Offer in excess of invited

oldwiring

We have just seen a flat in a location that would suit us, but the price has 'Offer in excess of' tacked on the end. The base price is £275K, and it has 3 bedrooms. Another in the same building with 2 bedrooms with the same agent is under offer with advertised price £250K straight.

Should we feel uneasy of 'offer in excess of invited', because it seems to imply someone wants a bidding war, or might it mean the agent may not be competent in valuing a three bed flat over the more frequent two? How does the price difference stack up?

Your thoughts will be welcomed!

LandyAndy

I would always ignore those words and offer what I thought it was worth.

davidmcn

"Offers over" is the norm in Scotland, but it doesn't imply any requirement actually to offer over if the asking price is ambitious. I would follow the same principle elsewhere.

PasturesNew

OIEO £275k means:
The agent doesn't really have a clue, last one like this sold at £265k and, since then two have been put up for sale at £285k-£315k and nobody bought them at that price.

But, the owner thinks theirs is worth £315k too... as they saw the neighbour's house advertised last year for £315k (the one that didn't sell, in fact didn't even get any viewings) - and they think theirs is better than the neighbour's house.

Agent thinks it's worth .... £265k today. £255k for a super quick sale.

Agent needs to get the client signed up and on their books, in order to keep his job.... so suggests OIEO.

You offer what you think it's worth, to you, based on reasonable comparables from around 1/4 of a mile in the last year and what else is available to you, where you're looking, in your budget, in the timescale you want/need a house.

sal_III

Or the vendor has a financial commitment like paying off debt, or need an £X for the deposit on their next property and can't entertain lower offers.

10% seems about right for an extra bedroom if all else is similar, so where is the problem?

It really doesn't matter if the vendor wants a bidding war or whatever. If you like the property, offer what you think is a fair price and that's it. If someone outbids you, just move on.

eddddy

oldwiring wrote: »

Should we feel uneasy of 'offer in excess of invited', because it seems to imply someone wants a bidding war, or might it mean the agent may not be competent in valuing a three bed flat over the more frequent two?

Don't over think it.

FWIW, recent examples of 'offers over' that I've come across:

• The EA and seller were 'arguing' over the the asking price. The seller wants a high price, the EA wants a lower price - so they compromise with 'offers over' the lower price.
  
  (TBH, it's propably not even worth the lower 'offers over' price)

• The house is genuinely difficult to value, because it has development potential. e.g. A house I looked at for 'offers over £300k' sold for £360k. (And the buyer made a fortune by building a new house in the garden.)

oldwiring

eddddy wrote: »

Don't over think it.

FWIW, recent examples of 'offers over' that I've come across:

• The EA and seller were 'arguing' over the the asking price. The seller wants a high price, the EA wants a lower price - so they compromise with 'offers over' the lower price.
  
  (TBH, it's propably not even worth the lower 'offers over' price)

• The house is genuinely difficult to value, because it has development potential. e.g. A house I looked at for 'offers over £300k' sold for £360k. (And the buyer made a fortune by building a new house in the garden.)

eddddy You answer is similar to what the situation is. We actually viewed, encouraged by our daughter.

My wife thought it had been on market before, and she was on the ball. Talking to the agent, I found quite a good tale.

The occupant had died 2 or 3 years ago, supposedly intestate, but a will was found leaving her estate to a charity. The will was contested. The legal beneficiary declared by the court had a previous valuation higher than the agent thought. Hence the listing.

In the time the flat had deteriorated and much was time expired.
IMHO they'll be lucky to get the base price.

What a palaver!