Making an offer, when sale price is OIEO

KDavies16

My husband and I are FTBs, we have seen a house that we want to put an offer in for. The sale price is "offers in excess of", but when we have reviewed recent sale prices for similar properties, the offers over figure is about £20k plus.
Is it acceptable to offer lower than the offers over figure? If so does the rule of making an offer of between 5% to 10% off the asking price still apply?

youth_leader

The vendor might have tried to sell for a higher price, and couldn't achieve it, so now wants the figure it's listed for, or above. I don't think he'll consider your offer but nothing ventured, nothing gained.

comeandgo

You offer what it’s worth to you, if it’s too low you will be told and you have lost nothing.  As a first time buyer do you have a large deposit so you can make up the difference between mortgage value and what you offer?

KDavies16

We have a 10% deposit.
That was another concern, what if they mortgage lender won't lend to the value of the sale price

user1977

No harm in making an offer. Certainly in Scotland (where "offers over" is the norm) it's pretty commonplace for properties to be sold for less than the asking price, just depends on the local market.

TripleH

Our house was listed at OIEO.

We offered below that price and got the house, but we said as chain free, we wanted a quick turn around which seller was more than happy with.

RelievedSheff

You can offer what you want. Ignore all of the OIEO and Offers Over jargon. It's all just marketing. Offer what you think the house is worth to you.

[Deleted User]

RelievedSheff is correct. The asking price is the asking price whatever phrase is appended to it. If the area & property is in-demand, houses sometimes sell quickly & above asking price, if not, they often go below asking.

If other similar houses have gone for £20k less, the seller is probably trying to take advantage so no harm at all in bargaining them down. Moreover, prices are predicted to fall so if you don't look to strike a bargain, you could end up overpaying in a buyer's market.

[Deleted User]

user1977 said:

No harm in making an offer. Certainly in Scotland (where "offers over" is the norm) it's pretty commonplace for properties to be sold for less than the asking price, just depends on the local market.

The Scottish market is totally different to rest of the UK of course, no gazumping or gazundering for you!

Scorpio33

We had our house listed as OEIO in England. Yes, there is no legal meaning to it, but as a seller, it was saying the price listed is the minimum we would accept (being a low value for the area). We got several offers vastly below the listed price and rejected them and took it off the market. a few months later a house 3 doors from me sold for 20% more than ours, despite being in the same condition.

There is no harm in offering less than the listed price, it depends on the sellers situation. They may be able to hold off like us, or they may be desperate and willing to sell for less. As a buyer, it is better to put a low offer in rather than putting in something over what would be accepted.

lookstraightahead

I would offer under OIEO. It's just a game