What does "under offer" mean?

frenchbird1

Obviously, I understand someone has made an offer on the house in question but am I still able to make an offer myself?
We did make an offer on the same house before Christmas but it was rejected (buyers are asking for £250000, we offered 220000, which we knew was low but the house had been on the market for 8 months with no offer). We were discussing what our next step should be (with Christmas, I guess we left it a bit long) when we realised by looking on Rightmove that the house was now "under offer". We're just a bit confused as to what it means and what we should do. Any help welcome.

withabix

That means an offer has been made since you made your offer and the Agents are waiting to see if the sellers accept it.

You can put in another offer - the Agents might tell you what offer you need to beat, but do bear in mind that they will probably lie.

evoke

In reality it means that the seller and estate agent are hoping that someone makes a larger offer, even if the current offer has been accepted by the seller.

googler

It means, in my part of Scotland at least, that a written offer has been made and accepted for the property.

Since under the Scottish system you need a solicitor to submit an offer for you, you wouldn't be able to offer on an 'Under Offer' property, because -a - the selling agent won't accept a second offer until the first has been rejected, and - b - the second buying solicitor won't submit an offer until they know the selling agent has rejected the first offer.

It obviously means something different in England & Wales.

C_Mababejive

Its a ploy by estate agents to smoke out other possible buyers and make you feel a bit insecure.

Either they accept your offer or they dont. They need to state this soon.

frenchbird1

Well, they DID reject our offer before christmas and the estate agent said they wanted at least £240000. We can afford this but were a bit reluctant as we would be at the bottom of the chain and ready to move when the seller hasn't yet found a house to buy.

googler

So, asking £250k, you offered £220k (declined), EA says £240k would be acceptable..... I'd offer £225k or £230k and see if they bite.

But you need clarification from the EA - is it Under Offer because someone else's offer has been accepted?

tyllwyd

I asked a similar question a while back, and the response seemed to be that although Rightmove defines 'under offer' as offer made but not accepted, and 'sold subject to purchase' as an offer having been accepted, in reality Estate Agents seem to use both to mean the same thing. So I would assume that an someone else has made an offer on the house which has been accepted.

halflost

I always thought that Sold Subject to Contract is typically used when the offer is accepted and the property as part of the terms of the offer is then taken off the market and no more viewings take place. then Under Offer is generally an offer has been made at the level the seller wants but the offer is not actually proceedable (i.e. they need to sell their house first, therefore the offer is not actually proceedable - but is acceptable once proceedable).

You elude to the fact that you dont want to be bottom of the chain and wait for them to find somewhere? Have they not found somewhere to buy then? Because I woul say under offer suggests its not proceedable right now, whereas your offer is.

Your options are:
- See if the property is still being marketed (generally I would presume so) if so, make another offer at a level you want, but on the basis that the sale is completed in 2 months (with them going to rented if needed). I would go and view again and chat with them on their expectations to be honest.
- Ignore it and see what happens - it may come back as Available then see what you can do. But beware that now they have had an offer on this at a level they want - so probably £240k this is going to skew it.

Eitherway it seems likely someoone has offered something non proceedable at £240k or thereabouts. The vendor is likely to say "Well we had £240k for it, so its worth that" the fact the offer might not be proceedable is not important to them.

I think the one thing counting against you if it is nonproceedable offer right now is that the likely timelines involved in the buyers selling their home to move up, and them finding a house might fall in line. It could well be that they like the larger timelines involved in this. Also, you may find that they find their dream home, and can then go in lower to ensure they can do the move.

Good luck!

frenchbird1

We rang the agent yesterday and an offer "close to the asking price" has been accepted. Back to the drawing board
Thanks to everyone for your advice.

hermanmunster_3

I am surprised that the agent didn't get back to you when the offer came in to let you know and see if you wanted to put in another offer.... they could have had a little auction!