Notes of interest

Where a property is on the market and potential purchasers view it, get schedules, and make enquiries, one interested party may be quicker than others about taking things forward. If so, they may phone to make a Note of Interest in the property. This is a marker laid down with the estate agent that the party wishes to be involved if there is a closing date. The estate agent should then not fix a closing date nor accept any other offer without allowing the party who has made the Note of Interest to make their own competing offer.

Written offer

Once you've chosen a property, instruct your solicitor to make a written offer. This can be subject to survey or to inspection of the Home Report, but will usually specify the price you're paying, the date of entry (completion), and a list of fixtures and fittings you're buying, as well additional legal clauses there to protect you.

Closing date

If there are multiple notes of interest then a closing date will be set by the estate agent under instruction from the selling client to give all parties the chance to make a formal legal offer through their solicitor, and the offers are all submitted to the estate agent in time for that deadline (it is usually midday).

The seller is not duty bound to accept the highest or any particular offer but can choose which offer to accept under their own free choice. It is bad practice for an estate agent to allow an offer to be accepted when there are already notes of interest made by other parties. Unsuccessful bidders are not entitled to know the details of the successful offer.

Acceptance

The selling solicitor receives the offer directly or via your estate agent, goes over its terms with his client, and sends the purchasing solicitor a written qualified acceptance. This accepts the price etc (assuming it is acceptable) but also qualifies the list of purchaser's legal clauses by deleting some or amending some, and adding in additional clauses to protect the seller.

Your solicitor then goes over the qualified acceptance with you and either replies in writing to the seller's solicitor accepting their qualification clauses, and makes the contract binding between the parties, or sends a further missive back to the seller's solicitor challenging some of his clauses.

This process, which can be of variable length and number of formal missive letters between the solicitors, ends with the seller and purchaser having agreed all legal terms, and being in a binding contract, which neither can escape from without the consent of the other, or without legal/financial penalty consequences.