Making an offer on a house

The short answer: in England and Wales you make an offer through the estate agent, usually by phone or email, stating your figure and your position as a buyer. There's no fixed form and nothing is legally binding until contracts exchange — which means the offer is the start of a negotiation, not the end. How you frame it matters as much as the number.

How the process works

You offer through the agent, who is legally obliged to pass every offer to the seller. You can offer below, at, or above the asking price. The seller accepts, rejects, or counters. Back-and-forth is normal and expected. If you agree a price, the property is marked "sold subject to contract" — but until exchange, either side can still walk away or, less happily, change the terms.

What to say to the estate agent

State your figure clearly, then strengthen it with your position. Agents are weighing certainty as much as price, so tell them what makes you a safe pair of hands:

• Whether you're a first-time buyer, chain-free, or already sold
• That your mortgage is agreed in principle
• That you're ready to proceed quickly

A slightly lower offer from a chain-free buyer with finance in place often beats a higher one that might collapse. Give the agent reasons to recommend you.

Conditions worth attaching

Make the offer "subject to survey" and "subject to contract" — standard, and they protect your ability to renegotiate or withdraw if a survey turns up problems. You can also ask the property be taken off the market on acceptance, which reduces the risk of being gazumped by a later higher bidder.

What happens after you offer

If it's accepted, you'll instruct a solicitor or conveyancer, arrange your survey, and finalise the mortgage. If it's rejected or countered, you decide whether to improve your offer — against your pre-set walk-away number, not in the heat of the moment. Either way, the stronger your sense of what the home is actually worth, the better every one of these decisions gets.

Know your number before you pick up the phone

The best offers are made from evidence. Before you call the agent, HouseOffer gives you an independent view of what the home is worth and a recommended opening offer, built from real sold prices — free to start.