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Original poster

How to make a competitive offer on property without overpaying (Scotland)

47 replies

geezahoose · 02/04/2021 17:58

I know this really depends on the property and the financial situation of a buyer, but there's so much demand for property at the moment in our area that I feel like we'll never make a successful offer without paying a huge percentage more than the valuation in the home report.

Recently lost out on a decent house despite offering 10% over. Tiny 2-bed semi with big garden, sold within a few days - it's just crazy at the moment!

How can we make a competitive offer without overpaying? Do we really need to be offering 20% over if we can afford it long term??

OP posts:

Redglitter · 02/04/2021 18:06

The housing market just now is mad. Its definitely a sellers market. Most around here are going to closing dates which is pushing them up even more. Id say 10% is the least you'd need to offer at the moment but if its a house you really want then yes, probably more

randomsabreuse · 02/04/2021 18:07

We were successful under home report value recently. We got it because it was a bit of an odd house in a not fashionable area with the least fashionable school in the area. We rent in the same area and have been very happy with said school.

It's also not a project but a bit dated decoration wise (think Father Ted's house) but well maintained so falls between the full renovation (go really quickly) and ready to move in camps.

Anything with potential for an extension (garden big enough) has been flying and going well over. Certainly around here most of the older ex council developments seem to have useless green common area at the expense of private gardens (which are often triangular to fit around crescents).

user1487194234 · 02/04/2021 19:16

At the moment in hot spots 20% over Home report

Newsorrynewagain · 02/04/2021 21:24

We have just sold and bought, it’s really pot luck. We got in first and offered straight away. We were lucky as the one we have purchased had been extended and the sellers wanted a lot more than it was valued at. The only reason we could up our offer was because ours sold for more then thr asking price. I think getting in early can help but not always easy. What area are you looking in

SempreSuiGeneris · 03/04/2021 08:28

Property market round our way is also very hot atm. surprised as it is family size tenement flats with communal outside space. 4 flats within 100 yards all sold within a week. The offers over starting price looked optimistic compared to pre pandemic but given how quickly they sold assume they went for well over. 2 of them will need significant work done post purchase and 2 are walk in ready.

Detached houses along the road also selling at closed bids within a couple of weeks. This is despite us having over 1,000 new houses and flats being built within walking distance.

Never realised I lived in a desres before now. Urban area and not at the "good school". Nearly started a thread yesterday. My area is very much a "20 minute neighbourhood" as touted by NS yesterday. Completely different perspective from everyone thinking we would all move to the country post pandemic.

So in summary if you really want it you need to pay as much as it's worth to you, which is by definition overpaying as you will outbid all other potential purchasers.

If it helps we "overpaid" by about 10% (so added a bit more than lawyer suggested) and have never regretted it. The market caught up and moved up from what we paid within a couple of years. Property in the West of Scotland in particular has been relatively less expensive than rest of UK for a long time (not that I understand where all the money is coming from so suddenly now).

Sootess · 03/04/2021 08:57

We bought our house in Edinburgh in a rising market (years ago). Was bit of a nightmare and I wouldn't want to move again in a market like that!
We paid about 15% over and our solicitor felt we were bidding too much. We only just got it!

As Sempre says, if you do pay a bit over valuation the market will then catch up. The house is worth what it's worth to you if it's where you really want to live.

Housing market on fire at moment but will settle down again. It's always gone through periods like this. Do you need to move at moment or could you wait until it's more stable?

We found it helpful to suss out the sellers situation a bit. Is a quick sale important to them? Are they in no hurry and likely to hold out for best price? Would offer of long entry date be attractive to seller? But obviously with Covid you may not really be able to chat to the seller much.

Good luck

LoopyGremlin · 03/04/2021 17:53

@geezahoose

Recently lost out on a decent house despite offering 10% over. Tiny 2-bed semi with big garden, sold within a few days - it's just crazy at the moment!

How can we make a competitive offer without overpaying? Do we really need to be offering 20% over if we can afford it long term??

Where are you looking? I’m in Edinburgh and can’t believe what the houses in desirable areas are going for. Many are 20%+ over the HR valuation. The only advice is pay what it’s worth to you and what you can afford. Hope you get something soon.

qwerty222 · 03/04/2021 17:59

We got our place by making a competitive offer (6% over) immediately to stop it going to a close. They then negotiated us to 8% over and took it off the market. This won’t always work though as a closing date is probably more advisable for the seller, but worth a shot maybe. Good luck.

wandawombat · 03/04/2021 17:59

I've bought & sold in and around Edinburgh a fair bit. There is no scientific method.

Ask yourself "if the house sold for £x +1, I wouldn't pay it..." that's your mental limit, pay that x. It is what it's worth to you that matters. What others can pay, you have no control over...

At least you don't have to pay for the survey now. That used to be painful, know the survey had been bought by many other people too.

I0NA · 03/04/2021 18:00

Short answer is you can’t. If it goes to a closing date you will only win if you make the best offer . Or very close to it, if you have another factor that makes the seller prefer your offer, such as being a cash buyer.

If you want to pick up a bargain then you need to offer on a property where’s there’s little competition.

Sorry, there’s no trick to it.

wandawombat · 03/04/2021 18:00

Obv if you can afford the gap between valuation & offer price, as that is cash.

fastingnewby · 04/04/2021 18:35

You need to let go of the overpaying concern.
Decide what it's worth to you / what you can afford and make the offer.
That's all you can do.
If you're successful, you'll have the house you want for a price you are willing to pay.

LadyJaye · 14/04/2021 11:55

The housing market is insane ATM - tenement flats in our area of the southside of Glasgow are consistently selling for 20%+.

A lot of that is 'buying a postcode', though, so if you're prepared to consider less fashionable areas, you could get lucky.

Ready2020 · 14/04/2021 14:26

We've been trying to buy in Musselburgh over the last few months and lost out each time, being about 4th down in offers and that was at about 20% over asking price!

We ended up offering a crazy amount for a house in Dunbar with help from my mum and it got accepted. But now the sellers want to pull out! Hopefully it'll all get sorted as I'm due in 3 months.

Basically we wouldn't have got this house in Musselburgh and without getting my inheritance early. We were happy paying that though as its a new ish build in a good location and our house is sold with a moving out date agreed.

But yes, it's crazy. Can't wait to be off this stress trip.

Haudyourwheesht · 14/04/2021 17:20

@fastingnewby

You need to let go of the overpaying concern. Decide what it's worth to you / what you can afford and make the offer. That's all you can do. If you're successful, you'll have the house you want for a price you are willing to pay.

That's what we did. Put in an offer that was as much as we could afford what we thought the house was worth and then when we inevitably didn't get it we consoled ourselves with the thought that the buyers had overpaid.

I agree that the prices are crazy though. Tenement flats going for 20% over - nearly the price of our 4 bed house.

peoplearepeople · 14/04/2021 18:34

We are first time buyers and really struggling with this at the moment. We've made several offers quite a lot over the home report value and still only come 3rd or 4th in the bids. It feels like we'll just never get there, as there's just no way we can pay so much over the reported value. So frustrating as we can easily pay a mortgage and deposit but just don't have a huge amount of cash to pay so over the odds.
We have also comforted ourselves that we have put in our highest bid each time and that the eventual buyers have massively overpaid compared to what these houses were going for not even a year ago.
Doesn't help us get a home though.

MadeForThis · 14/04/2021 19:34

Hopefully it calms down again soon. It's crazy to be forced to pay 20% over the Home Report value. Most first time buyers don't stand a chance.

Confusednewmum1 · 18/04/2021 21:26

Always remember you can’t really pay too much, house prices are based on similar properties the local area- as soon as you go high it inflates the value all around

Grumpycatsmum · 19/04/2021 18:06

Reading this thread is very depressing. We are looking again as our previous seller pulled out (presumably to get a better offer ) and are looking again. Are there any areas where houses aren't going for 20% over HR??? I am about to make another offer and we can't meet that level.

LoopyGremlin · 19/04/2021 19:03

Where are you looking @Grumpycatsmum?

Grumpycatsmum · 19/04/2021 19:16

Houses, commuting distance to Glasgow, but not Bearsden!

Grumpycatsmum · 19/04/2021 19:18

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Weegiesqueegee · 20/04/2021 10:55

We live in a sought after area but our house is too small for our family. We need an extra bedroom but with local houses going at 20-25% over home report we’re priced out of the market. Everyone is moving here because the school catchment recently reduced and they’re not taking placing requests. Loads of people live with family after selling their homes, enabling them to move quickly when buying but we don’t have that privilege. My worry is if we sold we’d end up homeless because there’s no way we could afford to rent in this area. I’m so sick of sharing a bedroom with my youngest child :(

Grumpycatsmum · 20/04/2021 12:16

Such spoke to our solicitor who confirmed the 10-20% over HR. Might have to revise our requirements again. Sigh....

LoopyGremlin · 20/04/2021 17:22

So difficult @Grumpycatsmum. Hope you get something soon.

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