen through as previous buyer's chain collapsed. Offered 7.5% below as a chain free, cash buyer. Vendor came back and said no but he would accept 5% below given our position, so we said ok.

I really do think it depends on the area and how much competition there is. We only had one offer/person interested in ours last month, £325k, which we turned down. They came back with £335k whiçh we accepted. I thought they would have come back with an inbetween offer first. Ours was listed for £340k. We felt that was fair compared to others selling in the area and had we said no for £5k difference it might have sat on the market for longer and ended up selling for far less.

Our current house we offered 975k then 985k which they accepted. It was on at 1.1M & I think they really hoped to get 1M but were in a hurry to sell and we were in a strong position as had already sold our house.

We put ours up recently at a competitive price as we want a quick sale but wouldn’t have accepted any less than asking. We had two offers for asking in the first week. We asked both buyers if they wanted to up their offer to take the house off the market (had 10 viewings booked in the next week) and one added £10k so we bit their hand off.

I personally wouldn’t offer less than 5% under.

10% over the asking. It was a probate sale and I knew the family would accept it

House that we recently sold (put on market in Sep 2024, moved 5 weeks ago in Feb), was put on the market for £425. We received 2 offers; one for £426, and the other for £435. The higher offer were also the couple in better position - FTBs etc, so we went for that.

House went brought was originally put on the market for £435 (2 houses are VERY similar, but we moved towns - location was our motivation). It was reduced to £420. We originally put offer in ar £412, but they had another offer on table and so asked for best and final. We offered £425, and I'm currently sitting in it with a cup of tea :)

Two examples.

On at 325 for 6 months. Offer 290 turned down. Offer final 300 initially turned down, then came back after two weeks and accepted. Then pulled out due to a dreadful survey on the renovation work. This house has dropped to 300 now and just fallen through again - possibly same reason.

On at 310 just listed. Offer 290 turned down. Offer final 300 accepted.

Ours was OIEO 500 but had been reduced several times from 575 over the course of 6 months. Was being sold by the children of deceased parents.

We offered 450 and landed on 470

House ticked all our boxes (location, parking, size, garden) but needs full modernisation which we are now doing bit by bit.

One house on at £425. First offer £385 which we rejected. Next offer £395- rejected. Third offer £405 x rejected. Fourth offer £415 - rejected. Fifth offer £420- accepted.

@Bluevelvetsofa

Got there eventually!

Most recent property purchase on for 600k offered 545k accepted. Our house on for 450, sold for 460k. Got lucky

Selling last year, I accepted an offer 2.8% under asking; buying, they accepted an offer 1.7% under - sums involved were around £15k-£30k. Very minor negotiations to add about £10k from first offer in both cases.

I also made a cheeky 12.5% under asking price offer on another house which I thought was seriously overpriced for the location and the amount of work that needed doing to it, which was rejected. The agent sounded me out about how much higher I was willing to go (not much) and I didn't bother making another offer as it clearly would have been rejected too. The house was still on the market months later.

House was immaculate and in an in demand area at peak 22/23 market. On for £525k, there were 8 viewings the first day it was marketed and we offered £515k, then got told another couple put it the same offer and went to best and final. £531,250 got it for us.

We got offered 20% below asking for our first offer. We accepted asking price 3 days later, from another person.

I am looking at a house which is similarly priced but requires complete refurbishment as it has not been well maintained and was bought by the vendor in 1999 so no major works undertaken since then. Made an offer of £380k. Not heard back yet. Do you think it’s a fair offer?

@ZippyFish , the house we had was new in 1991. This was in 2011. We had replaced both bathrooms and the cloakroom and redone the kitchen twice in that time. Front and back gardens were professionally landscaped and the house was immaculate. It’s 14 years ago and things were very different then.

If the house you’re looking at is on for £425, I don’t think they’d accept £380. I wouldn’t.