Newbie - nervous & feeling down

glasgowdan

Kissmekatie wrote: »

and offered full asking price (it's on for OIEO 225k)

You didn't make a full asking price offer. You made a minimum offer. The seller has possibly got other interest. If you're super keen on the house at this price then there's a good chance others will be too.

Your options are to leave £230k on the table and emotionally detach yourself from it while you go look elsewhere, up your offer (I wouldn't do this right away), or withdraw. Buying a house isn't always straight forward or about making a good offer, it's often about putting up with the seller and managing their behaviour! Especially when there are more buyers than houses.

trailingspouse

You have to ask yourselves a few 'what if' questions.

What if you don't offer and more, and you don't get this house? How will you feel?

What if you make a higher offer? What is the absolute highest you would be prepared to go to?

What if someone else comes along and offers a bit more than your last offer, and they get it?

If there's a bidding war, then there's a bidding war - you have to decide how high you're prepared to go, and stop when you get there.

Only you know the answers to these questions. This may end up being 'the house that got away', or it may one day be the house you call home. How much are you prepared to pay for that to happen?

BlueMini05

Just thought I'd drop a message to say I know how frustrating and emotional this part of the process is.. I was in the same situation myself a few weeks ago, bidding against myself for a house that had been on the market for 10 months! I ended up going right to the asking price and they accepted. I felt I didn't want to loose it as I had fallen in love and the location was perfect! You can't make them sell to you, you just have to set a maximum amount you are prepared to pay and then hope for the best! Good luck!

wantonnoodle

I would leave the offer on the table for a couple of weeks, and continue looking.

The house we bought was OIEO £250k when we offered, but £250k was the max we could afford, and to be honest, we didn't value it any higher. It had been on the market for a couple of months at higher prices but had been reduced twice in the meantime.

We initially offered £240k as a long shot to have that rejected, so increased to £250k. That was rejected also, with the comment they were looking for nearer £260k, so our response was (and we were pretty sure there was little other interest) that we couldn't afford any higher and we would leave it on the table for a couple of weeks.

Eventually, about 10 days later, the estate agent contacted us and advised that the seller had decided to reluctantly accept the offer, as he realised the market was slowing down, and he wanted a quick sale.

The moral is, if you don't want to go higher, and there is no competition, as you suspect, it may be a worthwhile strategy to leave it on the table til the end of the month, and see what happens. If there isn't any competition, the seller may well decide a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, and cut their losses, accepting your offer.