Do I Have to Accept the Highest Offer?
Two offers land. One is £5,000 higher. One is a chain-free buyer with a mortgage agreed in principle and flexible dates. Which would a professional take?
An offer isn't money; it's a promise of money, filtered through a chain of contingencies. The £5,000-higher buyer at the top of a four-link chain, with no mortgage agreement in principle and a flat still to sell, is offering you a number multiplied by a probability — and when a sale collapses months in, you lose time, momentum, sometimes your onward purchase, and often more than £5,000 of eventual price when you relist onto a stale market. Professionals price the probability, not just the number.
What "proceedable" actually means
- Position: chain-free or sold-subject-to-contract beats "still to list".
- Funding: mortgage agreement in principle, or verified cash. Any agent should check evidence, politely, for every offer.
- Timing: a buyer whose dates fit your move is worth real money in avoided limbo.
- Commitment signals: solicitor already instructed, survey booked promptly — actions, not adjectives.
Our job is to verify each buyer's position, lay the offers side by side with the evidence, and give you an honest recommendation — then do exactly what you decide. Fixed fee, so we've no commission riding on nudging you either way.
Sell the modern way.
Photography, floor plan and every major portal — all-inclusive from £200. Switching from another agent? First 200 switchers: £99 fixed.
Get Your Free Valuation