Offer

You've seen it - the flat, the house, the walls you want to call home.

You've checked out local prices and know the price is roughly right. Now you need to negotiate the deal. Nobody wants to pay too much, but nobody wants to lose out because someone else bid an extra £1,000. The better prepared you are, the more smoothly and successfully you will be able to negotiate.

Before making a bid:

• Ensure your financing and solicitor are in place.
• Look at the extras such as curtains and carpets that could be used in negotiating.

Don't forget:

• It's the property you are buying, not the present owner's furniture or lifestyle.
• The agent is working for the seller - not the buyer.

Negotiating tactics depend primarily on the state of the market, but whether it is moving quickly or slowly the better the property, the more efficient you must be. Once you have made the decision to buy, put your offer in to the agent on the phone, subject to survey. Then either offer the asking price if the market is moving fast and you know it is the house for you or, in a slower market offer 85-90 per cent of the asking price. Don't make a "silly" offer - more than 20 per cent below - unless you are seriously sure of your ground.

Follow up your offer immediately with a letter. Confirm your offer and that you are ready to move, have financing in place and give the address of your solicitor. This shows you are a serious and efficient buyer - the owner who might have thought your offer was too low might just be impressed enough to take it.

If the agents don't come back within 24 hours, hassle them. If your offer is refused, go up very slightly by about 2-4 per cent of the purchase price, but do not let the agent know you might go up higher when you make your first bid.

When you are making a raised offer ask for one or two extras - perhaps the carpets if these were not included in the original price.

Once your offer is accepted, ask for all agents handling the sale to be told that the property is not on the market. Ask for details to be removed from any websites and from any agents' windows.

Remember:

• In a quiet market it is sometimes wise to wait a day or two before putting in a second offer - if there is not another buyer, the seller will be keen to accept a slightly higher offer.