An offer for the purchase of your home will be submitted either at the end of a viewing by an aggressive buyer or, more likely, by telephone within a few days. Although you can justifiably feel jubilant in receiving an offer you should be aware that this is only the start of a long and formidable path. Completion of the sale has many stumbling blocks yet to overcome before the offer can be considered secure. These include: 

1. Negotiating up and down to reach an agreed selling price.

2. Negotiating again in the event of a detrimental buyer’s survey or valuation.

3. Agreeing a time-scale for exchange of contracts.

4. Keeping any buy/sell chain intact during the period to completion.

5. Overcoming any delays that might occur.

6. Responding to any last-minute enquiries and concerns raised during the legal process.

7. Arranging for the purchase of your new home (if appropriate) to coincide exactly with the dates of purchase proposed by your buyer.

8. Being prepared to consider any additional higher or more secure offers from alternative buyers that may be presented before completion is attained.

Buyers To Be Cautious Of

Be Wary Of The Aggressive Buyer

Aggressive buyers will ask you lots of questions during a viewing because they need to assess how desperate you are to sell. The more disheartened you are – the lower the offer is likely to be. They will also point out all of the aspects of your home that are unsatisfactory or defective and attempt to impress upon you that the chance of achieving a sale at the asking price is dubious at best.

Aggressive buyers will make lots of promises. They will tell you they can complete within weeks, have cash funds in place and have no property to sell. Some will apply added pressure by stating that the offer made is time-dependent and only available if you accept it within a number of days. Some will even make the offer at the end of a viewing and ask you to accept it there and then.

Offers made by such buyers are usually between 15% and 20% less than the asking price. Make no mistake – these are the last people you should sell to unless your property has been on the market for several months with no other interested parties to be seen. Also known as ‘cash buyers’ these investors are professional negotiators who earn a living by undermining the actual value of property; they buy it cheaply, then they either rent it out or sell it on at a higher market price.

Never accept an offer face-to-face. If you are at all tempted by an aggressive buyer . . . take the time needed to consider the positive and negative aspects of their proposal thoroughly over a number of days. This will also provide you with an opportunity to gather information about them and, properly armed, you can then assess the validity of any promises they have made.

‘cash-Buyers’ Rarely Exist

The lure of a cash-buyer is that the purchase will be uncomplicated. They are not involved in a chain, may not require a survey, and once a sale-price is agreed it is unlikely to be revised due to an inadequate mortgage valuation.

If only life were so sweet! In reality cash-buyers are more likely to:

• Apply for a mortgage at a later date than most other buyers and at a time when you are unlikely to back out.
• Have no actual cash at all – they may however have financial assets such as stocks and shares or bonds which they will need to sell before they can proceed.
• Have some cash but will need to top this up with a combination of the above.

 

Even if they are genuine cash-buyers and really do have money in the bank they will not want to part with it. As a result their offer is likely to be very low and any negotiations will be undertaken aggressively. If a so-called ‘cash-buyer’ presents themselves to you ask for evidence of their claim including sight of bank statements or a letter from the bank confirming they have sufficient and immediately accessible funds to buy your home.