If you’re wondering whether your solicitor is giving you the full picture regarding your house sale/purchase or not, you need to remember that UK estate agents are under no legal obligation to tell you about competing offers in the market. However, it is best to connect with an agent that does. The primary responsibility of an estate agent is to get the best deal for their deal, and oftentimes knowing how the market forces are in play can help them accomplish this.

Reasons You Should Find Out About Other Offers For A Property

Having data regarding the other offers in the market may not be necessary, but it can certainly be a boon if you’re trying to buy the house of your choice at an optimal price. Here are a few reasons why you should persuade your agent to tell you about the offers for a property you’ve got your eyes on.

Accurate Price Estimation

This one is a no-brainer. Knowing what others are offering for a house you want can help you decide what would be a good price to quote. Sellers often put up figures that may be slightly higher than what their appraisal tells them so that they could make a good profit on the exchange. As a buyer, it can be hard to determine whether the money you’re investing is fair or an inflated number.

In case you really like the property, this could also be a good opportunity to put forth an offer that is marginally higher than the others. This puts you in the forefront without causing a massive cash drain.

Assessing Market Demand

When buying a property, one of the biggest concerns people have is future asset appreciation. If you find out that a lot of offers are being made on a given property, it’s a positive sign that the house will stay relevant in the time to come. This shall be great for your finances and in case you choose to put up your home for rent, the returns will be advantageous.

Although, this does not mean that homes with not many buyers are necessarily a bad deal. They may be situated in developing areas or need extra renovation. Higher market demand is only one of the many factors that help you decide a property’s financial worth.

Creating Room For Negotiation

If you’re trying to sell your home, being aware of all the offers you’ve received for your property makes negotiating the price much easier. If a buyer quotes too low of a price, you can hint at the best price you’ve gotten for the property so far. This is bound to make the bidder reconsider their offering, getting you the best price on your estate sale. 

According to the Department for Communities and Local Government, England’s average weekly rent in 2019 was £102 per week. Thus for buyers, any chance you can get to strike a less expensive deal is worth everything! 

Gaining Market Advantage

Knowledge is power and it becomes even more crucial when you’re up against multiple families trying to make a big ticket purchase. If you’re associated with an agent that you can trust and are committed to getting you the best deal, they could derive details regarding the type of financing, closing date of sale, and more. Having an insider’s take on things of this sort can help you come up with more attractive proposals even without quoting bigger prices.

For example, if the seller of a house wants to sell their house as soon as possible due to an emergency, you may tell them that you’re willing to buy the house immediately, albeit at a lower price than other bidders. This will most likely be the seller’s preference in this case so not only would you save money, but also get the house of your dreams!

According to the Government of UK, the July 2022 provisional estimate has followed a historical seasonal pattern for residential transactions, where market activity rises during the summer. This might seem like a minute detail, but it can heavily impact what price you pay or receive for a house. Having a transparent relationship with our agent facilitates such communication along with getting you details about competing offers. Hence first and foremost, reach out to estate agents only if you can trust them.

Although it isn’t unfair to get an upper hand on the offers being made for a property, respect people’s personal space. Use the information your agent has gathered to come up with a pricing plan that is attractive and not just countering what the others have provided so far.