I've had two offers on my house. Which one do I take?

Two offers is a good problem, and it is worth slowing down for a day rather than answering the phone with a decision. Almost nobody regrets taking twenty four hours here.

Why isn't the highest offer automatically the best one?

An offer is a statement of intent from someone who has usually spent nothing so far, and it can be withdrawn at any point before contracts are exchanged. Until that point it costs the buyer nothing to change their mind.

That is why the numbers on fall-throughs matter more than they look. TwentyCi's Property and Homemover Report put the national fall-through rate at 23.7% in the first quarter of 2026, down slightly from 24.0%, and found that 38% of fall-throughs happen within the first four weeks of a sale being agreed.

Quick Move Now's second-quarter 2026 analysis, published on 31 July 2026, broke down why sales failed. Lending was the biggest single cause.

Read that table as a shopping list. Two thirds of failures come from money and the survey, and both of those are things you can probe before you accept.

How do I compare two buyers fairly?

Score them on the same four things. Ask your agent to put the answers in writing for both buyers, because a verbal summary tends to flatter whichever offer the agent prefers.

What should I ask my agent before I decide?

1. 1. Ask for proof of funds on both offers

   Request a bank statement or a lender's agreement in principle for each buyer. Agents run identity and funding checks on buyers as a matter of routine, so this is a normal request rather than an awkward one.

2. 2. Ask exactly where each buyer sits in a chain

   First-time buyer, nothing to sell, sold subject to contract, or still on the market. Ask how many links are above and below, because each link is another sale that can fail.

3. 3. Ask what deposit each buyer is putting down

   A buyer with a 25% deposit can absorb a valuation shortfall. A buyer with 5% often cannot, and the sale then depends on the lender's surveyor agreeing your price.

4. 4. Ask whether either buyer has instructed a solicitor

   A named conveyancer already appointed is one of the clearest signals that a buyer is serious, because it is the first thing they actually pay for.

5. 5. Ask what each buyer is buying it for

   Someone moving their family in has a different tolerance for delay than someone doing a calculation on yield. Neither is wrong, but it tells you how they will behave when the survey lands.

6. 6. Put the two answers side by side and price the gap

   Work out what the higher offer is actually worth to you after fees and your onward purchase, then decide whether that figure is worth the extra risk you can now see clearly.

How do I read a buyer's commitment?

By what they have spent and instructed, not by what they say. Enthusiasm at a viewing costs a buyer nothing. A solicitor instructed, a survey booked and a mortgage application submitted are the moments a buyer starts putting their own money at risk.

This matters because the exposure in a sale is lopsided. Sellers get excited and commit money early, paying for management packs, ordering searches and coming off the market, while the buyer has often spent nothing and may still be viewing other homes.

• Cheap and worth doing straight away: choosing your own conveyancer and getting your paperwork together.
• Worth gating on the buyer's commitment: the larger spends, and the decision to come fully off the market.
• The signal to wait for: a mortgage application actually submitted, and a survey booked and paid for.

Can I go back and ask both buyers for their best offer?

Yes. Best and final offers is a normal process in England and Wales, where each buyer submits one sealed figure by a deadline and you choose. It can add a few thousand pounds, and it can also lose you a cautious buyer who does not want to bid blind.

If you run one, ask for each buyer's position alongside their number rather than the number on its own. An extra £5,000 from a buyer whose own sale has not been agreed buys you more risk, not more certainty.

The best offer is the one that still exists in March.

What if I choose wrong?

You have not lost the other buyer. In England and Wales nothing is legally binding until exchange of contracts, and an underbidder who was serious will often still be there weeks later, particularly in a market where buyers are finding it hard to get their own sale agreed.

Ask your agent to keep the second buyer warm rather than closing them down. A polite update every couple of weeks costs nothing and is the difference between a two-week recovery and starting again.

What the market says about your position right now

The RICS survey published on 10 September 2026 put agreed sales at a net balance of -17%, the strongest reading since February, with new buyer enquiries at -19% and improving for a fifth month. Getting a sale agreed is easier than it was in the spring.

But average rates on 9 September 2026 stood at 5.29% for a two-year fix and 5.31% for a five-year fix at 75% loan to value, with the base rate at 3.75%. Buyer budgets are tight, which is exactly why the funding question deserves more of your attention than the headline offer.

ValuQ gives UK homeowners free, side-by-side property valuations from competing local estate agents, so you can compare how different agents would price and market your home before you commit to one of them.

The short version

• Compare the buyers, not the numbers.
• Ask for proof of funds, chain position, deposit size and a named solicitor on both offers.
• Judge commitment by what a buyer has paid for, not by what they promise.
• Keep the underbidder warm, because nothing is binding until exchange.