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 ignore it and offer what I think is a reasonable price anyway. I offered below the "offers over" for the property I'm living in now and it was accepted.

I don't like it personally.
I'd rather there was just a price!
It's all a bit vague, and like they are trying to encourage a bidding war.

We'll be house hunting next Spring so I've been looking at houses in the area we plan to move to. OIEO houses have been on the market for months and months.

But everyone is trying to encourage a bidding war, or indeed anything that drives up the price someone can get from a house sale! No one is selling a house as a magnanimous act.

I’m pretty sure we put our last house on the market, on the EA’s advice, at slightly under what we hoped to sell for, in order to be searchable in a particular price category on Rightmove, but it still sold for £30k above the price we’d wanted to get. And we could almost certainly have got more (it was an unproblematic, well-presented house in a sought-after location), but we were in a hurry.

As you've heard above, a lot of people will just ignore that and offer what the home is worth to them be it higher or lower than the "offers in excess of" price.

However, a lot of people feel the need to follow price instructions and will not even look at your home if they cannot afford the base price or think that the base price is unrealistic.

The market will define what your home is worth - not you or the EA.

It makes me think the seller is unrealistic as to what their house is worth and can set a minimum price. Wouldn’t put me off viewing or offering what I think it is worth.

Our current house was OIEO 300k, we offered 265 and settled at £270k.

I don't like it - I assume the vendor is going to be difficult (and/or greedy/unrealistic).

There's been a handful of houses over the years that we've been seriously interested in that have had this, but we've always ignored OIEO and offered what it's worth to us. I think it worked once, but usually not.

Unless it's fairly unique/perfect in just about every way, I'd probably scroll past.

Well, exactly. So I don’t see why people on here get so snotty about OIEO, which doesn’t prevent them from offering whatever they want, or make the house any more or less likely to sell, assuming a non-quirky house in an average location, and a reasonable market.

If it’s overpriced it’s not going to sell at £450k or OIEO £450k.

As pps I eyeroll became imho it's done so house fits into lower bracket, shows more online etc., the real price they want is higher but they wouldn't get as much interest if advertised with the actual wanted price.
I had situation when I offered the advertised pricw and was told they want 15k more. Then fucking say it straight away. What a waste of time.

How many sellers on here complain when viewer feedback says "garden to small", "too near the railway line" or "no private parking". The sellers complain and say "why view when this was obvious at the start?"

Exactly the same with OIEO. Yes, you CAN offer less - and some people will (just as some people will give negative feedback on other matters that were quite obvious in the listing). But many won't, and its not them being snotty - its them reading the listing and assuming it is accurately describing the vendors position.

’Offers over’ is very annoying and snooty and I’d probably avoid getting involved. In my mind, I can offer what I want for a property and they are at liberty to turn that offer down. The house price is always just a guide as it depends what the market will pay and insisting on ‘offers over’ will result in no offers if no one (except vendor and EA) thinks it’s worth that.

I don't think I would bother viewing a house with this in the listings as it's too unknown.

It puts me right off tbh. If there were a few houses I like, I’d avoid viewing those at OIEO.

If there were one particular house I loved, I’d view it but tbh you’d have already got my back up with the vague slightly ‘chancerish’ price and I’d much prefer it if you just told me the damn price! In this situation, if only offer what I thought it was worth anyway but I’d be thinking of the seller as difficult before I’d even started. It’s at best a note in the cons column before deciding to offer for me
This is probably because it’s a newish thing and I’m used to a set price but even so, there must be plenty of people in my circumstances

Our Estate agent was trying to push offers between. Which was ludicrous to me. Unless its a massive sellers market, which it isnt at the moment who on earth would offer at the top end. When I see a price I see it as the starting price and expect to offer low.

That they should have taken the offer.

Viewers just say those things (which yes, were obvious on the listing) because they’re asked for feedback and mostly are trying to be ‘polite’, when really ‘reasons I’m not putting an offer in’ can include ‘I have no intention of buying a house, I was just nosy and wanted to see inside this one, because it was my ex’s’, ‘I only looked because I want to build an extension like theirs’ and ‘The gang of feral children sitting on the front wall vaping put me off.’

And vendors will always be trying to get a price as high as possible, whatever it says on the listing. If you offer the asking price on the first day of viewing, a vendor doesn’t need to accept it. They’d be wiser to hold out and use your offer as a way of leveraging higher ones.

Not true that everyone is trying to push up the sale price. A friend of mine was chosen from a range of offers because they were the only person planning to occupy rather than let the place and vendor wanted to preserve owner-occupiers in a small block of flats. And some people are looking to make chains work and will take less to do this. Despite the times we live in, not everyone is an arch capitalist.

I hate to break it to you, but there will have been a financial incentive for everyone in the block of flats to keep it owner-occupier only.

it spells out 'difficult vendor' and would only view if there are very limited properties for sale.

I’d rather see sensible pricing and either offer asking or just below. Never above.

So if the house is worth £500k, then market at £520k and accept anywhere from there down to £490k.

We bought a house advertised as offers over but at £10k under their supposed minimum. You have to judge the actual market in practice.

Not everyone would do that though so you may be putting people off. Are you certain your minimum isn’t too high if you’re not getting offers?

‘Hate to break it to you’ - patronising…

Their decision had nothing to do with views of other leaseholders. Financial gain are not the only motives in this world, otherwise we are all lost.

I think it means they don't want to sell less than the base price. So i would offer the base price then incrementally go up towards my max I was willing to pay. I'd never off my max straight off. I'd probably try and find Intel on what offers they had.

You’re the person who keeps banging on about capitalism, I’ve never suggested that every human transaction is profit-driven. But selling a house usually involves people trying to make as much money as possible from the only big asset most people have. And when someone is selling a flat in a in a small block which is all owner-occupied, it makes financial sense for everyone to keep the owner-occupier status.

It's fine. Who's going to turn down a house that is perfect for their needs and at a price that they are willing to pay just because it is posted as offers in excess of ?

It's hard enough to find a place that ticks all the boxes as is without imposing your own stupid price presentation constraints.

However ...

OIEO is signalling.

It is basically telling people that the minimum you are going to accept is the price, but you think it's possible someone might be willing to pay more.

There is little use in false signalling. So if you are willing to accept less OIEO is not a great idea as some people who might be willing to pay a small amount under may not bid because they are reading your signal correctly.

There is also little use in using it in an area where the market isn't hot and where your house value can be determined to a relatively high degree of accuracy.
Trying to start a bidding war in an area where there are no bids ... I think anyone with any common sense knows where that is going to end up.