How long to leave between offers

J_i_m

Another question to pander to people's experience here.

I viewed a property and saw enough potential in it for me to consider making an offer.

I've done my research, I've looked at the sold prices of similar nearby properties in the nearby area and allowed for the local recent asking price rise.

I've decided largely on my strategy and of the maximum amount I will be prepared to offer. I'm confident enough to walk away and leave my final offer on the table when it gets that point.

I've made the first offer. It was a bit of a punt at approximately 15% under asking price which has unsurprisingly been declined. Although if my research has been accurate then I actually feel it was a fairly generous opening offer.

So I've said I will think about what I will do next and get back to them.

How long would you leave it before making a new offer? I don't want to offer again straight away because it'd be a bit like panicking in a game of poker and calling to see the other guy's cards. But I don't want to leave it too long other.

I'm thinking maybe one, perhaps two days between offers. What would you do?

Bossypants

Frankly I'm not sure if these games are ever really worth anything, 99% of sellers just want their property sold for what they think they can reasonably get and be done with it.

However, if we're going to play the game, I'd say two days, and slip it in mid morning or mid afternoon, not first thing (looks like you've been up all night thinking about it) or last thing (looks like you're panicking to get it in before they close). And not at lunchtime either, because the EA will be distracted by their sandwich and might forget to pass it on in a timely manner.

Good luck to you, whichever one of us is right!

J_i_m

It's not really a game though. I'm not sitting at the cards table trying to out psyche the competition with a poker face. And I'm not trying to manipulate anyone.

I'm making the biggest purchase of my life yet. And it deserves careful consideration on many levels.

I think there's little point jumping straight up to final offer on the very same phone call your opening offer gets declined on. Shows that you probably haven't taken time to consider things.

It's a strategy yes, but I am not playing games here.

[Deleted User]

To be fair to the other poster, you're the one who used a card game analogy.

In the last six months we have offered on about 5 properties, using varying methods and time scales and theories. Each vendor and each EA has their own agenda- some are sneaky, some just want to sell, some want to hold out. Ultimately however you 'play' it won't change that. Offer what you think it's worth, when you're ready to offer it. Don't overthink it outside of that.

ognum

[Deleted User] wrote:

To be fair to the other poster, you're the one who used a card game analogy.

In the last six months we have offered on about 5 properties, using varying methods and time scales and theories. Each vendor and each EA has their own agenda- some are sneaky, some just want to sell, some want to hold out. Ultimately however you 'play' it won't change that. Offer what you think it's worth, when you're ready to offer it. Don't overthink it outside of that.

This is so true!

Bossypants

J_i_m wrote: »

It's not really a game though. I'm not sitting at the cards table trying to out psyche the competition with a poker face. And I'm not trying to manipulate anyone.

I'm making the biggest purchase of my life yet. And it deserves careful consideration on many levels.

I think there's little point jumping straight up to final offer on the very same phone call your opening offer gets declined on. Shows that you probably haven't taken time to consider things.

It's a strategy yes, but I am not playing games here.

Of course it's not a game, but it's also not something you can build any kind of useful strategy around, since you don't know anything about your 'opponent' and most of their moves will be concealed to you, either wholly or in part. Spending too much time thinking about this sort of thing can drive you mad, because you will never, ever know if you are right. Say you wait two days, put in your highest offer and have it rejected, being told that the seller has accepted another offer and is not willing to consider any others. You will never know whether you missed out because you waited that extra day, or if the other buyer offered 25% over asking, or if the seller's sister's best friend's cousin suddenly decided they wanted it and were given priority due to social ties, or what.

I'm not saying you shouldn't think about it, because of course you should, just be careful to keep it in proportion and remember just how much of this process you can't control (scary, I know - as you said, these purchases will be the biggest decisions many of us ever make!).

looknohands

I've heard of people turning it around and putting offers in for 24 hours in an attempt to hurry the vendor to a decision. You probably need to be close to the asking price though. And depends how desperately you want that specific house or how confident you are that something else will come along.

getmore4less

The vendor could well be happy with the offer but playing the never except 1st offer game.

Especially if they have played the stick 15% on and hope you get lucky game

J_i_m

getmore4less wrote: »

The vendor could well be happy with the offer but playing the never except 1st offer game.

Especially if they have played the stick 15% on and hope you get lucky game

Exactly. And I've done my research (which I'm not going to bare here). But I do think the asking price is optimistic.

JimmyTheWig

How about phoning back 24 hours later and saying "We're still keen on the house, but disappointed that our offer was rejected. What would the vendor be prepared to take?"
Then you can offer something between your first offer and what they've said they'll accept and take it from there.

There's two scenarios here...
1. You don't know if you can afford (or wouldn't be prepared to pay) the lowest you know that they'll accept (e.g. you can't afford asking price). In which case you're trying to get them to come down to a level that you'll pay and the deal can go ahead.
2. You know that you can afford, and are prepared to pay, a price that they will accept. That means that unless anything goes wrong the deal will happen, it's just a question of at what price. In which case, while you may not see it as such, it is just a game.

KayTM

It's an interesting question. And I guess it depends on if you enjoy haggling and/or playing games. I simply decided how much I thought the place was worth, added a thousand to make the offer a bit more attractive and hopefully have some goodwill from the seller.

If that offer had not been accepted, I'd have walked away. As it happens, the seller accepted straight away and the deal is still progressing. Do I have regrets that maybe I offered too much and I could have got it cheaper? Not really, I'm paying what I think it's worth. Our own surveyor and the lender's valuer agreed with the price, so it seems that everyone is happy.

Not all deals are so easy though. We were messed about on one we went for earlier. Sometimes estate agents can get a bit greedy and try to squeeze everything they can out of you. In which case, I would just walk away.

You want to buy. The seller wants to sell. It seems best just to find a deal that everyone is comfortable with. Maybe we just got lucky.