Placed asking price offer - what next?

Lilym_2

Hello. This is my first post but feel like I need some help!
We are looking for a house in a town which currently has very little coming on the market in our price range and a lot of eager buyers it seems. We viewed a house on Friday and again yesterday which seems v fairly priced. Three people viewed on Friday and there were three of us yesterday and more booked to see it then and today and Friday.
I placed an offer for the asking price yesterday afternoon. Chased this morning but apparently awaiting vendor to get back to them (it's chain free, sale being dealt with by a company on behalf of family of vendor who has either died or gone in home -have heard both from EA).
We are renting and ready to move with finances in place.
I asked EA before offering whether an asking price offer would secure it. She said she 'expected so' but that the vendor may wish to let the booked bookings go ahead. Is this standard? Does it suggest that they now hope to get higher than asking since there is obviously so much interest?
I don't think we could really go much higher but want to be prepared in case they come back asking for more.
Sorry if it's a basic question but not sure if I should have made cancelling viewings a condition of my offer.
Feeling sick with nerves now:(
Many thanks

ambioni

Lilym wrote: »

Sorry if it's a basic question but not sure if I should have made cancelling viewings a condition of my offer.

No EA would accept a condition like that; they keep showing potential buyers round a place until an offer is accepted by the vendor, in case further viewings lead to higher offers. I know it's nervewracking but you have to sit tight and see what the EA comes back with. Did make the offer yourself or through a solicitor? (Can sometimes carry a bit more weight if done via solicitor). I lost the first house I wanted because vendors sat on offer then someone else came in on a quick second viewing and offered more....but my next offer on a different house was accepted. When making an offer it's good to also let the vendor know if you are FTB, chain free, cash buyer, finances in place or anything that makes you more attractive.

Good luck!!

DaftyDuck

You can't make cancelling of viewings a condition. Well, you can make anything a condition, but they'd just ignore you!

Stick yourself in the vendors position... with that much interest, maybe another offer comes their way, at the asking price, and maybe somebody will therefore bid higher.

Frankly, I wouldn't seem too very keen, as it'll just make them try to get more from you. They have your offer, and they will respond, they really will. Having to wait three or four days may seem like agony, but it will pass.

I have just been on the other side, having got a near-asking-price offer from someone with a house sold subject to contract. I waited two more days, two more viewings, and a cash offer at asking price. However, having got that, I've accepted, and moved on with selling. Sure, I might have got a bit more through pushing each against the other, but a good, quick sale is worth a great deal.

So, patience would be my suggestion. Sure, you could say the offer is only open for a few more days, but the agent will probably realise it's a bluff and not work to your timescale.

Even though I'm on the other side of the sale right now, I too am ... sitting .... bricks, as they say, waiting for these buyers to pull out... and I'm an old and wrinkly frequent buyer.

Best thing to do is try and ignore it all, walk the dog, take an evening off, whatever...

Surrey_EA

It really depends on the circumstances of each individual sale, and whether the EA anticipates there may be other offers forthcoming.

When the vendor is a company it completely removes any emotion from the decision making process, which can make things simpler, however their objective is going to be focused entirely on securing the best price.

You sound like you're in a good buying position, so hopefully your offer is being received very positively, but all you can do now is wait for a response I'm afraid.

Lilym_2

Thank you for the quick replies. You have made me feel better about it. Right then. No more chasing for a day or two. As long as I know I've done all I could on my part I will wait it out (or be back here for advice if they try to get us to submit a higher offer)!

Surrey_EA

ambioni wrote: »

Did make the offer yourself or through a solicitor? (Can sometimes carry a bit more weight if done via solicitor).

I would find that a little odd to be honest.

claire_mc_2

I was in the exact same position a few weeks ago. We were the first to see a very nice property, and offered asking price after the 2nd viewing. The seller then proceeded to have 2 open days, there were a lot more offers, and we had to wait to find out what was happening for 10 DAYS - torture! It ended up going for £18k over asking price, to a buyer with £100K deposit who could afford to make up the mortgage valuation shortfall (which the EA was sure there would be, the house was not worth that much).

If you were prepared to offer asking price immediately, I'm sure others will be as well and it's possible that the property was priced attractively low just to get the interest.

I hope you don't think I'm being mean, but I could have written your post myself a few weeks ago, and we ended up being very disappointed. We felt like the EA used our asking price offer as leverage to secure higher offers from other buyers - I bet they were telling other interested parties "well, we already have an asking price offer on the table...". I really hope it does work out for you, but be prepared. If this one doesn't work out, there will be others. We had an offer accepted on the 4th property that we tried to get, and it does get easier to detach yourself and be less emotional about it.

Loopy28

Look at it this way, if you are selling a house you want to achieve the best price property with a buyer who is going to be the least hassle.

If you receive an asking price offer early on but have many other viewings booked, you would probably want those to go ahead and see what other offers come in.

I am sure the EA will contact you after these viewings and either tell you that your offer has been accepted OR that someone has put in a higher offer.

The same happened to us when we were first looking, a property was priced about 5k less than comparable properties so we offered asking price. We were told the vendor wanted the other viewings to take place first and we were subsequently contacted and advised another offer had been made although they wouldn't tell us if it was higher than our asking price offer. We withdrew our offer at that point as we had seen something we liked better but I can't wait for the details to be on the land registry so I can see what it sold for!

I would just sit tight, the EA will be back in touch one way or the other.

Lilym_2

Thank you all so much for your replies.

I have just had a call from the EA. They have had two asking price offers and one slightly lower.

They have asked for best and final offers by midday tomorrow. They will make a decision and go forward with that purchaser tomorrow.

EA has indicated that the other parties are equally in a good position in terms of readiness to proceed.

I guess we have to mull it over tonight. We really want it but it is so hard to know whether it's worth going much higher as so little on market to compare against. I suppose it comes down to what it's worth to us. Any advice would be very welcome but will Update tomorrow in any case.

ambioni

well if you possibly can afford a little more it might be worth increasing the offer, but DON'T stretch yourself to do it...after all, you have to reckon with interest rates rising in the future and ask yourself if you will really be able to afford the rises.

In cases like this it really can come down to whether or not the owner liked you when you viewed....and all you can do is wait.

Please let us know the outcome! I am biting my nails here for you too!!

rosie383

Ambioni is right. If it works for you to go a wee bit higher, and if you think there is a shortage of suitable houses around for you, then go for it, but a rise in interest rates in a couple of years can make a big difference, so think seriously about what you can afford.
And if you don't get this one, there will be another one eventually that you will get.