Just moved to the UK and I am confused as to what offer to submit on a house

marksoton

um85 wrote: »

Just wondering if i make an offer at 10k less than their asking price, or just go 5k less?

In the south east you may be playing a dangerous game doing either just on principle.

If you believe the asking price is reasonable i'd make that my opening offer.

dc197

As has been mentioned you need to get a feel for the market in you area at this time.
An offer under by 10% or by 10K might be fine in one place at one time. But if would be laughed out elsewhere.
In January this year on several houses we (naively) offered under asking and were not in the running. There were just too many full or over-asking offers. Buckinghamshire.

To familiarise yourself with the market, look on Rightmove daily. You will see houses come and go, and then sometimes see them come again when the sale falls through. Ask the agents how much the accepted offer was (they may decline to tell you). Then with this info, and your research about how long they were online before the sale was agreed, you will know how hot the market is.
So for example, if a house takes just 3 days to turn to SSTC (sold subject to contract), and/or the price was at least asking price, you know that the "10 under" rule of thumb to which you refer would not fly at this place and time.

Good luck.

um85

marksoton wrote: »

In the south east you may be playing a dangerous game doing either just on principle.

If you believe the asking price is reasonable i'd make that my opening offer.

That seems to be the consensus, one of the properties is a sealed bid. The other property the agent told me "they are looking to get pretty much on their asking price". They way he said it made it seem they might be flexible by a bit, especially if in my case I have nothing to sell or any other commitments and they are looking to purchase a house that they have found but cannot do as they need to sell the current one.

dc197 wrote: »

As has been mentioned you need to get a feel for the market in you area at this time.
An offer under by 10% or by 10K might be fine in one place at one time. But if would be laughed out elsewhere.
In January this year on several houses we (naively) offered under asking and were not in the running. There were just too many full or over-asking offers. Buckinghamshire.

To familiarise yourself with the market, look on Rightmove daily. You will see houses come and go, and then sometimes see them come again when the sale falls through. Ask the agents how much the accepted offer was (they may decline to tell you). Then with this info, and your research about how long they were online before the sale was agreed, you will know how hot the market is.
So for example, if a house takes just 3 days to turn to SSTC (sold subject to contract), and/or the price was at least asking price, you know that the "10 under" rule of thumb to which you refer would not fly at this place and time.

Good luck.

Thank you for the advice, i suppose it really is a time and place kind of thing. I don't see any houses similar to this being sold in the area, and going by the recent history it seems rare that houses in the area (matching this size) come up for sale. I have been looking at rightmove daily for the last few months and this is the first time something within my search criteria has showed up in this location.

Going by the advice of everyone here it seems like if im getting the feeling that the house will sell quickly i might as well go in at asking price (or very close).

I do like the advice of looking at the listing and seeing how long it took to get to SSTC but in this situation the house was just put up a few days ago. But going by the popularity of the open house that had occurred perhaps starting at 10 under would not be ideal anyways.

dc197

um85 wrote: »

I have been looking at rightmove daily for the last few months

Don't forget that the second-home additional stamp duty was applied from April. So the market was mad trying to buy before then. Things may be a little slower now that this crush has passed.
So the last few months may not be 100% indicative for the next few months.

um85

dc197 wrote: »

Don't forget that the second-home additional stamp duty was applied from April. So the market was mad trying to buy before then. Things may be a little slower now that this crush has passed.
So the last few months may not be 100% indicative for the next few months.

Thats a great point also. I was trying to look at comparables in the area and the few were sold less than (or around) a year ago for over 10k some 20-30k less.

westernpromise

The attractiveness of your offer is not just the price though. It is also things like are you dependent on a sale of your own to come up with your offered price (you're not); are you in a chain (you're not); are you borrowing a high multiple of the buying price (if so, and the lender's valuation comes in low, you may have to drop out; so if this is not the case, say so); are you buying as a couple (so if one of two jobs gets lost in the next couple of months you can't buy; if not, again, say so); are you able to proceed quickly / flexibly; and so on.

These are all factors that bear on whether yours is the best offer to go with, so mention it all.

um85

westernpromise wrote: »

The attractiveness of your offer is not just the price though. It is also things like are you dependent on a sale of your own to come up with your offered price (you're not); are you in a chain (you're not); are you borrowing a high multiple of the buying price (if so, and the lender's valuation comes in low, you may have to drop out; so if this is not the case, say so); are you buying as a couple (so if one of two jobs gets lost in the next couple of months you can't buy; if not, again, say so); are you able to proceed quickly / flexibly; and so on.

These are all factors that bear on whether yours is the best offer to go with, so mention it all.

Thanks for laying it out like that, in my final offer i stated all these things. Im not going to cut off an arm if I lose the house and this made me comfortable enough in my position to stay under asking price slightly.

I did notice the agent talking to a few people while i was (at that point probably loitering) at the open house. And quite a few times heard him explain that the sellers are eager to sell as they have a property lined up but cannot move until this one is sold, and the fact that most people asking the questions who he told this to said they also needed to sell their houses.