29 Feb 2016

A question about : Offers over VS Offers around

Hey everyone, was hoping for a bit of help with this one!

I'm about to put my house up for sale, I had 3 EA's around for a valuation. 2 said offers around Ј95k and the third said offers OVER Ј89,950. We ended up going for the third estate agent as they are a better company but I'm scared about this offers OVER business - I did tell him we need at least Ј90k in order to move, but he was confident this approach would get me that price!

Anyone any experience or insider knowledge on the difference between offers around and offers OVER???

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Best answers:

  • Frankly, i find it off-putting. When i'm searching on Rightmove or Zoopla they're generally properties obviously outside of my budget, but listed "offers over" X cheap price, so they just waste my time.
    I can't speak for everyone, but i much prefer the standard listing style.
  • Thank you serialrenter! That's a really good point - I never thought about that!
  • I think offers over only works when the amount is at the low end/below market value and the seller wants to generate interest quickly.
    Otherwise I find offers over off putting as to me they indicate a seller which is inflexible regarding price. At the end of the day a property is worth what someone will pay whatever the AP, offers over or not.
    Not only that if I wanted to offer on a property that was 'offers over' the fact that it is 'offers over' wouldn't encourage me to offer more. I'd still only offer what I'm prepared to pay.
  • The number is always the starting point for negotiation. in 95% of the time (outside of london) the final price will be at or below this number.
  • If you say offers over Ј89,950 and you're looking for Ј90k I think that's fine, what irritates me is when people name a number that's much less than they're actually prepared to accept simply to generate interest.
  • These are not valuations but just marketing gimmicks.
    You want to hire them to sell the house so you ask them to tell how how much they think it is worth, which is how much they expect you to walk away with, not the initial asking price.
    Note, of course, that some agents may tell you that they are confident that they can sell it for X (which is more than anyone else) for you to sign up.
    2-3 weeks later they'd find excuses to lower your expectations.
    If you said you needed at least 90k, the agent proposing to market with "offers over 89,950" was just lazy and looking for a quick, simple sale, IMHO.
  • Scotland, or E&W?
  • Thank you so much everyone for your input! I'm considering asking them to adsounds very righte it as offers around 92,500. (Although I said we need 90k to move we bought for 82,500 and put 10k into it. So I would love 92,500 to break even but I don't want to be greedy!)
    Googler I'm in northern Ireland!
    Jjlandlord ur comment about a lazy seller sounds right - I just want him to work for his money and get me a fair price!
  • Around here (Hertfordshire) 'offers over' usually indicates a delusional vendor who believes the property is worth much more than it actually is. They take longer to sell, in my view. I find it very off-putting when I am viewing properties to buy.
    My preference is just to state the asking price in the normal way, and the final price will depend on what offers are made.
  • As a FTB, I steered clear of 'offers over'. It suggests to me a potential bidding war and trying to secure a over-inflated figure.
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