Which offer best to accept?

Giggidy

We are in a fortunate position to have received quite a few good offers on our house 25-30k over asking price. The top 3 are so close and we are not sure which best to go with with. I always said I would like to sell our family home to another family / couple looking for a family home. My partner is not that emotional vested and wants highest offer or chain free at least.

Offer A - £28K over, couple in a chain
Offer B - £30K over, family looking for more space but property not yet on market 
Offer C - £30K over, local landlord with large deposit, small mortgage

The EA spoke highly of the landlord, having been doing business with him for years (possible best mate haha! ) . He will only have access to his funds from February which gives us time to find somewhere as there is hardly any new houses come up until probably after Christmas now. Seems the easiest option, chain free, less chance of mortgage valuation undervaluing the house affecting the sale.

The family looking for space could sell their house easily as per the EA, houses in this area literally go under offer within days of coming to market but we are just worried about then possibly being in a large chain, mortgage issues if any.

Decisions, decisions, which option is best?.

rexmedorum

would the landlord be able to exchange sharpish or only in Feb? If so I would wary that it may not be as easy as the agent makes out.

user1977

I would be wary of selling to your EA's best mate...

Giggidy

rexmedorum said:

would the landlord be able to exchange sharpish or only in Feb? If so I would wary that it may not be as easy as the agent makes out.

The landlord will only have access to his funds from start of February, which we said is fine because we are not likely to find anything unti then anyway

Giggidy

user1977 said:

I would be wary of selling to your EA's best mate...

Just to clarify, I don't actually know it's anyone's mate, I just said that tongue-in-cheek. The EA did give me a fair assessment of each offer and pro's and con's for going with either, but it did seem slightly like they favoured the landlord more. But this could also be because they have worked with him before and can vouch for him, and thereby securing their commission

user1977

Giggidy said:

rexmedorum said:

would the landlord be able to exchange sharpish or only in Feb? If so I would wary that it may not be as easy as the agent makes out.

The landlord will only have access to his funds from start of February, which we said is fine because we are not likely to find anything unti then anyway

Yes, but I think the question is how certain he is of that, and whether he's going to drag things out until February before exchanging. Where are the funds coming from? Often the main advantage of selling to landlords or developers is that they've either got the cash or know their bank will lend, and/or may be more prepared to take a view on getting searches etc.

csgohan4

offer C

offers over may fail valuation by lenders and get undervalued and you will end up with a problem

Giggidy

user1977 said:

Giggidy said:

rexmedorum said:

would the landlord be able to exchange sharpish or only in Feb? If so I would wary that it may not be as easy as the agent makes out.

The landlord will only have access to his funds from start of February, which we said is fine because we are not likely to find anything unti then anyway

Yes, but I think the question is how certain he is of that, and whether he's going to drag things out until February before exchanging. Where are the funds coming from? Often the main advantage of selling to landlords or developers is that they've either got the cash or know their bank will lend, and/or may be more prepared to take a view on getting searches etc.

It wouldn't be an issue of us, unless we find a house within the next few weeks and they want to exchange before then

Giggidy

csgohan4 said:

offer C

offers over may fail valuation by lenders and get undervalued and you will end up with a problem

This is exactly what happened to us last year (had to pull out anyway due to being made redundant) and why the landlord seems a slightly less risky option 

Flugelhorn

I would be more keen on C the one with no chain - they so easily collapse 

babyblade41

offer c with a view to exchanging as soon as the legals are done