“Offers over” or a guide price: how much should you offer?

What the labels mean

Most listings in England put a few words in front of the price. They tell you how the seller wants offers to come in, not what homes like this one sold for.

Scotland’s system is different: offers go in through a solicitor, and a deal binds once the missives are agreed. This guide is about England.

Seen one of these labels on a home you like? The figure behind it can be checked too. See it against the sales →

Why agents use them

The estate agent works for the seller, not you. The label is part of the marketing, and the seller agrees it before the home goes on sale.

Agents in the Property Ombudsman’s scheme must back any asking price they recommend with comparable evidence, in good faith. Even so, an “offers over” figure can be pitched low on purpose. The HomeOwners Alliance notes that advertising a home at a lower amount can create more interest and bidding activity.

So the figure can be a starting line for a contest. It tells you where the seller hopes the bidding begins. It may sit below what homes like it sold for, among those sales or above them.

“Offers over” is the seller’s opening line, not a record of the sales.

How much over, or under: a judgement

There’s no safe percentage to add to an “offers over” figure: it was set for the seller’s reasons, not yours.

Start instead from what comparable homes nearby actually sold for, as recorded by HM Land Registry. That’s firmer evidence than any label, and it’s where our guide on how much to offer on a house starts. Then see where the listing’s figure sits among those sales.

If the figure sits below the sales

Then “offers over” may be an invitation to compete, and you may need to go over it to be heard. How far is your call. Set it from the sales and the most you can pay, not from the label.

If the figure sits at or above the sales

Then an offer under it can be fair. Say so plainly, and name the sales behind it. Rightmove’s own buying guide says an offer below the asking should be backed by evidence, not an arbitrary figure.

You can offer under “offers over”

The figure isn’t a legal floor. The agent must pass every offer to the seller promptly and in writing, unless the seller has said in writing that they don’t want offers of that kind, such as offers below a set figure. That’s the law, in the Estate Agents (Undesirable Practices) (No. 2) Order 1991. So ask whether the seller has set one.

What to ask the agent

1. How was the figure set? Ask which sales the agent used. If they can’t name any, treat the figure as a hope.
2. How much interest is there? Ask about viewings and offers so far. Once you’ve offered, agents in the Property Ombudsman’s scheme must tell you if other offers exist, though not usually the amounts.
3. How long has it been listed? And has the figure changed? Months at “offers over” is a different case: see our guide on a house on the market a long time.
4. What does the seller need? A quick sale, or a buyer with no chain? A seller may take a lower offer from a chain-free or cash buyer.

Making the offer

Tell the agent, then confirm it in writing, marked “subject to contract”, with your agreement in principle, proof of your deposit and your conveyancer’s details. Agents in the Property Ombudsman’s scheme confirm each offer in writing within 2 working days. Until exchange, the price can still be renegotiated if the survey finds a problem.

Go well over the comparable sales, and the lender’s valuation, which looks at recent sales too, may come in below your price. Ask your broker what that would mean before you offer.

If the agent calls for best and final offers, see our guide on how much to put in a best and final offer.

Auctions: a different kind of guide price

At auction, a guide price has a stricter meaning. The seller usually sets a reserve: the lowest price the auctioneer may sell at. Its amount usually stays confidential, but you must be told that one exists.

Advertising rules tie the guide to the reserve. Since a 2014 Advertising Standards Authority ruling, auctioneers must explain what the guide is, how it differs from the reserve and that it can change. Unless they update the guide whenever a higher reserve is set, they must also say where the reserve falls:

So the guide isn’t the price, and bidding can end well above it. On an ordinary sale there’s no reserve, and a guide price is just the seller’s figure.

The hammer is final. At a traditional auction the winning bidder exchanges contracts on the spot, and most auctions ask for a 10% deposit that day, so have your survey, legal checks and mortgage ready first. Online “modern method of auction” sales work differently: the winner pays a reservation fee, not refunded if they pull out, and usually has 56 days to exchange and complete. Read the terms before you bid.

Questions