First time buyer - house with a lot of interest

parkingadvice1212

Hi, we are first time buyers that viewed a house at the weekend and absolutely loved it. It was listed on 23/12 and had viewings the weekend before last, and the estate agent confirmed that there were several offers made but they were too low. The house is listed at "offers above £350k" and the seller won't take a penny less, which is actually a fair price for it in my opinion. There were several other viewings before and after us as well this past weekend.
We made an offer for £351k on Saturday afternoon after viewing and I followed up with the estate agent this morning to check it had been submitted. She replied that it had been sent to the seller but there were other offers coming in and the seller was going to wait a few days before choosing.
I am reluctant to up our offer now in case all of the recent offers were also below asking, and then end up overpaying. However, I don't want the seller to be looking at an offer that's a couple of thousand more than ours and then accept it, leaving us without the opportunity to increase our offer. We thought the house was amazing and my girlfriend would be devastated, (against my advice) she's already been planning what furniture she wants and where it's going to go!! 
What's the best way to approach this? Will we be offered the chance to up our offer if there's another higher one been put in?

Grabs39

It's entirely up to the vendor - they might accept an offer for say £360k and just go with it.  Or they might try to get a better offer from you.  It also might not be down to just the amount.  If someone else offers £351k and they are in a complex chain the vendor might prefer you.  Or they might not if they don't want to sell to a first time buyer.

As you offered straightaway after a viewing, at the asking price you will probably be respected as a buyer.  You just need to hope for the best now.

Even if the offer is accepted you have a very long way to go - especially if you're in England.  Your girlfriend might need to manage her expectations a little.

moneysavinghero

If there are lots of other offers going in, and you see the 350k as a fair price, then it is likely someone will have offered more than 351k. How much grief would you get from your GF if you missed out on this house? Is it the dream house or just a nice house? Would you have to stretch yourselves to offer more?

parkingadvice1212

Thanks both. Just have to wait and see then. I think we could probably go up to £355k to be honest if given the opportunity.

SpiderLegs

parkingadvice1212 said:

Thanks both. Just have to wait and see then. I think we could probably go up to £355k to be honest if given the opportunity.

Well unless you are the only interested party I wouldn’t count on 4K being enough to secure it.

yllop1101

I have been in this situation a few times and unfortunately it's luck of the draw in terms of whether you're given another chance to offer higher or not. I guess they can't ring round everyone infitintely?

I, alongside other buyers, made an offer on a house. We were then phoned one by one asking if we wanted to increase our offer. At the time, the estate agent (who generally couldn't say much) alluded to the fact that my original offer, which was already above asking price, was already up there as the highest. Knowing that I would still be gutted to lose out on the house, and could afford more, I offered an extra 5k anyway.

After all that, I still lost out on the house due to a higher offer and can only assume that the next person she spoke to then had the info/hint about my offer and increased their offer above mine. What made it most frustrating though is that I could have afforded more and would have paid more as to me it was worth it, I just didn't believe it needed to offer more to secure it. My situation was also favourable with my place sold STC about 8 weeks previously, and I had a full mortgage offer in place and 20% deposit. 

So, my advice would be to just offer what you're willing and able to pay, that way if you do lose out you know you tried your best. If you get the house, great, you thought it was worth what you offered anyway. You can make it clear your offer is subject to survey and mortgage valuation, and adjust it accordingly after if you need to anyway! I bet so many people do this and it's just the nature of the house buying world. 

Just to add, I'm in Bristol where the housing market is very competitive and things can go for 5 to 10% above asking price. Speaking to the agent, or another estate agent, about the market generally and how houses are selling may help you get more information so you can make a considered offer.

Good luck!