Estate agent refusing to accept offer on house

happihat

Have seen a house I like and have my own house to sell. However, my house is not on the market yet. Can an estate agent refuse my offer on the house I like if I am not a first time buyer?

TIA

Samuel T. Cogley

Yes if their client has said they don't want people in a chain or the EA thinks you're not far enough along.

uck51js9zml2yt

They would have to be happy that you have the funds to complete the sale.

As yours isnt even on the market yet, you're not in that position.

happihat

Samuel T. Cogley wrote: »

Yes if their client has said they don't want people in a chain or the EA thinks you're not far enough along.

Even if I am the highest bidder?

Graham

It's not uncommon for EA's to insist on proof of funds before accepting any offers. Could that be what's catching you out?

It's also likely a vendor would be less inclined to accept an offer from somebody waiting to sell if there are cash buyers or mortgage approved buyers making similar offers.

Samuel T. Cogley

happihat wrote: »

Even if I am the highest bidder?

Yes. A buyer in a chain is worth less than an unencumbered buyer. There is no rule requiring the sale to go to the highest bidder.

GingerLily

Quite responsible really, it would be unfair if the EA accepted your bid knowing the seller wont accept, and then letting that bid drive the price up potentially for other bidders.

the_syco

happihat wrote: »

Even if I am the highest bidder?

Do you have the cash right now to back it up?

I could offer €99,999,999 and be the highest bidder, but without proof of funds, my bid won't be entertained.

Lumen

If your house isn't on the market and you don't have the cash you're wasting everyone's time, including your own.

wally79

happihat wrote: »

Even if I am the highest bidder?

We are first time buyers and were highest bidders on a property but lost out to a lower cash offer.

It feels crappy but that’s the way it is

cart man

GingerLily wrote: »

Quite responsible really, it would be unfair if the EA accepted your bid knowing the seller wont accept, and then letting that bid drive the price up potentially for other bidders.

It is the EA’s role to drive the price up and get the best possible price for the client. Fairness doesn’t come into it at all.

OssifiedEd

cart man wrote:

It is the EA’s role to drive the price up and get the best possible price for the client. Fairness doesn’t come into it at all.

Yet if they accept this person's bid and the house doesn't sell for as much as this person thought it was worth or it takes 6 months to sell then they could lose the sale.

CruelCoin

happihat wrote: »

Even if I am the highest bidder?

I hereby bid 1,000,000 for your house.

Don't you worry your little head where the money is going to come from.




That's you ^

lazygal

We had an offer refused, we were the highest bidder but the seller decided to go for a lower cash offer as they wanted a hassle free quicker sale. We weren't selling but had mortgage approval. That's the way it goes.

lawred2

happihat wrote: »

Even if I am the highest bidder?

highest bidder with imaginary funds

not worth much to anyone I'm afraid

CruelCoin

GingerLily wrote: »

Quite responsible really, it would be unfair if the EA accepted your bid knowing the seller wont accept, and then letting that bid drive the price up potentially for other bidders.

cart man wrote: »

It is the EA’s role to drive the price up and get the best possible price for the client. Fairness doesn’t come into it at all.

It's the fairest way possible.

The market value of anything, is what people are willing to pay for it.
The close the EA pushes people to that limit, the better a job he's done.

ELM327

happihat wrote: »

Even if I am the highest bidder?

You're not a real bidder though as you don't have the funds.

_brendand_

There are no laws governing how property sales operate up until the point of a sale being agreed. The Estate Agents role is simply to find the potential buyer with the best possible parameters for their client, given the clients needs. Often this just comes down to price but speed may be another factor, and particularly in markets where demand is so high, sellers can 'have it all' in terms of getting a great price from a buyer who can move quickly. You'll definitely at least need to be on the market before agents will start taking your offers seriously, and they are well within their rights to stipulate 'no chain', if their client wants a (relatively) easy sale.

Personally I think this whole bidding culture is counterproductive for everybody, but nothing can be done at the moment.

happihat

Ok thanks most of you for your valuable information. A lot of others here making assumptions that I do not have the funds!

ELM327

happihat wrote: »

Ok thanks most of you for your valuable information. A lot of others here making assumptions that I do not have the funds!

No assumptions, it's based on what you've told us.
You do not have the funds as you are relying on the sale of a house which has not even been listed - let alone sale agreed - yet.

lazygal

happihat wrote: »

Ok thanks most of you for your valuable information. A lot of others here making assumptions that I do not have the funds!

The EA will assume you don't until you prove otherwise. They'll look for proof of deposit, mortgage approval etc.

happihat

ELM327 wrote: »

No assumptions, it's based on what you've told us.
You do not have the funds as you are relying on the sale of a house which has not even been listed - let alone sale agreed - yet.

You know as much information as I was willing to give and made assumptions based on that alone! And that's fine!

Tombo2001

Buyers seems to have an entitlement attitude with regards to Estate Agents; the EA isnt treating them fairly, the EA isnt doing their job properly, the EA isnt even returning their calls...

They are there to do a job. And their job is to sell the house on behalf of the seller, in line with the market rate or better.

Their customer is the seller. The seller is paying them.

The buyer is paying them nothing - and if buyers are expecting this that and the other from EA's - well they really shouldnt expect to get something for nothing.

The rational thing to do here is to ask yourself why the EA wont accept your bid; and do something about it, or dont do something about it, depending on how serious you are about buying.

Peregrinus

happihat wrote: »

You know as much information as I was willing to give and made assumptions based on that alone! And that's fine!

Does the estate agent have any information that you weren't willing to give to us? Because, you know, if he does, then it's impossible for us to answer the question you raised in your OP? And, if he doesn't, then you can assume he is thinking much like the people who responded to you here have been thinking.

From the information given in the OP your offer seems likely to be an unattractive one, and may well fall into a class which the EA has been instructed not to accept.

ELM327

happihat wrote: »

You know as much information as I was willing to give and made assumptions based on that alone! And that's fine!

If your attitude here is matched by your attitude to the EA perhaps that's the reason your bid was not accepted

Where's the Happy Hat?

pocketse

I was in a similar position last year. Estate agent hadn't refused an offer but i saw a house i liked and hadn't even considered moving. Got my house valued by the estate agent selling the other one and mentioned my interest. There were pros and cons.

Pros:
1. Estate agent was getting two commissions instead of one, so perhaps more likely to give you a bit more leeway with times/slow down the sale of the other house etc.
2. Estate agent was in the know of what was happening in both sales.

Cons.
1. The estate agent had an inside knowledge into what exactly i got for my house, what exactly I could afford to spend. I was delighted when they got me an over the odds price for my house. Wasn't so happy when they squeezed me in buying the other !!

I got the house but it wasn't an easy process. The house i was buying was a receivership sale so might be a bit different to yourself. Not saying this is the best thing to do. Its just what I did. If you really want the house might be worth looking into.

Pocketse

jim salter

ELM327 wrote: »

If your attitude here is matched by your attitude to the EA perhaps that's the reason your bid was not accepted

Where's the Happy Hat?

Just because the op is selling a house it does not necessarily mean the op is reliant upon the funds from the sale to purchase the new property.
The op has stated they are a first time buyer.
Scenario: person left a house in a will (that they currently live in). Person has deposit and mortgage approval. Wanting to purchase like anyone else and has approval to make them highest bidder (again like anyone else) but their bid is refused for a lower bid due to the EA being a dick.
So many on this thread have made assumptions and I see no evidence of 'attitude' from op and 'attitude' is no reason for an EA to act with attitude.

spaceHopper

By bidding when you are not able to close all you are doing of forcing others to out bid you and driving up prices for everybody. Some EA's will accept you bid but only to use is at a stick to beat out more bids. This guy is doing his job well. He's found out you can't close and excluded you.

ELM327

jim salter wrote: »

Just because the op is selling a house it does not necessarily mean the op is reliant upon the funds from the sale to purchase the new property.
The op has stated they are a first time buyer.
Scenario: person left a house in a will (that they currently live in). Person has deposit and mortgage approval. Wanting to purchase like anyone else and has approval to make them highest bidder (again like anyone else) but their bid is refused for a lower bid due to the EA being a dick.
So many on this thread have made assumptions and I see no evidence of 'attitude' from op and 'attitude' is no reason for an EA to act with attitude.

Surely if they provided the above scenario to the EA the bid would have been accepted.
I know buyers not in a chain with approved funds (cash/deposit/mortgage full approval) are sought after by EAs. I know, because I was one.

happihat

pocketse wrote: »

I was in a similar position last year. Estate agent hadn't refused an offer but i saw a house i liked and hadn't even considered moving. Got my house valued by the estate agent selling the other one and mentioned my interest. There were pros and cons.

Pros:
1. Estate agent was getting two commissions instead of one, so perhaps more likely to give you a bit more leeway with times/slow down the sale of the other house etc.
2. Estate agent was in the know of what was happening in both sales.

Cons.
1. The estate agent had an inside knowledge into what exactly i got for my house, what exactly I could afford to spend. I was delighted when they got me an over the odds price for my house. Wasn't so happy when they squeezed me in buying the other !!

I got the house but it wasn't an easy process. The house i was buying was a receivership sale so might be a bit different to yourself. Not saying this is the best thing to do. Its just what I did. If you really want the house might be worth looking into.

Pocketse

Thank you, pros and cons very helpful ðŸ‘

Effects

happihat wrote: »

Ok thanks most of you for your valuable information. A lot of others here making assumptions that I do not have the funds!

Well if you have the cash to buy it then the EA don't care if you have another house to sell. It's unrelated to your sale. You'll have no problems. You don't even need to tell them you are selling your other house.

CruelCoin

Effects wrote: »

Well if you have the cash to buy it then the EA don't care if you have another house to sell. It's unrelated to your sale. You'll have no problems. You don't even need to tell them you are selling your other house.

The very fact that the OP included this in the OP would lead us to assume that it's related.
If it's not related, then it's broken engly. May as well throw in some info about your pets.

Tombo2001

jim salter wrote: »

Just because the op is selling a house it does not necessarily mean the op is reliant upon the funds from the sale to purchase the new property.
The op has stated they are a first time buyer.
Scenario: person left a house in a will (that they currently live in). Person has deposit and mortgage approval. Wanting to purchase like anyone else and has approval to make them highest bidder (again like anyone else) but their bid is refused for a lower bid due to the EA being a dick.
So many on this thread have made assumptions and I see no evidence of 'attitude' from op and 'attitude' is no reason for an EA to act with attitude.

EA's are professionals who are acting on their clients best interests. Quite literally, thats what they are. If they pick one bid over another, its because its in their clients best interest.

Might make people feel better to think otherwise. Wont help you buy a house though.

And by the way.....in case you are considering going down that route...... I am not an EA. Just an observation based on (i) my own experiences with EAs vs (ii) the 'myths' about EAs that I see here and elsewhere.

happihat

Tombo2001 wrote: »

EA's are professionals who are acting on their clients best interests. Quite literally, thats what they are. If they pick one bid over another, its because its in their clients best interest.

Might make people feel better to think otherwise. Wont help you buy a house though.

And by the way.....in case you are considering going down that route...... I am not an EA. Just an observation based on (i) my own experiences with EAs vs (ii) the 'myths' about EAs that I see here and elsewhere.

Thanks for all the feedback everyone ðŸ‘

JeffKenna

Completly fair and reasonable. I've seen situations where someone without the funds placed offers that were well above the asking price/value just to delay the sale and put other bidders off. Of course once they had the funds they reduced there offer back down to the asking price.

Bob24

happihat wrote: »

You know as much information as I was willing to give and made assumptions based on that alone! And that's fine!

Well it’s quite simple.

Either you have the funds to purchase the new house without having to sell the old one. In that case the agent shouldn’t care about the status of your old house as it’s irrelevant to the sale. Based on what you said it doesn’t seem to be the case?

Or selling the old house is a requirement to obtain the funds to buy the new one, and in that case it is fair enough for the agent/seller not to entertain your offer as they don’t want to keep the property on hold for you until you eventually put your old one on the market and sell it (which might take a while or never happen).

the_syco

happihat wrote: »

You know as much information as I was willing to give and made assumptions based on that alone! And that's fine!

If you gave the EA as much info as you gave us, you now know why they said no.

jim salter wrote: »

Just because the op is selling a house it does not necessarily mean the op is reliant upon the funds from the sale to purchase the new property.

Although this may be true, if the OP had mentioned the house not being for sale yet; the EA would have assumed that their funds are dependent on the sale. So unless the OP goes back to the EA with proof of funds that are not not dependent on the house sale, I doubt any further inquiries will be entertained.

I'm assuming that when the OP was talking to the EA, the EA probably asked if they had a house, and if it was on sale, etc. Such conversation would be used by the EA to gleam as much info on the OP's situation as possible, to weed out the tire kickers that house sales draw.