How much should I offer in Birmingham?
If you’ve found a property that has caught your eye and you think that it could be the one for you, the next step is to make an offer on it. When making an offer on a property, you have to make sure that the seller or estate agent knows the whole of your personal and financial situation.
Giving them the whole picture of your situation puts yourself in a great position and can benefit your application. They will refer back to your circumstances and consider them before accepting your application. You are always covered if something pops up in the future as you’ve already told them right from the start.
Making an Offer Checklist
Mortgage Agreement in Principle
If there is a cash buyer making an offer on a property, 99% of the time you won’t be able to beat them. However, to improve your chances of competing against other buyers, you should get an agreement in principle in place nice and early.
A mortgage agreement in principle is written confirmation that a lender is willing to let you borrow a certain amount from them for a mortgage. If there are other people interested in buying the same property as you without an agreement in principle, you should automatically be a step in front of them if you have one.
When you approach a Mortgage Broker in Birmingham like ourselves, we will arrange an agreement in principle for you within 24-hours of your application. It can even be within a couple of hours if your mortgage situation is straight forward.
Ready for a Fast Purchase
If you are prepared for your mortgage and have everything else ready to go, you may be in a better position than other buyers who are still preparing last minute bits. Make sure that you have everything ready, especially if you have your heart set on a property; you wouldn’t want to lose it!
Sometimes, the seller may want a quick purchase, so if you want to quickly secure the property and are settled on a final price, you may be moving home in Birmingham faster than you thought.
Negotiating
If a property has just been listed on the market, the seller may stick to their asking price, especially if it’s gaining interest. When a property has been on the market for a while, the seller may be more lenient with the selling price and you may be able to ask for a little less.
A top tip for making an offer on a property is to research similar housing sold prices in the same area to get a feel of how much you should offer the seller. If they aren’t willing to negotiate a deal, you may have to increase your offer or walk away if you don’t want to meet their asking price.
As a Mortgage Broker in Birmingham, we also recommend that you never take someone’s first offer, as a buyer or seller. There will be a reason why the property is listed at a certain price, so make sure that you do your research first.
Property Chains may go Against you
A property chain is where more than one buyer is linked to a transaction. For example, you are moving home in Birmingham and you want to make an offer on a property but you can only move in once the people buying your current home can move in after they’ve sold their home. It often keeps going and going, that’s why it’s called a property chain.
It can be very hard to avoid being tied into a property chain. Almost every home mover’s purchase will require another purchase to be made before they can move into another property. Therefore, if you aren’t linked to another property and that chain isn’t there, you actually could put yourself in front of lots of other people.
If you are a first time buyer in Birmingham, this won’t affect you as you are most likely renting or still living with your parents.
Need further mortgage advice in Birmingham?
If you are interested in a property in Birmingham and want further advice on how to make an offer, feel free to get in touch with our amazing team of advisors. Our Mortgage Advisors in Birmingham will not only be there to give you advice on this stage of the moving home process, they will also provide you with support and guidance through the rest of it.
We know that Moving Home can be a stressful and difficult process, and that’s why we want to offer our specialist help. Get in touch today for a free moving home mortgage consultation in Birmingham
Date Last Edited: September 2, 2024
