made an offer on some commercial property, how long to wait for reply

celron

I’ve made an offer to buy some commercial property that has been on the market for 2 years now. I put in an offer nearly 2 wks ago and haven’t heard a reply since. The ea said that it was being put in the accountant’s hands at that stage which is probably a stall tactic to keep me hanging on while at the same time waiting to see if anyone else expresses interest in the property. My offer is somewhat short of the asking price but is what I think the business is worth. After buying the place I would need to invest a further 500k into the premises to bring it to the standard that I want which I’ve to take into consideration. I’m actually very interested in this place but naturally I don't want to seem so


How long should I wait before calling the ea to ask about the status of my offer or how best to move the proceedings along without exposing my interest too much? I see a lot of potential in the place in years to come but if the price is not right I will have to walk away.

blue4ever

It depends on the position you are in - have you an alternative? If you have then tell them you will withdraw your offer by (say) Wednesday/Thursday.

I find there is a 'hangover' in some places from the tiger – some industries still have that superior attitude they had when things were riding high – and they can’t afford to.

There was a business for sale last month i was interested in – I put an enquiry in with their accountants and have heard nothing.

That attitude is madness really

DubTony

blue4ever wrote: »

That attitude is madness really

There's all sorts of madness around lately.

A friend made an offer on a place recently and didn't get a call back so after 2 weeks he rang the guy who said he'd got a better offer, stated the amount, said goodbye and hung up. My friend rang him back after a couple of days. He asked if he was open to a better offer and the guy himmed and hawed and asked how much. The new offer was 30% more than what he was considering.

He said he'd call back first thing the next day and didn't. When my friend called him in the afternoon the guy said no, and that he was accepting the other offer.

Kristopherus

Have to agree with you, DubTony. That sort of behaviour stinks. My guess is that now you will have ea's and accts playing hard with the general public and looking after their business buddies re property on the cheap(ish). Moral and ethics will go out the window, though not in all cases.

EKRIUQ

DubTony wrote: »

My friend rang him back after a couple of days. He asked if he was open to a better offer and the guy himmed and hawed and asked how much. The new offer was 30% more than what he was considering.

He said he'd call back first thing the next day and didn't. When my friend called him in the afternoon the guy said no, and that he was accepting the other offer.

What your describing there is called gazumping frowned upon by most people and very underhanded when a deal is already agreed. Your friend should of made a better offer to seal the deal the first time if he really wanted the property.

Hardly madness if ethical behaviour prevails, more madness if you agree a deal then some cowboy ploughs in with a 30% increase offer in these recessionary times.Two sides to every story but everyone believes their side is always right

itsonlyme

Tell the auctioneer that you have the choice of another property and you have viewed it several times and you want to know where you stand with your current offer. If he knows your looking at another property and he is not selling it he will want your sale.


Cos auctioneers are doing no business at the moment. And I mean NO BUSINESS.

DubTony

EKRIUQ wrote: »

What your describing there is called gazumping frowned upon by most people and very underhanded when a deal is already agreed. Your friend should of made a better offer to seal the deal the first time if he really wanted the property.

Hardly madness if ethical behaviour prevails, more madness if you agree a deal then some cowboy ploughs in with a 30% increase offer in these recessionary times.Two sides to every story but everyone believes their side is always right

Well actually, there wasn't really any gazumping involved. When my friend rang to find out if his offer had been accepted the guy told him he had a better offer but didnt say the deal was sealed. He then allowed my friend to make a new offer a few days later after saying he hadn't accepted the other offer.

So it must be assumed that he had accepted the offer and then proceeded to waste my friends time. All fair on my friend's part I would say.

BTW I know all about gazumping. It happened to me just a few weeks ago.

celron

Thanks for the advice guys.

I'm finding it just a bit crazy that the ea seems to want me to chase him in this climate

Darragh29

celron wrote: »

Thanks for the advice guys.

I'm finding it just a bit crazy that the ea seems to want me to chase him in this climate

My approach would be to go back in 6 months and offer 15-20% less for the asset.

delllat

Darragh29 wrote: »

My approach would be to go back in 6 months and offer 15-20% less for the asset.

another idea would be to send a friend or business paartner to view the premises and make an offer 20% lower than what you were offering

(expllaining the current climate of course )

kmick

Just ring back and say your offer expires on Friday 6th March or 13th March. At least you know of you dont hear from them its a silent turning down of the offer.