Handling Offers

It is your decision (not an Estate Agent's) regarding the price you are prepared to accept for your house - your typical Estate Agent job is to simply pass offers onto you. We suggest you set parameters i.e. the ideal price and the lowest price you are happy to accept and use this as a bench-mark.

When an offer is made, write it down along with who made the offer and any comments made especially if they are offering lower than the asking price. Thank them for their offer, telling them you will consider it and get back to them quickly with your decision. If you accept an offer too quickly they may feel their offer was too high and try to reduce the amount. All offers should be considered as soon as possible. Any delays may make buyers think twice and put in an offer for another house they like.

Exceptions to the rule - giving them your decision straight-away:

• They offer the asking price - As long as you are happy they are in a position to proceed and you have had no better offers you can accept their offer.

• The offer is too low to accept - Saying you will get back to them suggests you are considering their offer and any further offers may only be slightly higher. If you feel an offer is too low then try to justify why e.g. there are 3 other similar houses in the area all with the same asking price. Many buyers will decide on a price they are happy to pay and then make a lower offer just to see if they can get away with it. Remember you have the right to hold out for the price you want.

If you reject an offer try to keep negotiations going by requesting they make another offer. Remember, you don't have to accept any offer but if they mention a price within your parameters it may be worth considering especially if you feel you will not get a better offer.

When accepting an offer, in most cases it will be ‘subject to survey.' This means the buyer is happy to pay the agreed price as long as a survey does not bring to light any defects you may not have declared. Usually, if your buyer is using a mortgage to purchase the house then they will need to have a survey done for the mortgage company. This should be organised as soon as the offer is accepted preferably within 10 days. Once the survey has been carried out, the buyer may revise their offer. Do not readily accept a reduction in the offer but get quotes on the problem areas that have arisen in the survey - you never know you could resolve the problem a great deal cheaper than the reduction in the offer!

Once you agree on a price you should ask the buyer to confirm it in writing and request details of their Solicitor. Provide them with details of your Solicitor so they can inform their own.

Although you may have accepted an offer, you may consider keeping the advert ‘live' just in case this one falls through or you get a better offer. If you decide to keep the advert ‘live', we advise you keep the buyer in the loop as this will ensure they make sure things run quickly and smoothly or risk losing the property to another buyer.