When selling a property, it is a great position to be in to have multiple buyers wanting to buy your home. There is one downside though, how do you choose which offer to accept? Should you accept solely on price? Surely, maximising the earning potential from the sale is the best thing to do? Well not always and in this article, we will take a closer look at some considerations to look at when deciding which buyer’s offer to accept.
Look at the chain
Buyers who are in a large chain, have an increased risk of either serious delays or the sale falling through completely. Those in no chain are a much safer bet to take on. Just think about it, if your buyer needs to sell their house to buy yours and it is the same throughout the chain, then any single one of those failures causes the chain to collapse. What if everyone in the chain needs a mortgage? What if one of the properties in the chain has complex conveyancing issues? The larger the chain, the more uncertainty that the transaction will succeed. Before accepting an offer, always analyse the chain that the buyer is in and look to reduce this as much as possible.
First time Buyers
First time buyers, by default, are not in a chain and that might make them appear attractive, especially when you look at what we have just said, but there are a few things you may want to consider. First time buyers need to save the money for things like stamp duty and the deposit and they will most likely not be cash buyers and so need a mortgage. Quite often this saving process will continue into the sale and until exchange. What if, by the time exchange is due to happen, they don’t have the money? What if their mortgage provider decides not to lend? When considering a first time buyer’s offer, ensure that they have a decision in principle from the lender and also that they already have the funds for the deposit and stamp duty.
Cash Buyers
Cash buyers are, on the surface a dream come true. No need to worry about the chain or a mortgage as the buyer has the cash in hand to buy your property outright. The potential issue is that the buyer will know this and perhaps try to haggle a significantly lower price. After all, this is their cash and they will want to increase how much they have available.
Matching Timescales
You might be in an awful rush to move, but for whatever reason, your buyer is not working to the same timescales. If your timescales don’t match then the process could be very frustrating, but also, possibly cause your plans to fail. Try to find a buyer who is looking at the same timescales as you are.
Deciding on which buyer’s offer to choose, depends a lot on your own circumstances, but ultimately it will end up being a compromise. The cash buyer, who wants to pay the full asking price and is looking at the same timescales as you is a rare beast indeed, so make your decision based on which buyer offers the best overall compromise package that suits your circumstances best.
