Q. I’m booked to view a few properties next week but all the agents are telling me that there are multiple buyers seeing the property on the same day and they have literally only just come to the market. Is this just hype do you think or is it really this buoyant right now? And if I want to secure the property shall I just go straight in with an asking price offer?
A. Actually I can confirm the sales market really is this buoyant right now; the government schemes and still low interest rates have certainly contributed to igniting buyer’s interests when a desirable property hits the market and naturally driving prices up. Securing a property with so much interest from other parties will be tough but please be cautious and don’t be forced into a corner and offer just because other buyers are too. And do remember that is just not your offer that will be considered but also your position as a buyer, cash buyers or buyers that have nothing to sell and their finances arranged will always be at the top of the list and certainly the agent would always push their client to look at this type of buyer more favourably especially if buyers with property to sell are also in the equation. Take a step back after viewing the property and ask yourself if this really is the property for you? Does it tick all your boxes or are your motives for offering just because everyone else is, and it’s just a case of wanting what you can’t have, please don’t be fooled into doing this and then retracting your offer later down the line because it wasn’t really what you wanted after all as this will not go down well with agents that are trying to work with you to secure a property, doing this will make you a flaky buyer and agents will think twice when showing you other stock as they will advise sellers that you previously withdrew an offer – not a great place to be in with so much competition around from other buyers. With that many people looking at the property it is likely to go to sealed bids and push the price above the asking price, if you do decide to be part of the sealed bids process then please do your homework to make sure the property is worth the money you are prepared to offer for it. Sold prices for all properties are now transparent and freely available on line. Check other properties that have been sold in the same development or vicinity recently to check you are not over paying as this could be disastrous later on if the market were to fall and put you into negative equity.