How to make an offer on a house

An offer is what gets a property off the market. The number matters, but everything around it matters more. Estate agents are paid by the vendor and their job is to bring the strongest available offer to their client. Strength is a combination of price, position and pace.

What strengthens an offer

An Agreement in Principle (AIP), dated within the last 30 days, on letterhead from a real lender. Proof of funds for the deposit, usually a bank statement showing the cash. A clear chain position: first-time buyer, no chain, no property to sell. A realistic completion timeline. A solicitor named and instructed, ready to act on the day the offer is accepted.

How much to offer

Look at sold prices on the same street, not the asking prices. Land Registry data is free and current within about three months. Sold prices for similar properties on similar streets give you a real ceiling. Asking price minus 5% to 10% is a common opening on a property that has been on the market for a while. Asking price or above is sometimes the right opening on a property that just listed in a hot patch.

Reading the market signals

How long has the property been listed? Anything over eight weeks at the original price tells you something. Has the asking price already been reduced? Reductions are public on Rightmove if you click "property history". Are there competing offers? The agent will tell you, and they often have to. Is the vendor in a chain themselves? A vendor who has already found their next home cannot wait three months for a buyer. We help you read the signals before you choose your number.

The covering email

Keep it short. Your name, the offer figure, the AIP attached, your chain position in one line, your solicitor named, your contact phone number. No life story. Agents skim. The clearer your email, the easier their conversation with the vendor.

Worked example, a contested property at £325,000 asking

Asking £325,000. Three buyers, all with AIPs. Sold prices on the same street last quarter at £310,000 to £320,000 for a comparable footprint. The agent has hinted that the vendor wants to move within two months. A first-time buyer with no chain, AIP at £330,000, deposit cash visible, can credibly offer £317,500 with a clean covering note about completing in eight weeks and probably win on terms rather than price. A buyer in a chain at the same number will lose. Position beats pence.

If your offer is rejected

Ask why. Sometimes the answer is price. Sometimes it is timing. Sometimes another buyer is in a stronger chain position. We read the situation with you and decide whether to come back higher, hold firm, or walk and look at the next one. As an illustrative example, we would not push a client to raise an offer by around £15,000 in five days simply because an agent applied pressure.

Best and final offers

If multiple buyers cannot be split, the agent will go to "best and final". You submit your strongest offer in writing by a deadline, usually 24 to 48 hours. The trick here is to bid an odd number (£317,250 not £315,000) so you do not tie with another buyer at a round figure. We help you set the number with reference to your actual budget, not in the heat of the moment.

Common pitfalls we see

Bidding without an AIP attached, bidding above the lender mortgage limit and only finding out later, missing the developer reservation deadline on a new build because the AIP was not ready, and getting outbid because the agent thought your funding was weaker than it was. Most of these are avoidable with a quick 15-minute call before you put the offer in.