Placed asking price offer - what next?

Hoploz

It's a very fair way of doing it, it gives everyone the opportunity to increase their offer rather than just turning round with a straight no.

I have been in this situation three times before. Twice in 2007 we thought logically about how much the house was worth and offered accordingly ... And lost out to far higher bids. (house 1 was 365, went for over 400, house 2 was 425, went for 475)

Third time was last year. We had been looking for two years and this was the perfect house in our perfect location. Our previous experiences told us what we needed to do.

We decided to offer all we could afford, and just a smidge on top of that, so we wouldn't be saying, 'if only we had gone another £x' This time we were successful. And we hadn't overdone it because there were other bids including one the same as ours.

We are so happy we got it, and the little extra makes virtually no difference on the mortgage. We begged and borrowed to get our forever home.

In our case we knew nothing else was coming to market that would compare, we had searched long and hard and knew it was a rare and unique house that would be our home for 20+ years so we bust a gut for it.

If another house will be found easily which you love as much then pay market value. But if it is truly your only chance then bid more. We know that in 20 or 30 years time the extra 15k or whatever will be neither here nor there as it will probably be worth at least double what we have paid anyway.

The other two houses 8 years on are now worth around 600-650k so the people who bought them have not lost out even though they paid well over what was at the time the market value.

stator

Surrey_EA wrote: »

I would find that a little odd to be honest.

Isn't it normal in Scotland though?

ambioni

stator wrote: »

Isn't it normal in Scotland though?

Yes it is normal up here. EAs are of course obliged to pass on any offer made, whether by private individual or solicitor, but going through a solicitor gives a bit more gravitas and makes you look more like a serious buyer who knows what they're doing, rather than a rookie FTB....and rookie FTBs can get walked on and arm-twisted to increase their offer if they're not careful.

Surrey_EA

stator wrote: »

Isn't it normal in Scotland though?

Ah yes, I believe it is.

Apologies to Ambioni, had my SE England blinkers on.

ambioni

Surrey_EA wrote: »

Ah yes, I believe it is.

Apologies to Ambioni, had my SE England blinkers on.

No problem- I had done the same and assumed that getting solicitors to put in offers was common practice throughout the UK

pinkteapot

Same position as us 18 months ago. We increased our offer to the max we were prepared to pay for the house, plus £1,500. If we'd lost it, we wouldn't have minded *too* much because we just wouldn't have gone higher than that.

Offer an amount you won't have any regrets about if you don't get the house.

One factor to consider is how long term this house is for you. If it's a 5-year or less house, don't pay more than you think it's worth as you may potentially lose out on selling. If it's a 20-year house, paying the bit more will make very little difference by the time you sell.

MrsFingersCrossed

I feel your pain, Lilym. I would work out the maximum you are prepared to pay (or think the house is worth to you) and if you really want this particular house, add an extra bit to the most you can afford.


We had this happen to us several times this spring, offered the asking price and in two instances over the asking price yet still didn't get it even though we have a buyer. Like you say, there were very few houses on the market in our price range. Then a house we really loved came up and we went straight in at £7,000 over the asking price. Might sound crazy but there were 10 viewings the first day on the market - we were the first to view it, and we knew it was just what we wanted, for the long term. We thought about going up 5k, then thought no, that's what everyone will do, so make it 6K, then thought no, that's what someone else will do thinking to secure it so we went another 1,000 and our offer was accepted. We asked them to take it off the market and not show it to anyone else which they agreed to do. Having looked at so many houses, and seeing them snapped up so many times, helped us to gauge what would be a reasonable price to pay. We are very happy to have a house we love and don't feel we've paid over the odds - for us it is perfect. Now we are waiting with anxious fingers crossed for a date to exchange.


Good luck with yours. But if you don’t get it, as someone above said, there *will* be another house come along, and it might just work out for the best.

Lilym_2

Thank you all so much for the responses. Well, we didn't get it but we are philosophical about it. Hopefully the right one is round the corner.... or a few corners..... so long as it's out there:)

ellie27

Sorry to hear that. We lost out on the first one we went for, and were really disappointed.


However, now all is in the process in purchasing a much better, bigger home, more expensive but hey ho!

Good luck.