Offers Over, Guide Price, Offers in Excess Of etc

mystic_bertie

Guys i am looking to buy a preowned house with a budget of 170k maximum however the cheaper the better if i can find something i actually like. Im Scottish and have bought and sold houses in Scotland before. Now im in England between Coventry and Leicester and im finding it hard to find a house that ticks all my boxes, being so fussy is making it hard.

So when i search on the house sale websites i search 10k above my max budget, thinking if i see a house that interests me the sellers may accept 180k. I dont want to waste my time or the sellers time so i feel like asking the estate agent if the sellers would accept offers around 170k when i make an initial call. Is this a bad thing to do or is there a better way of doing this? I dont want to view houses and then find out they would not entertain my offer.

How should i interpret 'offers over' as i have seen houses sell for less than the asking price.

What is a 'guide price' ?

What is a 'fixed price'? Is it fixed or could it mean anything?

What does 'offer in excess of' mean as it sounds like they want more than offers over.

What does one take from a straight price without any wording ie £150k?

Mutton_Geoff

mystic_bertie wrote: »

Guys i am looking to buy a preowned house with a budget of 170k maximum however the cheaper the better if i can find something i actually like. Im Scottish and have bought and sold houses in Scotland before. Now im in England between Coventry and Leicester and im finding it hard to find a house that ticks all my boxes, being so fussy is making it hard.

So when i search on the house sale websites i search 10k above my max budget, thinking if i see a house that interests me the sellers may accept 180k. I dont want to waste my time or the sellers time so i feel like asking the estate agent if the sellers would accept offers around 170k when i make an initial call. Is this a bad thing to do or is there a better way of doing this? I dont want to view houses and then find out they would not entertain my offer.

How should i interpret 'offers over' as i have seen houses sell for less than the asking price.

What is a 'guide price' ?

What is a 'fixed price'? Is it fixed or could it mean anything?

What does 'offer in excess of' mean as it sounds like they want more than offers over.

What does one take from a straight price without any wording ie £150k?

I would not sound the agent out in this way. I recently sold a car online and a few callers asked "what's the lowest you will accept". My response was "you haven't even seen the car yet so I am not prepared to negotiate the price on the phone". I sold it to the first caller when they turned up the next day for the full asking price.


I would possibly say to the agent "my budget is x, is it worth me viewing the property you have in Acacia Close?"


How should i interpret 'offers over' as i have seen houses sell for less than the asking price. Agent isn't confident in accurately pricing the property.

What is a 'guide price' ? Agent isn't confident in accurately pricing the property.

What is a 'fixed price'? Is it fixed or could it mean anything? Agent isn't confident in accurately pricing the property.

What does 'offer in excess of' mean as it sounds like they want more than offers over. Agent isn't confident in accurately pricing the property.

Everything is negotiable. I wouldn't worry about viewing places that are over your budget by 10-15%. The stock market just dropped 10% in two weeks, it might be rattling sellers.


House pricing by most agents are sticking a finger in the air. If buyers beat a path to the door, you won't get much if any discount from asking. If it's quiet and the sellers are motivated, you may well. If they have been there a year and there is little gain, they might not be. If they bought it 10 years ago for £85k, then they might be. As I said, everything is negotiable, just save the table thumping until you have tangible things to back up your "reasonable offer".

bowlhead99

mystic_bertie wrote: »

How should i interpret 'offers over' as i have seen houses sell for less than the asking price.

What is a 'guide price' ?

What is a 'fixed price'? Is it fixed or could it mean anything?

What does 'offer in excess of' mean as it sounds like they want more than offers over.

What does one take from a straight price without any wording ie £150k?

Fixed price means they definitely don't want any offers below that fixed price they have stated and do not currently intend to sell it for less, so please don't try to haggle and waste their time. However, once they receive no proceedable offers for the amount they want, they may change their mind on a whim and sell it to someone who has offered less.

A guide price is because their estate agent has told them to put in their marketing material that you should be guided to a price of around £x (or £x-£y if they have guided a range), but frankly they may be wanting more than that, or they may take less, they just want everyone on the planet who has a budget of about that amount to come and put an offer in. It is what they do if they are not sure what it is worth and their agent does not want to tell them it is worth a low end number so suggests they should 'guide' people to a rough number.

An offer in excess of a number is the same as an offer over a number. It means they want to get at least that number, or ideally a bigger number, but don't want to put the bigger number on the advert because it might scare off people from coming to view it. It can often happen when a seller wants to put it on at some silly high number but the agent knows it will not realistically get that, but in order to let the seller down gently and to avoid potentially losing the agency fee from the seller using some different agent instead, the agent says, "why don't you put it on at 'offers over' [some lower number], that will help to drive interest from people who might be willing to stretch up there once they have seen it and think there is competition, after all you don't have to accept low offers if you don't want to" - no harm in doing it. But really the property might not be worth the O-O or OIEO number at all, and the only proceedable offers might be under and still accepted.

A straight price without any wording means the number they think will get them the best chance of eventually getting the most money is to just put that arbitrary number on the advert. If it is an ambitious number it might lead to people offering quite a bit less, but thinking that they are being cheeky and not mind increasing during the negotiation process. If it is a low number the goal might be to stimulate a lot of interest so that a whole bunch of potential buyers who can afford the low number make offers of the full asking price or even a bit more, and get into a 'bidding war' with each other which pushes the price up to more than the advertised price.

Really what you should do is take the offer price with a pinch of salt. It is the amount the seller or their agent thinks will do the best job for them on the advertising blurb but it is not necessarily the final number they are hoping for. You should consider other local 'asked' prices for other local properties of similar quality and condition and location, and also other 'achieved' prices for the area (published with a rolling delay by the land registry and available through various commercial websites). And then just offer an amount you could afford to pay, less a bit so you can afford to increase it if they ask you to - it's harder to make a second offer that's lower rather than higher than your first.

In terms of - should I look at places listed for 180 if I only have 170 max I could spend? Yes, no problem. Up to you if you tell the agent up front that realistically you can't go to over 170 and is it even worth spending an hour of everyone's time going to see the place. In many cases yes it would be worth it and a deal could be done; that figure is within 6% of what they are asking and some people prefer a quick sale than waiting forever to try to get the absolute maximum they think their place might be worth.

mystic_bertie

Mutton_Geoff wrote: »

I would not sound the agent out in this way. I recently sold a car online and a few callers asked "what's the lowest you will accept". My response was "you haven't even seen the car yet so I am not prepared to negotiate the price on the phone". I sold it to the first caller when they turned up the next day for the full asking price.


I would possibly say to the agent "my budget is x, is it worth me viewing the property you have in Acacia Close?"


How should i interpret 'offers over' as i have seen houses sell for less than the asking price. Agent isn't confident in accurately pricing the property.

What is a 'guide price' ? Agent isn't confident in accurately pricing the property.

What is a 'fixed price'? Is it fixed or could it mean anything? Agent isn't confident in accurately pricing the property.

What does 'offer in excess of' mean as it sounds like they want more than offers over. Agent isn't confident in accurately pricing the property.

Everything is negotiable. I wouldn't worry about viewing places that are over your budget by 10-15%. The stock market just dropped 10% in two weeks, it might be rattling sellers.


House pricing by most agents are sticking a finger in the air. If buyers beat a path to the door, you won't get much if any discount from asking. If it's quiet and the sellers are motivated, you may well. If they have been there a year and there is little gain, they might not be. If they bought it 10 years ago for £85k, then they might be. As I said, everything is negotiable, just save the table thumping until you have tangible things to back up your "reasonable offer".

Geoff many thanks for the good reply Selling cars in a nightmare too but that is another topic entirely. I like your suggestion of what to say to the agent when i call, it is definately a bit more diplomatic. I will say that next time and see how i get on. Thanks for your negotiating advice too, ill bare this in mind when im about to talk make some kind of an offer. cheers

mystic_bertie

bowlhead99 wrote: »

Fixed price means they definitely don't want any offers below that fixed price they have stated and do not currently intend to sell it for less, so please don't try to haggle and waste their time. However, once they receive no proceedable offers for the amount they want, they may change their mind on a whim and sell it to someone who has offered less.

A guide price is because their estate agent has told them to put in their marketing material that you should be guided to a price of around £x (or £x-£y if they have guided a range), but frankly they may be wanting more than that, or they may take less, they just want everyone on the planet who has a budget of about that amount to come and put an offer in. It is what they do if they are not sure what it is worth and their agent does not want to tell them it is worth a low end number so suggests they should 'guide' people to a rough number.

An offer in excess of a number is the same as an offer over a number. It means they want to get at least that number, or ideally a bigger number, but don't want to put the bigger number on the advert because it might scare off people from coming to view it. It can often happen when a seller wants to put it on at some silly high number but the agent knows it will not realistically get that, but in order to let the seller down gently and to avoid potentially losing the agency fee from the seller using some different agent instead, the agent says, "why don't you put it on at 'offers over' [some lower number], that will help to drive interest from people who might be willing to stretch up there once they have seen it and think there is competition, after all you don't have to accept low offers if you don't want to" - no harm in doing it. But really the property might not be worth the O-O or OIEO number at all, and the only proceedable offers might be under and still accepted.

A straight price without any wording means the number they think will get them the best chance of eventually getting the most money is to just put that arbitrary number on the advert. If it is an ambitious number it might lead to people offering quite a bit less, but thinking that they are being cheeky and not mind increasing during the negotiation process. If it is a low number the goal might be to stimulate a lot of interest so that a whole bunch of potential buyers who can afford the low number make offers of the full asking price or even a bit more, and get into a 'bidding war' with each other which pushes the price up to more than the advertised price.

Really what you should do is take the offer price with a pinch of salt. It is the amount the seller or their agent thinks will do the best job for them on the advertising blurb but it is not necessarily the final number they are hoping for. You should consider other local 'asked' prices for other local properties of similar quality and condition and location, and also other 'achieved' prices for the area (published with a rolling delay by the land registry and available through various commercial websites). And then just offer an amount you could afford to pay, less a bit so you can afford to increase it if they ask you to - it's harder to make a second offer that's lower rather than higher than your first.

In terms of - should I look at places listed for 180 if I only have 170 max I could spend? Yes, no problem. Up to you if you tell the agent up front that realistically you can't go to over 170 and is it even worth spending an hour of everyone's time going to see the place. In many cases yes it would be worth it and a deal could be done; that figure is within 6% of what they are asking and some people prefer a quick sale than waiting forever to try to get the absolute maximum they think their place might be worth.

Bowlhead many thanks for this very detailed and informative reply. Its sounds very accurate. DO you have inside knowledge by any chance?

Fixed price, now i understand clearly about this term. You dont see many fixed prices out there but only a few.

Guide price. I thought there may be a house price guide somewhere but i was very wrong :0 . Now i have an idea how to treat this guide price. Well explained

Offer in excess of, thanks for explaining this so well, it sound like its more to keeping the seller happy and optimistic about getting a better price. I will bare this in mind when i see any listed like this and very well explained once again.

Straight price, very well explained again. Ill do as you suggest and take the advertised prices with a pinch of salt. If i seriously interested in a property i will do some further research to see how their prices compare with the sold prices and other similar houses for sale.

Its good to know i can continue looking at houses up to 180k. I am now armed with more information on how to interpret these crazy prices and the sales blurb that goes along with it. You have went out your way to give me a very long and detailed reply to all my questions and i thank you very much. Your a star. This information should be made available somewhere but i could not find it. Thanks again

Thrugelmir

No harm in viewing more expensive properties. Though clearly telling the agent what your budget is. Properties if they don't sell may well reduce in price. Then the agent will contact you again.

mystic_bertie

Thrugelmir wrote: »

No harm in viewing more expensive properties. Though clearly telling the agent what your budget is. Properties if they don't sell may well reduce in price. Then the agent will contact you again.

Sounds like a good plan and thanks for your reply. As long as im up front with them then they can decide if its worth me viewing it.

ashe

All of this is marketing bunk. Unless its a very good area where houses are selling for hot cakes and people are being asked to submit best and final offers, offer what YOU think its worth, as EA will often overprice to get business or to factor inn cheeky offers. Don't let their language guide you. The house we are buying the seller accepted £15k below their 'offers over' figure.

Running_Horse

A house round here recently failed to sell at £240,000. It is now on with another agent for offers in excess of £230,000. I doubt they'll get that.

The area we want is very popular, so will probably end up paying full price. I would consider lower offers if it needed work or was not quite our dream home, so wouldn't be bothered not getting it.

Mutton_Geoff

ashe wrote: »

All of this is marketing bunk. Unless its a very good area where houses are selling for hot cakes and people are being asked to submit best and final offers, offer what YOU think its worth, as EA will often overprice to get business or to factor inn cheeky offers. Don't let their language guide you. The house we are buying the seller accepted £15k below their 'offers over' figure.

Same here. My current house was reduced in price twice. I came in with an offer that was almost 10% lower than the latest revised price. I was in a strong position and despite the selling agents best efforts to lift my offer, it was accepted.

glasgowdan

Indebted2U wrote: »

Hi mystic-b

As someone who had also only bought and sold in Scotland before, my first house purchase in England was also a bit confusing. There's some fantastic advice from others above, the only things I can add are..

1. Putting an offer in on a house in England is completely nonbinding, unlike in Scotland. Most estate agents will still want to check you actually have funds available or a decision in principle from a lender but you can put an offer in and withdraw it up until exchange of contract with no penalties.
2. Because of this system house sales fall through much more commonly under English Law, 1 in 3 I believe, compared to almost never under Scots Law.
3. In England/Wales you should always ask the agent to take the property off the market when you have an offer accepted. Unlike in Scotland up until Exchange of Contracts they can accept another (normally higher) offer. This doesn't stop it happening but can reduce the chances.
4. Again because of this system, property chains develop under English Law (i.e house A can only sell when house B has sold etc) and because someone above or below you in the chain pulls out the whole chain can collapse. That's why chain free is a popular selling point here.
5. Finally another plus point, you don't need a survey in England to put an offer in on a house. You'll still need to get one done for your own and your lenders needs but unlike in Scotland you don't have to fork out for a survey before you put an offer in and have it accepted. If it doesn't pass the survey you just tell the agent you're withdrawing the offer.

Good luck with it all

Are you sure you've bought and sold in Scotland before?

1. Offers are not binding in Scotland.
3. See above. Sellers can accept a higher offer up until conclusion of missives, though heavily frowned upon.
5. I'm not quite sure what point you're making, but in Scotland you don't need to fork out on a survey to make an offer. We have home reports and the sellers pay for this. A buyer's lender may want to do their own survey for valuation purposes, though they may accept the seller's one.