Putting in an offer before you're 'Proceedable'

Natsplus

So our house went live on the market yesterday, we viewed a house 'twice' that we really like, we want to reserve it before we lose it,  now does it make sense to put in an offer before we have our property sstc or we won't be taken seriously?
Any experiences and help is appreciated.

societys_child

I'd never make an offer on the hope  that my house might sell sometime in the future.

Slithery

You can, but as you say it won't be taken seriously until you have an offer on your property.

Herbalus

I don’t see why not. Otherwise you’re making the rule that you have to have your house sold before you can offer on another house. Which means that after selling your house, everything you see has vendors that haven’t yet found their next move.
you have your house on the market, I can’t see what’s stopping you offering.

hazyjo

If you can agree a price and they'll take it off the market, fine. If not, don't.

It will make it more attractive to others (human nature). It'll give you less room to adjust your price. It'll mean you'll probably not get a great deal on what you're buying. If they don't sell, they'll be less inclined to market at a lower price. Loads more reasons.

eddddy

Herbalus said:

Otherwise you’re making the rule that you have to have your house sold before you can offer on another house. Which means that after selling your house, everything you see has vendors that haven’t yet found their next move.

Actually... that's exactly what does typically happen at every level above you in a chain.

Once a seller accepts an offer on their property, they're in a position to make an offer on another property - and so on up the chain.

That's why chains sometimes take months to form.

Splatfoot

You can offer and the vendor can accept. They may carry on taking viewings though in case someone actually proceedable comes along. This is what's happening with us right now. We've accepted an offer but the chain isn't closed so we are still on the market. 

AW618

Splatfoot said:

You can offer and the vendor can accept. They may carry on taking viewings though in case someone actually proceedable comes along. This is what's happening with us right now. We've accepted an offer but the chain isn't closed so we are still on the market. 

You haven't really accepted an offer then, I would say.  You have just indicated a price which you are happy to accept from the first person who comes along in a position to actually offer it.

gettingtheresometime

Depends on what the seller is planning on buying.

many many moons ago we viewed our current house simply to find out what was on offer & for what money. Liked the house so much we put in an offer, for the asking price which was accepted even though we had put our house on the market.

it suited the sellers as they were buying a new build that wouldn't be ready for 5 months.

pinkteapot

No reason not to put an offer in. Worst that happens is the vendor says no, or accepts but keeps marketing the house till you’re proceedable. 

When we sold a couple of years ago, we had an offer from someone not on the market yet. EA tried to convince me to accept it and come off the market for 2 weeks to give them a chance to try and get a quick sale. I said no and we sold to a chain-free buyer a few days later. But I knew the market was good (for sellers) at the time - with all the uncertainty and reduced activity in the market now the vendors might be grateful for an offer. 

How long has the house been on the market? 

BlueC

In my experience most agents would consider this an "expression of interest" rather than an offer and they would pass it on to the vendor and advise the vendor to keep the property on the market. You could then ask the agent to keep you informed if any formal offers are made. Ultimately, until you are proceedable you're in an incredibly weak position. Get your property sold, then you can make offers.