Three Offers, One House: How to Pick the Buyer Who'll Actually Get You Moved

Picture the scene. Your home has been on the market for three weeks. You've had a handful of viewings and, in the space of four days, three offers land.

One is £250,000 from a cash buyer with nothing to sell. One is £262,000 from a family in a chain of four. One is £270,000 from a couple with a five per cent deposit whose mortgage application is, in their words, 'in progress'.

Most sellers look at that list and instinctively reach for the £270,000. It's human nature — it's the biggest number, and it feels like the market has voted. But anyone who has sat through a transaction that collapsed in week eleven will tell you the headline figure is the least reliable part of an offer.

An offer is a promise, not a payment

An asking price is a marketing decision. An offer is an intention. Neither of them is money. What actually reaches your bank account is the completion figure, and the gap between offer and completion is where sales fall apart.

So when you're weighing up buyers, the question isn't 'who offered the most?' It's 'who is most likely to still be there in three months, at roughly that number?' That's a duller question, but it's the one that gets you moved.

Chain length is the quiet deal-killer

Every link in a chain is another set of solicitors, another mortgage lender, another survey and another set of human circumstances that can change. A four-person chain isn't four times riskier — it's exponentially more fragile, because one wobble anywhere in it stalls everyone.

Ask directly: what's the position? Is there a related sale? Has the buyer accepted an offer on their own property, or are they hoping to? If they haven't sold yet, their motivated offer is really just a hope with a deposit attached.

On the flip side, a chain of one or two is perfectly normal and not something to run from. What matters is whether the other sales in it are already under offer or still merely on the market.

How far along is the mortgage, really?

'Mortgage in principle' covers everything from a fully underwritten offer to a two-minute online calculator result. Those are wildly different things.

A buyer with a formal decision in principle, documents submitted, and a broker who answers the phone is a strong prospect even with a modest deposit. A buyer who is still deciding which lender to approach is a risk, whatever they've offered.

With the buyer's permission, it's entirely reasonable to ask their broker or lender to confirm the stage the application has reached. Good agents do this routinely. If a buyer is coy about it, that tells you something too.

Survey findings and the renegotiation game

Here's the part sellers often forget. The price agreed in week one is not always the price you complete at. Surveys happen, and older properties in particular will always throw up something — a bit of damp, a tired roof, some slipped slates, an electrical report that recommends further investigation.

Some of that is legitimate. Some of it is a buyer who has stretched themselves and is now looking for a discount. Buyers with a larger deposit and comfortable borrowing are far less likely to come back with a list of demands, because they don't need to. Buyers borrowing to the absolute limit often do.

Timing rarely means what people think it means

'Flexible on timing' sounds lovely. In practice, a buyer who needs to complete by a specific date because their rental ends is not flexible at all — they're under pressure, and pressure sometimes forces a renegotiation.

What you actually want to know is whether their timeline fits yours. If you're buying onward and need certainty by a certain month, a slower but steadier buyer can be worth more to you than a fast one you can't rely on.

Cash isn't automatically king

Cash buyers have a reputation for reliability that isn't always earned. A genuine cash buyer with proof of funds and no related sale is excellent. But there are also cash buyers who make a strong offer, take the property off the market, then reappear six weeks later with a lower number because they know you've lost time.

Ask for evidence of funds — a solicitor's letter or a bank statement is standard. Anyone who refuses is telling you something useful.

Sometimes the biggest offer really is the right one

This isn't an argument for always taking the safe option. If the £270,000 buyer has a solid decision in principle, a decent deposit, nothing to sell and a sensible survey attitude, take the money and shake hands.

Equally, if you have time on your hands, no onward purchase and nerves of steel, taking a punt on a higher offer can pay off. Just go in knowing it's a punt, not a certainty.

A quick checklist before you accept

• Is the buyer's own property sold, under offer, or neither?
• What stage is the mortgage at, and can it be verified?
• How large is the deposit relative to the price?
• Does their timeline match yours, and are you willing to wait?
• Are they a cash buyer with provable funds?
• Do you have a sense of how they'll react to a survey?
• Is there a specific reason they want this house — school, work, family?

That last one matters more than people realise. A buyer with a personal reason to want your home is often more committed than one chasing a bargain.

The decision belongs to you

Ultimately, choosing a buyer is a judgement call, not a formula. Take advice, ask awkward questions, and don't let a big number dazzle you into ignoring a wobbly chain. The best offer is the one that completes.