How Long From Under Offer To Sold?

Under offer—two words you will come across while buying and/or selling a house, but what does the term actually mean?

This guide explains what ‘under offer’ is, how it’s different to ‘sale agreed’ and ‘sold subject to contract’ and what your options are if it’s taking too long to complete.

Table of Contents

• What does under offer mean?

• What happens when a house is under offer?

• What is the difference between under offer and sale agreed?

• I have accepted an offer on my house—what happens next?

• How long from offer to completion?

• Can I speed up the process from under offer to completion?

• How to sell your house to a cash buyer

What does under offer mean?

‘Under offer’ generally means that a buyer has made an offer on a property and the seller is considering it, but hasn’t yet accepted or declined. 

Some estate agents, however, use it in place of ‘sold STC’, which actually means that the seller has accepted an offer on the property, but the paperwork is yet to be completed.

Using ‘under offer’ makes the property look more available than ‘sold STC’, so some estate agents will use it as a tactic to prompt other interested parties to act fast, whether that’s arranging to look at the property or making an offer ASAP.

What happens when a house is under offer?

If you’re the seller, under offer means you’ve got an offer on your house and you’ve either accepted or declined it or you’re still considering it. When your house is under offer, you don’t need to take it off the market immediately and you can actually still allow others to view and make an offer on your property. 

Speaking to Property Industry Eye on the back of a recent snap poll about the term ‘under offer’, James Munro, Senior Manager of the National Trading Standards Estate and Letting Agency Teams, explained: 

At the point of under offer, the responsibility is on the buyer to push the process along, whether that’s pushing to get their offer accepted, pushing to get the house labelled as ‘sold stc’ or pushing to get through the conveyancing process so you can exchange and complete.

For both parties, under offer doesn’t mean there’s any legal binding on the deal. Under offer could be described as a bit of a ‘grey area’ for this reason, but it can also be where things start to go wrong and minds can change, which sometimes leads to a property chain collapse before exchange.

Can you still view a property under offer?

If you’re a buyer, look away now…

Whilst a property is under offer, the seller can still allow people to view the property. You can actually still allow people to view the property up until the point of exchange, since there’s no legal obligation for either party until that point.

However, this can become unfair as you get further down the line with a buyer and may damage your relationship with them.

As a buyer, you can ask the seller to take the property off the market to stop others from viewing it, but the seller has no obligation to do so. It’s actually more beneficial for the seller to leave the property on the market whilst it’s just under offer, as another buyer may come along with a better offer or other interested parties can be on ‘standby’, just in case things go wrong with the current buyer.

Can you make an offer on a house that’s already under offer?

Yes, you can make an offer on a property that’s under offer—should your offer be accepted, you will have ‘gazumped’ the offer from another buyer.

By using the term under offer, the impression given to other buyers is that the property is still legally available, unlike using the term ‘sold stc’, which looks more definite as a done deal. We know this sounds quite picky, but it’s worth bearing in mind—estate agents most likely haven’t done it by accident.

Read more: Agents given new guidance on property advertising terms

Can the seller accept another offer after accepting yours?

Yes, a seller can accept any offer received up until the point of exchange, as there’s nothing legally binding them to the first offer accepted.

If you are a seller, it’s important to consider where you are in the process of the house sale before accepting another offer. If you’re quite far down the line with your buyer, then it may be a better idea not to accept another offer, as this will slow the process down, with the new buyer having to complete surveys, get a mortgage, find a solicitor and more.

Read more: How long does a house survey take?

If things go wrong with the new buyer, it’s important to keep in mind that you won’t be able to go back to the first buyer, as this will have damaged any relationship with them. You will likely have to go back onto the market and start afresh.

What is the difference between under offer and sale agreed?

In a lot of cases, estate agents use these terms interchangeably, so they can often mean the same thing.

Theoretically, ‘sold STC’ should be used when a buyer has made an offer that has been accepted by the seller. This would make it clearer to potential buyers what stage the house is at and how easy it may be to potentially gazump.

‘Sale agreed’ also looks more definite and so is more likely to put off any potential buyers compared to an ‘under offer’ property.

I have accepted an offer on my house—what happens next?

If your house has gone under offer and you’ve decided to go ahead and accept it, here are the next steps you should take:

Read more: What is a memorandum of sale?

How long from offer to completion?

Property portal, Zoopla, says it normally takes 17-34 weeks to sell a home, but it can take even longer in our experience. The whole process depends on a wide variety of factors, too, not least how many sellers and buyers are involved in a property chain, so it’s hard to say how long any given sale will take from offer to completion.

Houses in Manchester, for instance, spent an average of 202 days on the market, according to data from Home.co.uk, so that means sellers can be left waiting for well over a year from the moment they put a house up for sale to the moment they hand the keys over.

The idea of waiting for the best part of a year to sell is quite daunting and often puts sellers off, but there is a way to get the deal done quicker.

Can I speed up the process from under offer to completion?

Yes, you don’t have to deal with a months-long wait to find a buyer. Here are our top tips for making the process of selling your house quicker: 

1. Appoint a fast solicitor: Some firms specialise in fast sales and have good connections with surveyors who won’t keep you waiting.

2. Go through an auction: Selling at an auction means you can avoid the open market and set a minimum reserve price that must be met to sell. You won’t have any ‘under offer’ stage, as contracts are exchanged on the day (if you get a deal) and the buyer then has 28 days to complete.

3. Be open and available: Whether this is to answer questions, sign contracts or make your house available for the buyer to arrange a survey, you can make sure the whole process is as fast as possible by being super responsive.

4. Make use of your estate agent: Don’t be afraid to ask them to push things along and chase things up with the buyer, the buyer’s solicitor or even your solicitor if you don’t feel comfortable.

5. Avoid a chain: A final good way to speed up the process is by making sure your buyer is a cash buyer. This way, you’re avoiding a chain and reducing the number of people you need to wait for before you can go from under offer to completed.

How to sell your house to a cash buyer 

Here at The Property Buying Company, we’re a cash buyer of houses specialising in fast sales, so there is no long road to completion here. We’re a guaranteed buyer with the ability to buy your house in as little as seven days, cover all your legal fees and leave you with the full sum in cash in your bank.

We will only require one quick viewing to make sure that our cash offer is accurate and, as we are a genuine cash buyer, once you have accepted the offer, that is the amount that will be in your bank in full.

Sounds good? Are you ready to avoid a long completion process? Fill in our online form or give us a call to receive a no-obligation cash offer, which we could have in your bank by next week...