Hello and a warm welcome the February edition of my monthly advice column.
This month I want to give you an insight into a major part of the property purchase process – submitting an offer.
It’s a question I’m asked all the time by clients, “how much should I offer?” or “how do I go about putting an offer in on a property I like?”
Firstly there’s no right or wrong answer to how much you should offer, every single property transaction is dependant on a number of factors, both on the buyers and of course seller’s side, it’s not just a case of saying that if you offer X amount it will be accepted.
The common factors to consider when making an offer is how much can you afford and what do you deem the property to be worth in real terms.
Remember that a mortgage lender will base their maximum mortgage borrowing on the lower of the property value or the purchase price.
So if you make an offer that is over the property value, as determined by the Home Report, then you need to pay that extra amount on top of your normal deposit.
I’ve had many situations where a seller is looking for a fairly quick sale to go through, so in these instances being a first time buyer or not having a lengthy property chain in place can help.
Explaining your own situation to the seller always helps if this is the case, as they may deem any offer you make more appealing, even if it’s not the highest offer they receive.
I always say that being able to have a discussion with the seller directly can prove fruitful and give you an idea of what they may be willing to accept as an offer.
To submit an offer, you can verbally do this yourself through the estate agent selling the property or instruct a property solicitor to do this on your behalf.
The property solicitor can also submit a formal written offer which is usually done once a verbal offer is agreed or if the sale is going to a closing date.
If a property is going to a closing date, the estate agent will invite offers in to be submitted by a certain date and time.
Then these will be passed to the person selling the property and a decision made on what one to accept.
Once the offer is accepted, a full mortgage application can take place and aim to get a mortgage offer issued as quickly as possible.
Local property expert and estate agent at The Home Hub, Craig McIntosh, explains: “The market is very strong at the moment and the majority of properties are going for over Home Report value, there are some real hotspots certainly within the East Kilbride area that are exceeding expectations for sale prices.
"Houses tend to be the most in demand property type however we’re finding that there is still plenty of interest in flats and apartments, especially for first time buyers and people looking to downsize.”
Hopefully that has given you a brief overview of what to expect if you’re looking to buy a property soon, see you all next month.
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