Offering in writing?

pamaris

We have seen a house we want to buy. It is marketed at "offers over 150k". We want to offer under at 140k. I want to make the offer in writing so that the estate agent doesn't try and bamboozle me on the phone. I can sound really tough and business like on paper. Is this a done thing?

Doozergirl

Might take a while!

Why don't you write down some bullet points for yourself and the phonecall. Don't worry about what the EA says

chappers

Hello its Mr Jones here I would like to put forward an offer of £140K for 999 Letsbee Avenue

thankyou

pamaris

Doozergirl wrote: »

Might take a while!

Why don't you write down some bullet points for yourself and the phonecall. Don't worry about what the EA says

OK, how about-
-Chain free, ready to proceed.
-Need to know by Thursday because there are two other properties we will be offering on if this is declined. (this is actually true)

Is that good enough?

edit: ugh, I am going to hate this... must remind myself, I am a mad bad momma and I mean business.

otter1_2

pamaris,

Presumably the concern in calling is that the EA will talk you into making an offer higher than £140k? If this is the case, you should have "£140K IS OUR FINAL OFFER - WE CANNOT BID ANY MORE THAN THIS" written clearly on your prompt sheet. And you should definitely use a prompt sheet, as this stops difficult telephone conversations getting hijacked.

Also, don't try to get chatty. The best way to sound dead hard and businesslike is to stick to what you have to say and then end the conversation. I speak as someone who got a leetle bamboozled by the agent in negotiation but I managed to salvage the situation by realising my mistake and finishing the call asap!

dweeby

pamaris wrote: »

OK, how about-
-Chain free, ready to proceed.
-Need to know by Thursday because there are two other properties we will be offering on if this is declined. (this is actually true)

Depends on how much you like the house...

We were in this position a few weeks ago, and we wanted the house. I read up about offer letters, and came up with the following:

Subject to contract

We would like to make an offer to purchase the above property, which we viewed on xxxxxx.

We are currently living in rented accommodation following the sale of our previous home in December, so we do not have to sell a property in order to proceed with the purchase. We have a large deposit, and have obtained a mortgage guarantee certificate through the xxxxx Building Society for the balance. We could probably exchange contracts in ~8 weeks, or as soon as the conveyancing process could be completed.

We would like to make an offer of £xxxx, and we make this offer as buyers with no chain and with finances in place to purchase the property.

Our offer is subject to survey, and subject to the house being taken off the market immediately. Also, as we are keen to secure the purchase of a home at the earliest opportunity, we need a response to our offer by xxxx. If our offer is accepted, we will instruct our solicitor forthwith.

A letter is good, as it confirms your offer in a proper way, and allows you to demonstrate any reasons why your offer might be considered a good one. Also it allows you to put any conditions of offer in (like the date thing). You should assume your letter will be read by the sellers, so it should be professional but friendly.

pamaris

Well it is just as I expected. I wrote the letter and printed out a copy for the estate agent and a copy for the vendors. About 3 minutes after I dropped it off at the estate agent, while I was on my way to drop it to the vendor, I receive a call; "Unfortunately the offer of 141 has been rejected. If you want to improve your offer, you know where we are." I just said "OK" and proceeded to drop the letter off with the vendor.

Now, it is Mexican stand-off time. I expect one of the following outcomes:
a) Vendors/ agents are playing a game. If so we will find out within a week.
b) Vendors become desperate after a few weeks with no offers/ viewings.
c) Vendors accept an offer from someone else that collapses. They'll call us back in a few months then.
d) By then we will have had an offer accepted on a similar home being flogged by one of the BTL's taking profits in April.

In the letter I mentioned all the things I think the vendor should consider, such as the state of the market; we are chain free; last house on the terrace sold for £131,500 in November. I also mentioned we have had negative equity once and we don't fancy it again. I should have mentioned the increased inventory expected in April. Oh well...

ETA: I did say it all in the nicest possible way.

tux130582

good luck! keep us updated