Buying a home has certain stages to it as a process. Some of the stages are fun, like looking for the home of your dreams, or spending money on the furnishings and other aspects of design. Others are a little less enjoyable, like making an offer on a property.

Making an offer is something that immediately ramps up the pressure and the stress for a buyer. Up until this point, it has all been about sorting out formalities, working out the details and so on. You have been seeing if the property is right for you, comparing it to other homes, and generally just trying to get a feel for whether you like it or not. Then you have to make an offer.

A lot of this can be handled through the agent, who will gladly advise you on the strength of any offer you make. Unless your offer is way below the asking price and there is no discernible reason why – huge repairs for example – then most agents will happily put your bid forward.

You do not, of course, have to pay the asking price. The home is worth what you think it is. This means that if you feel that you would like to pay the asking price then you can. However, the majority of potential home buyers work on the principle that they will put in a reduced offer first. Sellers expect this to happen, so you won’t be insulting anyone if you do this.

You can make as many offers as you like. If the first offer is not accepted, then you can always go back to the seller and make another offer in its place. This obviously becomes less practical the more you do it, and, when you think about it, the more you change an offer, the less serious you look. But, saying that, people have done it in the past, and kept on negotiating until they reach a point where a sale happens.

Once your offer has been accepted there are a number of things you have to do. Firstly you have to make sure that your mortgage offer is in place and fully arranged. If you haven’t done this, then there could be huge delays in the buying process and you could potentially lose the house you have just made a deal on. Remember that it could take around three weeks for a formal mortgage to be offered, but this time scale is not necessarily uniform across the range of lenders.

You will also have to make sure that surveys are due to take place if they are necessary. Many lenders – especially banks – do this as part of their service, so it is worth shopping around for a mortgage that includes this aspect of things as part of the package. You also have to make sure that the legal work, the conveyancing, is arranged and started as soon as possible.

Remember that making an offer could quickly lead to a sale taking place. Think it through, don’t lose your nerve and only offer to pay what you genuinely think the home is worth.