Finding a Buyer

Fixing a Closing Date
If two or more parties have shown sufficient interest in the property to instruct a survey of the property, then it may be advisable to fix a "closing date", i.e. to appoint a time and date by which all offers for the property should be submitted. In normal circumstances, once such a closing date has been fixed, all interested parties will submit an offer for the property and the seller can select which offer he wishes to accept. The seller is not, of course, bound to accept any particular offer for the property and he is under no obligation to potential purchasers in this respect.

We will advise and discuss with our clients when and if a closing date should be set.

Negotiating a Price
If only one party expressed an interest in the property, then such a purchaser will probably attempt to negotiate a price with the seller. This can be done in a variety of ways, but it is most frequently achieved by the purchaser submitting a low offer for the property, in response to which the seller will usually indicate a price which he would certainly be prepared to accept, with negotiations on the final price proceeding from that point. Other items which might be included in such negotiations could involve the choice of a date of entry and the question of liability for any outstanding common repairs.

Offers "Subject to Survey"
Sometimes, a purchaser, rather than incurring the expense of survey, will submit an offer which is "Subject to Survey". That is to say, the offer will state that it is conditional on the purchaser obtaining a satisfactory survey. In these cases, the offer will not be accepted until such time as the purchaser has indicated that the survey is satisfactory. The purpose of this is to enable the purchaser to negotiate a price with the seller without incurring the expense of a survey until such time as the basic terms of the transaction have been agreed.