How long to wait after making an offer // being asked to bid against ourselves

AnSliabhCorcra

Hi everyone,

My partner and I are in the process of trying to buy a home. (We're in Cork).

We have recently sold our former property and now have funds from that sale in our bank accounts as well as the mortgage approvals in place that we require for the property we want to buy.

The property we're interested in has been on the market for roughly 4 weeks. So far we are the only bidders. We've submitted our bid for the asking price for the following reasons:

• It is what we can afford
• We believe it is a fair and right price
• To try and avoid 'messing around'

The estate agent who, in all honesty seems to dislike us for no apparent reason has 'warned' me that I'd better be ready to pay more for the house and when we're in a position to do that, she will ''see what can be done''.

We've now been waiting for almost 2 weeks with our offer in and no feedback to date. She tells us 'he's hard to contact, he's abroad at the moment' and in the meantime she continues to arrange viewings for the property.

My question is this:

• Is it fair and normal to give her an ultimatum that if we don't hear by 'x' then we will be rejecting our offer, and
  
• How long should one expect to wait for feedback (acceptance or refusal) of an offer?

We are serious about withdrawing our offer and keeping our eyes on it in the above scenario.

ELM327

Unless you want the house at all costs, my strategy would be the following:


Pick your absolute max bid, that you would be prepared to pay for this particular house
Bid this with a timeframe to hear back and a condition that the property is not on the market any more if the bid is accepted.
If they do not respond by your deadline, or reject then move on.


You need to set the timeframes, not the vendor.

AnSliabhCorcra

Hi there,
Thanks for getting back. I appreciate it.

So, in effect - if the asking price is 300,000 and I've bid 300,000 but my absolute max is 305,000 - you're saying I should offer the full 305K (even though i'm the only bidder so far) and state 'offer must be accepted on/before x date and removed from market.

GreeBo

Stating that your offer will expire probably wont have any impact to be honest.

Either the subsequent viewings get more interest and you end up in a bidding war or they dont and they come back to you.

You need to think about just moving on tbh. Painful but that seems to be the way it goes.

ELM327

AnSliabhCorcra wrote: »

Hi there,
Thanks for getting back. I appreciate it.

So, in effect - if the asking price is 300,000 and I've bid 300,000 but my absolute max is 305,000 - you're saying I should offer the full 305K (even though i'm the only bidder so far) and state 'offer must be accepted on/before x date and removed from market.

No, I'm saying that's what I'd do :P
To be honest as you've already made the offer I'd try work with the EA and get a concrete response ETA

Humour Me

Definitely keep looking at other places. It may be that the vendor won’t sell at that price and will hold out until someone else comes along.

stdidit

I would look for a definite response time frame and if she can't provide one, I'd give her a deadline, without increasing your offer. It could go either way but at least you'll know where you stand.

facehugger99

AnSliabhCorcra wrote: »

The estate agent who, in all honesty seems to dislike us for no apparent reason has 'warned' me that I'd better be ready to pay more for the house and when we're in a position to do that, she will ''see what can be done''.

When I was buying our first house I was dealing with an estate agent like that - I remember he openly scoffed at our first offer - I told them I didn't need a commentary from him on any of my bids and that his only role was to convey my offer to the vendors and come back with the response.

I'd also tell them that you're actively looking at other places and are interested in a couple of other properties and your offer is time-dependent and will be withdrawn in 2-weeks.

In the meantime I would keep looking.

PhilipJ

Hi There,

Im in the exact same position as you, have dealt and dealing with that type of arrogant EA. They have no right to speak/treat to you like that. Put them firmly back in their box.
same EA contacted me 6 weeks later on a house i had an offer on that was rejected at the time,.... Its still on the market. EA looked for me to up my offer, I know im the only bidder and im not bidding against myself, EA playing games so I have reduced my original offer...Ill hear back in the next couple of days but im prepared to walk away.
you've put an offer in, either it be rejected or accepted make that blatantly clear with the EA, and make it clear that there are other properties that you are actively looking at. my 2 cent worth

AnSliabhCorcra wrote: »

Hi everyone,

My partner and I are in the process of trying to buy a home. (We're in Cork).

We have recently sold our former property and now have funds from that sale in our bank accounts as well as the mortgage approvals in place that we require for the property we want to buy.

The property we're interested in has been on the market for roughly 4 weeks. So far we are the only bidders. We've submitted our bid for the asking price for the following reasons:

• It is what we can afford
• We believe it is a fair and right price
• To try and avoid 'messing around'

The estate agent who, in all honesty seems to dislike us for no apparent reason has 'warned' me that I'd better be ready to pay more for the house and when we're in a position to do that, she will ''see what can be done''.

We've now been waiting for almost 2 weeks with our offer in and no feedback to date. She tells us 'he's hard to contact, he's abroad at the moment' and in the meantime she continues to arrange viewings for the property.

My question is this:

• Is it fair and normal to give her an ultimatum that if we don't hear by 'x' then we will be rejecting our offer, and
  
• How long should one expect to wait for feedback (acceptance or refusal) of an offer?

We are serious about withdrawing our offer and keeping our eyes on it in the above scenario.

drunkmonkey

Just ask them how much to buy it today. The seller has a price you need to find out what it is.

emeldc

ELM327 wrote: »

Unless you want the house at all costs, my strategy would be the following:


Pick your absolute max bid, that you would be prepared to pay for this particular house
Bid this with a timeframe to hear back and a condition that the property is not on the market any more if the bid is accepted.
If they do not respond by your deadline, or reject then move on.


You need to set the timeframes, not the vendor.

Exactly what I was about to post. Although I would allow for a couple K wiggle room. To often buyers get caught for thousands more when the EA says there is another bidder. Make (close to) your max bid and tell them to take it or leave it. Do not allow them to use your bid as a bench mark for another 'bidder' to better.

Fian

Just phone up and ask them if the vendor has rejected your offer. Mention to them that you are also bidding on other properties but that you like this one and would hope your offer will be accepted.

Tell them you will let them know if you go sale agreed on another property and will withdraw the offer at that point.

AnSliabhCorcra

drunkmonkey wrote: »

Just ask them how much to buy it today. The seller has a price you need to find out what it is.

Well that is why i have offered the asking price even though there are no other bids; I'm being fair to what they've stated as the asking price. There's another house on the same estate that's a 4 bedroom and in better condition (turn key condition) for 30K more.

It's our dream house but there are other dream houses out there and I don't want to be played. I tried to mitigate this as best as possible. At the end of the day, the seller might have their price but their ideal price has to be realistic.

In my logic, and maybe I'm way off with logic but trying to imagine myself as the seller:

• Someone has offered me the asking price from the offset - that's good.
• There have been zero other bidders and next to no viewings
• The house needs some work and you've still got the asking price
• If the bidder pulls out, someone might make me a lesser offer
• There's another house across the way from me that's bigger and turn-key condition. That's a concern for me getting my 'dream price'

cruizer101

drunkmonkey wrote: »

The seller has a price you need to find out what it is.

Not necessarily, nobody knows the value of any house until it is sold. They may not be in any rush to sell so happy to let it sit on the market for a while and see if they can get more for it.
Also I don't see the point in the time limit. Say to EA that is your offer but you are looking at other houses so the offer only stands until you find something else you like.

At the end of the day if you set 2 week time limit, then go looking at other houses don't find anything else you like and they ring you back in 2 months saying they will accept you offer are you going to say no if you really want the house??
No your not, and the EA knows that so putting a time limit makes no sense.

Marcusm

AnSliabhCorcra wrote: »

Well that is why i have offered the asking price even though there are no other bids; I'm being fair to what they've stated as the asking price. There's another house on the same estate that's a 4 bedroom and in better condition (turn key condition) for 30K more.

It's our dream house but there are other dream houses out there and I don't want to be played. I tried to mitigate this as best as possible. At the end of the day, the seller might have their price but their ideal price has to be realistic.

In my logic, and maybe I'm way off with logic but trying to imagine myself as the seller:

• Someone has offered me the asking price from the offset - that's good.
• There have been zero other bidders and next to no viewings
• The house needs some work and you've still got the asking price
• If the bidder pulls out, someone might make me a lesser offer
• There's another house across the way from me that's bigger and turn-key condition. That's a concern for me getting my 'dream price'

No point in flat out offering the asking price without a commitment on their side to take it off market. EA tells client first bid is asking price then client thinks asking was too low.

Stoner

drunkmonkey wrote:

Just ask them how much to buy it today. The seller has a price you need to find out what it is.

I did that and it didn't work. Ended up going up two more notches.

I've bought and sold a few times. Estate agents in general don't tell you the truth imo.

If I was doing it again and I thought the agent was not talking to the owner then I'd go directly to the owner.


I'm not saying to skip the agents fee. But you must likely wont get to enter into an honorable agreement of best price with the agent, they can break it and blame the owner.

I would not trust an agent I hadn't had good dealings with before to communicate your position to the owner accurately

Nearly everyone selling a house answers the phone to the agent, greed alone would make you take the call.

The owner is hard to contact line would indicate to me that either the agent or the agent and the owner are feeding you a line.

peteb2

Stoner wrote: »

I did that and it didn't work. Ended up going up two more notches.

I've bought and sold a few times. Estate agents in general don't tell you the truth imo.

If I was doing it again and I thought the agent was not talking to the owner then I'd go directly to the owner.


I'm not saying to skip the agents fee. But you must likely wont get to enter into an honorable agreement of best price with the agent, they can break it and blame the owner.

I would not trust an agent I hadn't had good dealings with before to communicate your position to the owner accurately

Nearly everyone selling a house answers the phone to the agent, greed alone would make you take the call.

The owner is hard to contact line would indicate to me that either the agent or the agent and the owner are feeding you a line.

Also tried that and offered 20k above the asking after the first weekend of viewings. The other interested party went up another 5k on mine.

We both got to 415k. And the estate said that the first 420k would get it. In the end much as it stuck in my craw, i went the extra 5k because it was probably worth it in the end, i wanted it, and i wasn't prepared to lose it over 5k. I'm still sore about it. But that's the market

facehugger99

cruizer101 wrote: »

Not necessarily, nobody knows the value of any house until it is sold. They may not be in any rush to sell so happy to let it sit on the market for a while and see if they can get more for it.
Also I don't see the point in the time limit. Say to EA that is your offer but you are looking at other houses so the offer only stands until you find something else you like.

At the end of the day if you set 2 week time limit, then go looking at other houses don't find anything else you like and they ring you back in 2 months saying they will accept you offer are you going to say no if you really want the house??
No your not, and the EA knows that so putting a time limit makes no sense.

How does the EA know that you're not going to find another house during those 2 months?

And what difference does it make what the EA thinks? - it is the vendor who decides whether to accept an offer or not.

FYI ,the EA wants to sell the house as quickly as possible ,they don't want to be fluting around for months just to squeeze an extra €5k out of the selling price, which will make feck all difference to their cut of the proceeds.

peteb2

The "I'm looking at other properties" line is unlikely to work. If the estate agent thinks you are bidding on multiple properties they just wont take you seriously.

And as someone who sold a house but originally accepted a lower offer from a buyer but then came back and said they had another offer accepted elsewhere, if I knew you were bidding on other properties than mine I would just rule you flat out.

Sunrise_Sunset

We were bidding on a house recently, Wicklow area. No other bidders. The owner wanted a quick sale but was still unwilling to accept less than the asking price. We initially offered 10k below asking, then 5k, then asking price. They then accepted our offer, took it off the market that day and cancelled all planned viewings.

Wexforllion

Call the agent and ask her why she doesn't like you.

Are you an unlikable person?

Edgware

It may be easier in a country area where you or someone will know the seller. If you do and you feel the agent is not conveying your offer let the owner know. Some of these country estate agents have a property for months without an offer but as soon as one offer goes in then mysteriously you hear " we are after getting a higher offer"

riclad

The seller may be on holidays, and also they might think,i want to wait a few weeks to see if theres any higher bid,
my advice is look at other house,s .
You can tell ea , this is my highest bid.
the ea has to pass all bids onto the seller.
if you are the only bidder it,s likely you will get the house.the ea get maybe 1.5 per cent,
they dont care if you bid another 5k or not.
even if you think Ea IS not honest ,the house is very likely to go to the highest bidders .
i know someone lived in the usa ,theres a 5 hour time difference.
sold house in ireland,
it was not always easy to contact the seller.
Some people go on holidays for 2 -3 weeks .
do,nt get personal with the agent,
the agent may be telling the truth .
even if you think he,s an idiot.