What do you think to “offers in the excess of” when buying a house?

[sourdoughfan]

We’ve just asked our EA to change this on our house price. To me it seems a bit off putting. Keen to hear what others think of it?

I cannot speak from direct experience.

I think it is up to the seller.

I assume a person means that when it is put.
I am not sure all buyers think that.

Would you accept an offer at the base price, or is it definitely an offer over that base price you want?

I think that ‘in excess of ‘ works in a sellers market maybe, but not in a buyers market.

We’d accept an offer at base price. And I agree I think it only works in a sellers market which I think we might be moving away from.

I don't really care. If I am interested in the house at the ballpark figure, I would still view and still offer what I felt was the right price for me.

One estate agent we spoke to said he avoids doing this as a lot of people are off put, expecting a bidding war. But he also said it was difficult to say exactly what our house was worth (it’s very old and not much to compare it to) but he thought over £400k but possibly not quite £425, so that in itself is almost “offers over”!
But I also read it as “don’t bother making a lower offer”.

I don't like it. I want to know what you want, not mess around guessing or be in a bidding war.

I'm going to assume you're outwith Scotland as it's normal here. Offers over xyz.

Yes we’re in England. House has now been on the market for 6 weeks and we’ve had lots of viewings and one offer which we accepted, but they pulled out and no offers since.

When I see “offers in the excess of” I assume the seller is not ready to accept the offers below.
So no point viewing this property if I feel the price is inflated. It takes months for a seller to realize the price is not right and no point trying to prove it before that.

We are put off massively by this and avoid estate agents that use this sort of pricing when we're looking for a house

I just ignore it, it would not stop be making an offer below that price if that was what I thought a house was worth.

To be very blunt, it makes me think, "FFS just tell me how much you want for the damn house!" And I usually see it on optimistically-priced doer uppers.

Our current house was offers in excess, I offered the starting price. I was informed by the Spivs, oops sorry, estate agents that there would probably be a bidding war. I said that’s fine, that’s our offer, in cash.

Thirty minutes later we received a call to say our offer was accepted. I never take any notice of offers over, it’s too vague. After suffering in the late 80’s when gazumping was rife and the spivs were so deceitful I’ve never trusted or respected them.

I think exactly the same, I hate it.

It also gives me the general impression that the whole process will be a pain in the arse, the owners may be difficult, I'm wary that the 'over' that they want is a lot over, and they have unrealistic expectations and that the OIEO is because they want much more than the estate agent has valued for and this is the compromise they reached so the agent can still get viewings and offers.

As a result I didn't even view anywhere that was OIEO or OIRO.

It’s offputting to me as a buyer in more normal
times, but if I saw it in this market I’d disregard it. It’s just a marketing tool, and some agents use it to attempt to drum up interest by listing a price at a much lower level than the seller will accept - there’s an agent round here notorious for doing that, and I really think that’s a waste of everyone’s time. If a property is listed at o/o 350k but the seller isn’t ever going to accept anything below 365, then it’s a bit disingenuous really, and you’ll still get people coming along and offering 330.

If a seller wants 365+ then listing at 375k is a better move. Is there the possibility of a “guide price” instead? It’s not much better but feels a little more professional - to me, at least.

But they are telling you how much they want, they want the asking price or if possible more than that but no less. It's more annoying when someone advertises at a price at £20K below what they actually want and you don't realise the house you want is actually over your budget.

But, bluntly, I want as much as I can get, and whether I say ‘£428k’ or ‘offers over £425k’, I will still go with the highest price I can extract.

To me it's very off putting. It says I need a buyer that will pay at least "X". That is a roundabout way of saying I want more than the fair current market price or I can't afford to sell. I will literally avoid looking any further at the add as I want a house at it's fair current value and I am NOT interested in giving the vendor extra profit on top. I simply can't afford to nor want to overpay....

I think it's just a silly ploy by agents and .counter-productive. You can like a property but still offer what you think it's worth.

I just ignore that phrase and offer what I think it’s worth.

When DS was looking last year it was off-putting for all but one. It didn't stop him viewing but did stop him offering lower when he didn't think they were worth the asking price.

The one I mention above that was different had clearly priced to sell - it was a good 5k lower than one would have expected for a well maintained but unremarkable semi. Offers in excess of made sense.

They had a open day. My son viewed at midday and it appeared to be back to back appointments and they'd already had 2 offers. It sold for 4k over the asking.

It was a fast-ish market then. He had quite a few normal priced home viewings that also had back to back appointment viewing days when first marketed.

Unless the house was exceptional, it would put me off.
House buying is bad enough without getting into a bidding war.

It wouldn't put me off in a buyer's market, I would still view and offer under if I felt that was the true value.

However, it does give you nowhere to go on first drop. My neighbour had her house on for 'offers over £800K' for 3 months. Not sold. They've now changed it to just £800K. But that didn't move it on Rightmove. It's sat way down the list and tbh, most people won't even have noticed that change.

I find the wording itself off putting. Can't put my finger on why..in the region of sounds fairier to all parties and I have sold and purchased that way. At the end of the day, if a buyer was made an offer too low, they would reject. But I know it's just personal preference for me and therefore no real bearing on how it works in reality!

I agree. I’d rather just have a price. In excess to me means there’s absolutely no deal to be done so it could make it less desirable to view compared to others. Also makes any needed price reductions look worse IMO.