How do I make a winning offer?

Before you make an offer on a house, you will first need to:1Get your approval in principle.2Work out what you can afford.3Decide how much to offer.4Write a house offer email.You can use the calculator above to decide how much you should offer. Once you've successfully completed the first three steps, it is time to write your offer letter or email. You can use the template below as a guide on how to put up together a winning offer.House Offer Letter Template

Should you offer full price on a house?

If you have followed the advice in this article and the asking price is within reason then you can offer the full asking price. It can encourage a quick acceptance and make the seller/agent more cooperant throughout the transaction. It is possible to renegotiate the price after the offer has been accepted, if your surveys or searches unearth issues which ought to be reflected in the purchase price.

What is the best offer to make on a house?

There's an old saying, 'it's worth whatever you're willing to pay for it' which may be true, if you're buying in cash and not depending on selling it in the future. If, like most people, you're buying with a mortgage and will fund any future home move by selling this property, you'll need to pay what the property is actually worth. When you have done some market research and made an informed estimate on what the property is worth, you may decide to make a slightly lower, or higher, offer. Generally you can make an offer below the asking price if you can back it up with evidence such as the comparable table above. However, if properties in the area don't come up very often, you may find yourself competing with other buyers who will high-ball their offer just because they really want this property. It's best not to offer more for a property than its worth - when your lender completes their valuation, they may not lend you enough to meet the offer, they lend based on their surveyors valuation of the property's actual worth in the current market.

What is the lowest you can offer on a house?

A conservative answer is 5-10% - which gives you room for negotiations. This should only be done where the asking price is 5-10% higher than the property is worth or where your budget wont stretch to the asking price and you're just making your best offer and crossing your fingers (don't hold your breath, though). In some cases you could offer up to 20% below the asking price. This would be in a situation where you have a strong advantage over the buyer, for example: It's a buyer's market, there are more houses for sale than there are buyers This property has been on the market, unsold for a long time This property is particularly unique or unusual and it is hard to find a buyer who appreciates it's quirks. One of these alone may not be enough to justify such a lowball offer, but two or more might be. If the fall below the asking price isn't well justified, you are likely to offend the sellers and they won't even consider your offer.

House Offer Calculator:

Key in comparable properties (minimum of 2) and we'll calculate what you should offer on your property based on its size.

Evidence for offer

We’ve based our offer on these comparables, which we feel align with the market of the local area based on size and condition:

Address

Website URL of Online Listing

What did the property sell for?

Size in Square metres (Sqm)

What is the price per Sqm? £0.00

Add another example sold property +

What is the average cost per Sqm? £0.00

Size of the property I want to buy in Sqm?

Calculate your conveyancing and third party costs based on the property price:

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How much to offer on a house

Nothing can guarantee your offer will be accepted, as every seller is different and you may be up against another offer that you simply can't beat. This guide shares with you the 'best practise' of wisdom and experience to help you price your offer right, so it has a good chance of being accepted and you don't pay more than the house is worth.

Make a good first impression

Size isn't the only thing that matters. Making a winning offer is often about more than making the highest bid. Often sellers will pass up the highest offer because they like the buyer whose offer they accept. For example, a family buying their first home might beat a buy to let landlord, if the seller wants to see the home they raised their family in pass to another young family, who will love and grow in it.

During the viewing:

Dress to impress, (think interview);
Ask at the door if they'd like you to remove your shoes. Show that you respect that this is still their home;
Be engaging;
Admire what they've done with the property;
Ask the seller’s opinion on local schools, pubs, parks, they'll appreciate that you value their experience;
Break the ice by flattering obvious features of the house, show you really like the property;
Chat about their journey, where are they moving to - do they have a timeframe in mind? Align expectations and show that you're a good fit.

If the seller isn't present at the viewing, the above applies to the estate agent. The more buying signals you give, the more memorable you are, the more human your offer will be.

How do I know how much to offer on a house?

How Much To Offer On A House. A young professional shrugs over what price to offer. SAM Conveyancing explains how much you should offer on a house

Know your budget

You should really have a mortgage agreement in principle already, to give you an idea of what you can borrow before arranging viewings. If not, get one now.

Do market research

Find similar, recently sold properties in the area, find out what they sold for, and work out their cost per square metre, in a table like this:

Property Address	Sold for £	Date sold	Price per Sqm/Sqft
(include link to listing)	£	DD/MM/YY	£

Or, use our free calculator tool above, which will do the maths for you and tell you how much to offer with a free PDF to send to the agent.

Calculate the value of the property

Take the average cost per square metre and multiply it by the square metreage of the property you're looking at buying.

This is how RICS surveyors make their valuation of the property, so it will be realistic and meet the estate agents' expectations.

Will your budget cover this price, as well as other costs?

Before you make an offer, make sure there's enough left in your budget for conveyancing costs including stamp duty (if applicable) and other moving expenses.

As we discuss in How to make an offer on a house; everyone needs to win.

What do I do, now I know how much I should offer on the house?

You'll need to provide proof of funds. A scan or screenshot of the account holding your deposit funds will do. Remember to black out any data you don't want to share; at the moment, all you need to show is the balance.

You'll also need to prepare scans of your ID and proof of address (x2) to PDFs, ready for your conveyancing solicitor, if your offer is accepted.

When you make your written offer by email:

Be likeable and engaging;
set a boundary that you control;
make an offer based on evidence;
set caveats to your offer that link to the needs of the seller; and
have a timeframe as to when your offer expires.

Download an example offer

Never chase before your own deadline

You have set a timeframe by which you expect a response, chasing the agent before this date can show you are too keen and they may use this to their advantage, to drive your offer up.

How To Buy A House
Without Killing Anyone

This book could be the difference between every mover’s dream, buying and moving into your new home stress free, or, stress, missed deadlines, legal disasters, building defects, and possibly the collapse of the whole transaction. (Costing you a small fortune, a head full of grey hairs, and, driving you to threaten the life of your solicitor, lender, co-owners, family, partner, or some combination of all five).

With more than two decades’ experience in the conveyancing sector and over 50,000 successful client moves under his belt, Andrew shares insider tips and advice to empower you as a buyer, giving you the tools to make the best decisions for your circumstances and ease the chaos.

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Source: House Price Index (HPI)

Frequently Asked Questions

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