How to make an offer on a house & negotiate effectively

Once you have found a house you want to buy, you then need to decide how much to offer. Do you put in a high offer to clinch it, and risk wasting money? Or a low offer and risk losing your dream home? We explain the best way to make an offer on a house and negotiate the price to ensure you get the perfect property at the best possible price.

Angela Kerr Director, Editor

KEY INFORMATION

How to make an offer on a house: A summary

• Before making an offer on a house, do your preparation including researching local house prices to make sure you don’t overpay. Get your mortgage in principle if you’re not a cash buyer.
• Starting with a low offer is the best tactic for most people but in some cases you may prefer to go in with your best and final offer.
• Make your offer on a house by telling the estate agent (confirming your offer by email) stating the amount you’re offering as well as emphasising your position, such as if you’re a cash buyer.
• Expect to negotiate on price. Be clear on what the maximum amount you’re prepared to pay is.
• Once you’ve made an offer on a house and it’s accepted, you need to instruct your conveyancer to handle the legal side of your purchase, as well as book your survey and apply for your mortgage.

Before you make an offer on a house

Before making an offer on a house, do your preparation to ensure you make an informed decision on how much to offer and also to be sure you can afford the property. To do this:

Research local house prices

Before making an offer on a house, research local house prices, from listings on the main portals, to the actual sold prices listed on Land Registry so you understand how much houses like the one you are looking at are actually selling for. This will help to reassure you that you aren’t paying too much.

Check how quickly they are selling too, if they’re moving very slowly, and going below the asking price, then you are in a stronger position to make a lower offer.

Get your mortgage in principle

It’s essential to make sure you can afford to buy a house before you make an offer on it. So if you are not a cash buyer, having a mortgage agreement in principle is advisable. This is an indication that a lender could lend you a specified amount, based on details you’ve provided about your income, spending and debts. This will make you look like a serious buyer when it comes to making an offer.

You should be able to get a mortgage in principle for free. With fee-free mortgage brokers L&C, you can get a personalised Decision in Principle in just a few minutes. Find out more in our guide on Mortgage in Principles.

How much to offer on a house?

Your next step is to decide how much to offer on a house. There are two main ways to approach this:

• Start low: This leaves room to negotiate. You are less likely to overpay for the house if you start with a low offer but you’re more likely to need to negotiate. Unless the market is especially hot, this is the best tactic for most homebuyers. Read on for tips on how to negotiate when making an offer on a house.
• Making your best offer: However, in some circumstances you may wish to go in with your highest offer first. For example, if you’re expecting huge competition from other buyers and you want to reduce the risk of another buyer pipping you at the post. If you need to make your offer via a sealed bid, you’ll need to give your best offer first. Read on for more on sealed bids.

Step by step guide to making an offer on a house

When you know how much you would like to offer, this is how to formally put in your offer:

• Put your offer in writing. You can make your offer by phoning the estate agent or calling into the estate agent’s office. But it’s advisable to also put the offer in writing to reduce scope for confusion or argument later. A telephone call followed up by an email is fine. Include your name, address and the property’s address as well as the amount you want to offer.
• Emphasise your position. First-time buyers are attractive to sellers who want to avoid long chains and possible delays. Being a cash buyer can also mean you can move quickly. If you sound like you’re on the ball and keen to move soon, that will also help your case.
• Get ready for negotiations. If the seller is interested in your offer, then negotiations are conducted via the estate agent. Note that this puts buyers at a distinct disadvantage – the seller has a professional negotiator (the agent) working on their behalf, while the buyer is left to their own devices. If are you worried about this, you can appoint a buyer’s agent. Keep reading for the different approaches to negotiation.

• After you’ve made an offer, the estate agent will want to see proof of funds and verify your ID and financial position. This is all part of anti-money laundering regulations.

KEY INFORMATION

How to negotiate on a house price

Avoid paying over the odds when you’re making an offer on a house with these tips on how to negotiate on a house price:

1. Start low: When you are making an offer on a house, a good rule of thumb is to offer 5% to 10% lower than the asking price. Sellers often take this into account and market their property for more than they would accept. The agent will normally tell you of any bids that trump yours, and give you a chance to offer a second or even third bid.
2. Don’t give your financial hand away. When first contacting estate agents, downplay the amount you are willing to spend. Estate agents tend to show you homes slightly above your limit, and it will put you in a stronger position when it comes to negotiation. Likewise, if you fall in love with a property, don’t declare that you’ve finally found your forever home. By being too keen, the agent and seller will think you may be willing to pay more. Play it cool, and ask questions that will set you in good stead for the negotiation process. See 25 questions to ask when viewing/ buying a house and What to look for when viewing a house.
3. Beware of offering above the asking price: You should only offer more than the asking price if you know the seller has already been offered that, or if you are really worried about not getting your once-in-a-lifetime dream home and you think there are lots of other buyers.
4. Know your maximum bid: The number one rule before entering into negotiations on a house is to decide on the maximum amount you want to spend on the house. Don’t forget there are extra costs of buying a property which you’ll want to factor in to your budget.
5. Be flexible: If you can show flexibility, such as with time scales, it may make you a more attractive buyer and you may get a lower offer accepted as a result.
6. Stay polite and calm at all times: You’ll only alienate everybody if you get irritated.
7. Consider contacting the seller directly and negotiating in person: But remember they could be harder to negotiate with than the estate agent who wants to close the deal as soon as possible.
8. Don’t be overly influenced by other things thrown in with the deal: For example, unless very new, second hand white goods are usually worth very little and it’s often less hassle to sell them with the house than move them.
9. Consider using a buying agent: A buying agent’s job is to find their client the property that best fits what they are looking for and give an informed view of the property’s value. They’ll negotiate the price too. Read more about how buying agents work, cost and how to find one in our guide Buying Agents Explained.

Video – How to make an offer on a house

KEY INFORMATION

Making an offer on a house in 2025

When making an offer on a house, it’s helpful to understand what’s happening in the wider housing market. Despite expectations that house prices would fall in 2024, house prices ended the year up +3.8% on average across the major indices. And the outlook for house prices in 2025 show they are likely to continue to rise and mortgage rates are predicted to fall over the year. Stay up to date with the latest news with our monthly House Price Watch and our guide on mortgage rate predictions.

Does an estate agent have to pass on my offer to the seller?

Yes, by law estate agents have to pass on every offer they receive to the seller until contracts have been exchanged. The only exception is if the seller has formally requested not to be notified of certain offers; such as, if they are below a specified amount. Read more in our guide on Estate agents legal obligations to buyers.

After your offer has been accepted: 5 things to do straight away

There are a number of steps you’ll need to take as soon as possible after your offer on a house has been accepted.

1. Get the seller to take the property off the market

The seller should take the property off the market if they are serious about accepting your offer. This reduces the risk of gazumping. The seller does not have to, but if they don’t, then ask why they are still marketing their property, and be careful about spending thousands of pounds on surveys, solicitors and arranging mortgages.

2. Start the legal process of buying your house

Once your offer has been accepted, you’ll need to find the right solicitor or conveyancer and instruct them to start work on the legal side of your purchase.

Don’t just choose the conveyancing solicitor recommended by the estate agent for the house you’re buying. Be sure to compare conveyancing quotes to make sure you get the best service at the best price. And make sure you respond quickly to your conveyancing solicitor queries and return paperwork promptly.

3. Arrange your survey

Once the offer you have made has been formally accepted, you should also arrange your house survey. There are lots of different types of survey including homebuyer surveys and building surveys so research your options and get an idea of prices in our guide on How much does a house survey cost?

It’s advisable to book your survey early because it shows the seller you are serious. You can get quotes from local qualified surveyors and compare today so you’re ready to instruct when the time comes.

4. Apply for your mortgage

Once your offer is accepted, if you’ve already got your Mortgage in Principle in place, go back to your mortgage broker and start your full mortgage application. See our guide How to make a successful mortgage application. Then you’ll need to wait for your lender to make you a formal mortgage offer. See our guide How long does it take to get a mortgage?

If you haven’t got your finances in place by this stage of the process, you must now scramble to do so as quickly as possible, before the seller loses patience.

Also, when you’re buying a house with a mortgage, it is also a good time to consider getting life insurance. See our guide Do I need life insurance?

5. Beware of gazumping

Even after an offer has been made and accepted by the seller, it’s not legally binding on either side. Either party can still pull out until the exchange of contracts, although the buyer might lose their reservation fee if they were required to put one down. (this applies to England and Wales; there are different rules in Scotland).

In fact, research in 2024 by the lenders MFS showed that a staggering 37% of homebuyers in the last 10 years have been gazumped at least once.

You could lose thousands of pounds in pointless survey fees, land search fees and solicitor’s fees if you’re gazumped. So it’s a good idea to take out Home Buyers Protection insurance. This helps cover legal, survey and mortgage lending costs should your purchase fall through

Can I make an offer on a house that is Sold Subject to Contract?

If a house is listed as Sold Subject to Contract SSTC you can still make an offer on it and an estate agent is legally obliged to pass on any offers they receive to the sellers unless they have asked them not to. The seller can consider any offer until the sale becomes legally binding at exchange of contracts.

If you make an offer on a house and it’s accepted, after a sale has already been agreed, this is known as gazumping (not to be confused with gazundering). In most cases gazumping happens because a higher offer has been made. But in other cases it could be down to timing, such as if the original buyer is taking too long to have a survey, the seller may decide to reject the original offer in favour of one from a buyer who is in a better position to move more quickly.

Negotiating on a house after a bad survey

If you get a bad house survey report on the property you’ve made an offer on, you can use it to renegotiate the price you’re willing to pay. You’re not legally bound to buy the property until the point of exchange so it’s reasonable for you to go back to the estate agent with this new information and a revised offer.

You may want the seller to agree to fix the issues before you exchange or agree to reduce the price to reflect the cost of the works needed. But they may not be willing or able to do so. Read more about navigating this in our guide on A bad house survey report – what to do next.

Do I need to pay a reservation fee when making an offer on a house?

No, not normally. This should only really apply when you’re buying a new build property or buying a property via the Modern Method of Auction. Read our guide on Reservation fees explained.

Frequently Asked Questions