Your First Buyer Might Be Your Best Buyer

Day three on the market.

The photographs have gone live. The property portals are generating interest. You’ve already had several viewing requests.

Then your estate agent calls.

You’ve got an offer.

Brilliant news.

Except, almost immediately, another thought can creep in:

“If we’ve had an offer this quickly… should we wait and see if someone offers more?”

It’s a completely understandable reaction.

After all, if somebody wants your home after just a few days, perhaps you’ve priced it too cheaply. Maybe another week will bring another buyer. Perhaps somebody will offer the full asking price – or even more.

Sometimes waiting might be the right decision.

But there’s something sellers shouldn’t overlook:

Your first buyer might also be your best buyer.

A quick offer doesn’t necessarily mean a low asking price

Receiving an offer shortly after launching can make sellers nervous.

Have we gone too cheap?

Not necessarily.

A well-priced property with strong photography, good presentation and effective marketing should attract attention.

That’s the point.

Your estate agent may also already have buyers registered who have been waiting for exactly the type of home you’re selling.

Perhaps they’ve missed out on something similar.

Maybe they’ve been looking in your village for months.

They could know exactly what they want and be ready to act when the right property appears.

If one of those buyers makes an offer quickly, that doesn’t automatically mean something has gone wrong.

It might mean your launch has worked.

The first few weeks matter

When a property first comes to market, it has something particularly valuable:

newness.

It’s appearing in buyers’ property alerts.

It’s near the top of searches.

People who regularly check the portals suddenly see something they haven’t seen before.

Your estate agent can contact suitable buyers already on their database.

Social media, video and other launch marketing can create another burst of attention.

That means some of your most motivated potential buyers can appear very early.

There’s sometimes an assumption that buyers arrive in order of quality – as though the first offer is merely the opening act and a better buyer will inevitably appear later.

Property sales don’t work like that.

The person viewing on day two could have been waiting six months for your house.

An offer is more than a number

Suppose you receive two offers.

Buyer A offers £395,000.

Buyer B offers £400,000.

Buyer B is obviously better, right?

Maybe.

But what if Buyer A is a first-time buyer with a mortgage Agreement in Principle, solicitor ready and no property to sell?

And Buyer B still needs to put their own house on the market?

Suddenly, those two offers look rather different.

Price is hugely important, but it’s not the only thing worth considering.

Your estate agent should also help you understand factors such as:

• Whether the buyer has a property to sell
• Whether that property is already under offer
• The length and position of any chain
• How they’re funding the purchase
• Their intended timescale
• How prepared they are to proceed
• Any conditions attached to their offer

A slightly higher number doesn’t automatically mean a stronger transaction.

“But what if somebody offers more next week?”

They might.

That’s the uncomfortable truth.

If you accept an offer today, there is always the possibility that another buyer could have appeared tomorrow.

Equally, they might not.

That’s why deciding whether to accept an offer isn’t about predicting an imaginary future buyer.

It’s about looking at the real offer you have in front of you.

Is the price acceptable to you?

How does it compare with the property’s valuation and current market conditions?

How strong is the buyer’s position?

What other interest have you had?

Are more viewings already booked?

Has anyone else indicated that they may offer?

And what does accepting – or declining – mean for your own onward plans?

Those are much more useful questions than simply wondering whether somebody, somewhere, might pay more.

Don’t confuse negotiation with rejection

Receiving an early offer doesn’t mean you have to immediately say yes or no.

There may be room for negotiation.

A buyer who offers below the asking price may have deliberately left themselves room to move.

Your estate agent can speak to them, understand their position and negotiate on your behalf.

Perhaps there’s a figure at which both sides would be comfortable proceeding.

That’s very different from dismissing an otherwise strong buyer because their first offer wasn’t quite where you wanted it to be.

The opening offer is the beginning of a conversation.

It doesn’t necessarily tell you where that conversation will end.

The best buyer can be worth more than the highest buyer

Anyone who has experienced a difficult property chain will understand this one.

An extra few thousand pounds can look very attractive when offers are first being considered.

But a buyer’s ability to actually reach exchange and completion matters too.

Chains can change.

Mortgage applications can encounter problems.

Surveys can raise questions.

Timescales can clash.

No buyer is completely risk-free.

But understanding somebody’s circumstances allows you to make a more informed decision about the balance between price and position.

Sometimes the highest offer will also come from the strongest buyer.

Perfect.

Sometimes it won’t.

That’s where good estate agency involves more than passing offers from one person to another.

A good launch is supposed to create urgency

At Ellis Winters, we put considerable thought into how a property comes to market.

Pricing.

Presentation.

Professional photography.

Property descriptions.

Online portals.

Video and social media where appropriate.

And matching new instructions with buyers already looking in the area.

The aim isn’t to put your property online and hope somebody eventually notices it.

It’s to create the strongest possible opportunity for interest from the beginning.

So if that results in a serious buyer appearing quickly, don’t automatically see the speed as a reason to distrust the result.

Sometimes an early offer is evidence that the strategy worked.

So, should you accept your first offer?

There isn’t a universal answer.

Sometimes you should negotiate.

Sometimes there may be good reason to continue with scheduled viewings.

Sometimes the buyer’s position isn’t strong enough.

And sometimes that first offer comes from an excellent buyer, at a price you’re happy with, who is ready to proceed.

The important thing is not to judge an offer simply by when it arrived.

Judge the price.

Judge the buyer’s position.

Look at the interest in your property.

Consider your onward move.

And make the decision using the information you actually have – rather than holding out indefinitely for a hypothetical buyer who may never appear.

Because the buyer who viewed your home on day two isn’t necessarily just the first buyer.

They might be the best buyer you get.

If you’re considering selling your home, speak to your local Ellis Winters team for a free, no-obligation valuation. We can talk you through the local market, how we’d position your property and how we’ll work to find not simply a buyer… but the right buyer for your move.