Advice on buying a house?

[Howdotheyriseup?]

So I've never bought a house before... and this process seems slightly mad to me.
I'm spending the most money I'll ever spend, on something I view for about 15 minutes... and I have to make a decision in basically a day or two.

We've viewed maybe 6 or 7 properties in our area... all of which sold within 2 days; many over asking price according to the estate agents. But some below asking price. Which again I don't understand... why wouldn't you wait at least a week to see if you get other offers?

Anyway - we've made a few offers, none of which got accepted. We have found a place we both really like and is definitely better suited for us than the other places we saw. We were shown the house before it went on the market.

I've been told our offer is the same as another offer, and asked if we want to increase it. I'm minded to put in an increase, which we can afford.

Anyone got any advice? Is this normal now?

[SpreadsheetMan]

Yes, it’s normal at the moment. The uk housing market has gone bonkers with a combination of high demand and very low supply. Anything good will go quickly for over the asking price, especially if the sellers are not in a chain themselves.

Anything going quickly under the asking price is probably a chain-free cash buyer when all other offers needed mortgages.

[vand]

It's common.. I wouldn't say it was "normal".

IMO it's a clear sign that the UK housing market is once again heading into a bubble phase, as we have panic buying amidst rampant house price inflation that isn't really supported by the deteriorating fundamentals of higher borrowing costs and a squeeze on real incomes.