Tender

There are several ways a vendor can try to sell a property. One method is the tender method. It is also referred to as ‘sale by tender’. The idea is that people who are interested in buying a property can submit sealed bids for it. This means they write down the amount they are prepared to pay for the property and seal it in an envelope. This must be done before a stated time on a set date.

Once the closing date and time are reached, the estate agent handling the sale opens the bids. The best bid is then selected, which may not necessarily be the highest one. For example, the highest bid may be worth £250,000 from a buyer waiting to be approved for a mortgage. The second-highest bid may be worth £247,000, but it may come from a cash buyer. That could influence the seller in choosing the second bid over the highest one.

The process typically involves an Open Day, whereby anyone wishing to view the property will visit and have a look around. If they wish to put in a bid, they can then do so, but are under no obligation to do this. A guide price may be provided in the information given for the property. This means potential buyers have an idea of how much to make their offer for.

Once an offer is accepted by the person selling the property, the arrangement becomes legally binding. The process of selling the property would then continue as normal.

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