Offering on an overpriced house

[RockAndAnOverpricedPlace]

How would you word it, being mindful of not insulting the seller but presenting yourself as a serious buyer.

We've found two properties that we like but both were bought in the height of covid/low interest rates/stamp duty holiday. Both have been reduced since listing but they are still circa 10% increase since last sold. Neither have been updated except for a change of paint in a couple of rooms.

We have had to take a hit on our own sale and it took a fair bit of reminding ourselves that it's the market and the price is dictated by what people are willing to buy but it doesn't seem to be translating up the property ladder for onwards purchases.

How can we word an offer that doesn't insult the seller?

"We understand this is under your asking price, but we'd like to let you know what we can pay, just in case you're interested."

Offer what you are willing to pay you don't need to word anything.
It's absolutely irrelevant what they paid for their property and what improvements they have made btw.

They will either accept your offer or they won't.

Good luck. X

We just said our offer reflected the market place as we had just found it.

God don't explain to them why they've priced their house wrong, just offer what you are happy to pay, thats it. You don't have to give a reason at all. Much better to just say, we love your home for this reason, would like to offer x, we are proceedable in such and such way, and would hope to be in by y date. Thanks.

Erm why do you have to caveat your offer at all? You're overthinking this - it will either be acceptable to them or it won't. All you need say is: "We would like to offer £X and this is our position in terms of being able to proceed." That's it. They will either say no, yes or come back with a further negotiation.

What they paid, when they paid it, and what they have /haven’t done is irrelevant.

On the basis you are actively viewing property and watching your area you should have a feel for what they are worth and what you are happy to pay.

How long have they been on the market? Has there been much interest and/or offers?

The market is very very different from 5 or 6 years ago and even 2 or 3 years ago.

If you’re in a position to move quickly, a vendor should take you seriously, so offer what you think the property is worth to you and what you can afford.

I’m not sure I understand, don’t you just give a number to the estate agent who then passes the offer on for you? Why would there be any wording involved?

When we offered on an overpriced house we just said we will offer x price and that was it. They came back and rejected it thinking I would increase offer. Told ea thats the final offer and to leave it on the table for them. I walked away. Week later they accepted

We overthought it when we offered on an overpriced house. Just tell them your offer. Don’t over apologise. They can say no

Overthinking it. Just offer what you think is worth.

Whats the house up for amd whats the price you are offering? Im just looking at houses and i dont know what sort of offer is ok/too low etc so id be interested to know

Happily the offer won’t be to their faces but to the estate agent so whatever careful wording you use will be lost anyway. The main thing is to get across that it’s a serious offer from proceedable buyers.

My neighbour is selling. Busy and sought after London commuter town so always a market. She’s had several low offers and is just waiting to see which is the best after a couple of months then will go back to the best bid and see if it’s still on. Certainly not insulted or upset by the low offers.

All buyers and sellers are having to negotiate this falling market so you just have to be sensible and hope the sellers are not the silly sort who take things personally.

The wording doesn’t matter. We sold last year and the offers were worded by the estate agent as “we’ve had two offers, one for £X, one for £Y”, they then had more detail about their position eg first time buyer, waiting for a buyer etc.

Just give your offer. You don’t have to justify it.

Just put your offer in via the estate agents.

agree with others - just make your offer without explanations that might offend.

If the EA makes a negative comment, I would calmly say - well we had to accept an offer to get our house sold, it's the market.

I would appreciate the offer, would accept or not but please leave the waffle alone i wouldn't care your reasons to be perfectly honest

Tell your EA your offer is £xxx and thats your full and final offer. No need to explain to the vendor. Tell your EA you don't want haggling back and all that nonsense. At least the vendor knows the situation and will decide if they accept it or not. Up to them.

If its a reasonable offer, they'll bite your hand off!

We once had an offer with a long accompanying explanation of why it was over 20% less than the asking price. The potential buyers justifications had absolutely no impact on whether we would accept the offer. If all offers over a period of months were in the same ball park then we would have reconsidered. The sellers will value their own opinion and even the estate agents opinion over a random stranger so I don’t think your opinion will have much influence. Just make an offer and let them know you are in a good position to proceed.
(We went on to sell at asking price but it was a different market).

Why are you bothered about whether the vendor is insulted ?
They'll either reject it, come back with a counter offer, or accept it. If they think you are a CF that is not your concern.

Over priced is subjective, what you mean I suspect is it is more than you can afford.

you don’t need to word anything, you simply say this is my offer, and that’s it, they either accept or decline.

Overpriced is not subjective. Price is determined by buyers and seller coming to market to determine equilibrium price. For example, 5 properties of same size and condition could have sold in 2025 for for £300k. This does not mean your property is "worth" this amount in 2026. If no buyers are present, the price simply adjusts to entice buyers.

Having said that, given the property has only been listed for a short period of time it's too early to make that assessment. 6 months will tell you the right value.

Of course it’s subjective, one persons over priced is another persons right price. The op may feel it’s over priced and make one offer, and someone else may think it’s worth more and offer higher,

It just basic economics, the price is determined by demand and supply. The market (buyer) determines the price in a non-monopolistic market.