How to negotiate a house offer

What to check before you even discuss price

• Funding. Cash buyers should show a recent bank statement or solicitor's confirmation; mortgage buyers should show an agreement in principle from a named lender.
• Chain position. Chain-free, first-time buyer, sold subject to contract, or not yet on the market — each is a very different level of risk.
• Deposit size. A larger deposit reduces the chance of a lender's down valuation derailing the sale.
• Timescale. Does their target completion date work with your onward move?
• Conditions. Is the offer subject to a survey, to selling their own home, or to you including specific fittings?

Responding to a low offer

Never reject bluntly and never accept immediately. Thank them, say the offer is below what you can accept, and counter with a specific figure and a short reason grounded in evidence — comparable sold prices, the level of interest you have had, work you have recently done.

Counter in meaningful steps rather than drifting down in small increments, which signals there is always more to give. If you have other interest, say so factually; do not invent it, because bluffing that collapses costs you all credibility.

Know your walk-away number before the conversation starts, and know the calendar. A buyer who needs to complete before a school term or a mortgage offer expiry has less room to push than they think.

Weighing multiple offers

Where you have more than one offer, tell each party honestly that there is competing interest and ask for best and final offers by a stated deadline, in writing.

Then compare them properly. Score price, funding certainty, chain length and flexibility on the date. A £5,000 premium is poor value if it comes with a four-property chain and a buyer who has not yet found a mortgage.

In Scotland this process is formalised: where a property attracts several notes of interest, the seller's solicitor sets a closing date and offers are submitted in writing through solicitors.

After you accept

Confirm in writing exactly what has been agreed: the price, what is included, whether the property is coming off the market, and the target completion timescale. Then get both conveyancers instructed immediately.

Deciding whether to withdraw the listing is a judgement. Taking it off the market shows good faith and keeps the buyer committed; leaving it on protects you if they fall through, but risks souring the relationship. Most private sellers mark it as under offer and stop actively promoting it.

Renegotiation after the survey

A buyer's survey may turn up damp, roof condition, electrical or structural issues and they may come back asking for a reduction. This is common and is not automatically a threat to the sale.

Ask to see the relevant section of the report rather than accepting a summary. Get one or two independent quotes for the work. Then choose between reducing by an agreed share of the cost, fixing the defect yourself before completion, or holding firm where the report is generic caution rather than a specific defect.

A down valuation by the lender is a different problem: the surveyor has valued the property below the agreed price, so the mortgage will be smaller. The options are the buyer covering the shortfall, a price reduction, the buyer challenging the valuation with comparable evidence, or the buyer remortgaging elsewhere.

Gazumping, gazundering and when to walk

Because an agreement in England, Wales and Northern Ireland is not binding until exchange, either side can change position. Gazundering — a buyer dropping their offer at the last moment — is the version sellers face, and it is most effective against sellers who are visibly desperate.

Your protections are practical rather than legal: move quickly to exchange, keep momentum in the conveyancing, do not reveal how urgently you need to move, and stay on civil terms with the buyer. If a buyer repeatedly moves the goalposts without evidence, be willing to go back to market — most do not follow through once they realise you mean it.