Getting In Your Best Offer

They also have no guarantee that the offers received will be acceptable and thus may face long delays in organising another closing date later on. So, basically, you have nothing to lose by making a verbal offer via the selling agent and, if accepted, you can then get your solicitor to confirm the offer in writing.
This may also result in saving you some legal fees, as you will already know that your formal written offer is acceptable, in principal at least. A closing date offer has to be prepared and paid for, even if it turns out to be unsuccessful. Some couples have gone through this process seven or eight times and paid the legal fees each time, only to be unsuccessful.

Of course, with the ‘offers over’ system, the problem is knowing how much to offer! This is probably one of the most frequently asked questions I get; how much over do we need to offer to stand a chance? This is a very difficult question to answer. I can advise as to the ‘average percentage over’ that properties have been achieving of late; in the Aberfeldy area over the past few months, this has varied from as little as 10% to as much as 45% on properties that Andersonbain have sold.

With that variance it’s not really that helpful knowing the figures, but based on this, I would suggest starting at about 15 – 20% over. Ultimately, you should be guided by the valuation provided by your survey - which is a step that you really have to take if you are going as far as making an offer on a property.

My advice would be to think about what the site is worth to you, remembering your budget. There is no point in paying so much for the site that you then cannot afford to build the house that you want. It is important to set yourself a maximum figure to go to and not allow yourself to be persuaded to go above that.

Whatever the circumstances surrounding your offer, you will need to appoint a Solicitor to put the formal offer together for you. They will be able to advise you on all the aspects that need to be considered, including any conditions that may be advisable to attach to your offer, i.e. ‘subject to survey’, ‘subject to planning approval’ etc. As I have said before, it is important to do as much research and homework as possible before putting in an offer, especially if there is a closing date situation. A clean offer will be of much more interest to a vendor than an offer with too many conditions. Your solicitor will be able to find out how many people are expected to be offering on a closing date and knowing the level of interest can also be helpful when considering how much to offer. If your solicitors are based in the local area of the property concerned, they will also be able to give valuable advice based upon their knowledge of the local market.

With a closing date, you only get one shot at it, so you need to give yourself every advantage possible; knowing that your preparation was thorough, and that you have put in your best offer, will mean that at least you should not have any regrets if you are unsuccessful.