How long to wait after submitting an offer?

ellieh1

We placed an offer on a property via email with the EA on Monday 15th of July. The EA replied the next day to say the vendor was away for a couple of days and they would contact them and revert asap. We have a large cash deposit and are in no chain and this is in our offer. We have heard nothing since. Is this normal? What should we do next?

Dolbhad

ellieh1 wrote: »

We placed an offer on a property via email with the EA on Monday 15th of July. The EA replied the next day to say the vendor was away for a couple of days and they would contact them and revert asap. We have a large cash deposit and are in no chain and this is in our offer. We have heard nothing since. Is this normal? What should we do next?

How long is a piece of string? I have often been waiting two or three weeks. Basically the seller wait until another (higher) offer comes in for you to counter offer. You can always ring auctioneer and ask has he any update as you need to know if your offer has been accepted as your looking at other houses. As often the advice given here is don’t stop looking at others houses until you’ve keys.

Kenno90

Honestly, its up to the sellers how long they want to wait. They can accept your offer or just wait a few weeks to see if there is any more interest.

I made offers on 3 places and never heard from them again. I even rang a few times to make sure i was the highest bid. That was months ago and still never heard anything.

Dont assume you've bought the house until you've the keys in your hand. My advice is continue looking and give yourself other options

Sunrise_Sunset

We were bidding recently too. Any bid that was considered too low by the EA (or vendor), was communicated back to us very quickly that they wouldn't accept and would wait for a higher offer.
It was the same with multiple EA's, on multiple properties.
This seems to be the way things are at the moment. Maybe it's just in my area though.
If I were you I would follow up with the EA, and as another poster said, tell them you need to know as you're looking at other houses.

ellieh1

Many thanks for the advice. We have sent and email this morning to say that we are looking forward to a response from the vendor. We really want the house but also have another option of a site close by so will wait a little longer as the house would be the better option for us.

KaneToad

There is minimal regulations in the buying/selling of property. Both sides can, and do, back out when very far into the transaction. It can be infuriating for buyers particularly when expenses have been incurred: survey, solicitors etc.

Buying a house is a business transaction. However buying a home becomes an emotional transaction for many. Don't get too hung up on one specific property. There is not just one 'perfect house'.

ellieh1

For us it is a bit difficult as himself is farming the family farm and we need somewhere that is close enough to the farm. At the moment the house we have placed a bid on is the closest and most suitable. We are trying to be cool and relaxed but it is very difficult when we have had no response from the vendor in two weeks!! We know there is no offer currently on the property and we are chain free.

ml100

We had an offer accepted on a buy to let house a few years ago, turned out the house was being sold by a bank, messed us about for 10 months, then came back to us looking for more money for it, when we refused they put it back on the market, our mistake was giving them do much time, but we were in the same situation as you are, farm near by etc. Been fighting county council for planning for 3 years, housing system in this country is broken in so many ways!

SATSUMA

Just pick up the phone and see what the situation is...

skooterblue2

SATSUMA wrote: »

Just pick up the phone and see what the situation is...

Can you do this?
Make an offer, but it is tied to a specific time and date.
"I am bidding on property on XYZ street, If I haven hear back from you at 5PM close of business on Friday, we are going looking at another property to bid on".

That forces them to make a response?

Hollybeg

Personally, I wouldn’t be waiting around. Offers need to come with time limits and clear instructions. Property transactions are business transactions, don’t let the heart rule the head.

Hollybeg

Hollybeg wrote: »

Personally, I wouldn’t be waiting around. Offers need to come with time limits and clear instructions. Property transactions are business transactions, don’t let the heart rule the head.

They are business transactions, but not ones with a defined price, the value is set by the market, everyone knows this before they bid. So it is not like other transactions where you pay the advertised price and bob’s your uncle.

Don’t put time limits on an offer unless it is your absolute final bid, the EA/vendor won’t heed it unless it is well above what they expected to get, it is in their best interest to wait for other offers, and it makes you look like a complete novice.

If you want to give them a nudge, tell them you are interested in another property and want to know where things stand before you consider a bid on the other house.

drunkmonkey

Don't put down any bid unless you know when it's for sale or your just putting a target in place for someone to trump. Always chat to the EA before confirming your bid via email if they request an email, they may not.
Ask the EA when are they hoping to take final bids or can it be bought now for X amount.

drunkmonkey

drunkmonkey wrote: »

Don't put down any bid unless you know when it's for sale or your just putting a target in place for someone to trump. Always chat to the EA before confirming your bid via email if they request an email, they may not.
Ask the EA when are they hoping to take final bids or can it be bought now for X amount.

Surely when it is advertised as “for sale”, then it is for sale? All bids are there to be trumped, the EA nor the vendor set a property’s true value, that is the highest price a bidder is willing to pay for it.

Edgware

Hollybeg wrote: »

Personally, I wouldn’t be waiting around. Offers need to come with time limits and clear instructions. Property transactions are business transactions, don’t let the heart rule the head.

Good advice. Some estate agents play this silly game and the excuse I always the same.
"the seller is overseas on holidays" As if there was no communications available.
Make your offer, give a few days, if no response call the agent and withdraw

Edgware

Edgware wrote: »

Good advice. Some estate agents play this silly game and the excuse I always the same.
"the seller is overseas on holidays" As if there was no communications available.
Make your offer, give a few days, if no response call the agent and withdraw

You understand that in doing so that another bid from you to the same EA will not be taken seriously? What do you benefit from this? If the bid isn’t accepted then the EA/vendor won’t care, but the EA will be able to tell the next bidder that your bid is the highest received so far.

The Enbalmer

Don't email them..pick up the phone and make your offer that way. Be sure to get the name of whoever you're dealing with.

duffman13

I'd agree on the phone call bit, you'll usually catch them on the hop a little aswell. Probably not gonna make a huge difference but you'll know more from a phone conversation than prepared emails

nutjobb

So is placing a bid with a deadline a no no? I am placing a bid tomorrow on a house with no bids yet and above the asking price but I was going to put a deadline of Friday, trying to get a quick result. Will be our third house bidding on and don't want to be wasting time..

ellieh1

We were asked to submit any bids via email and so this is why we did this. We spoke with the estate agent on the phone on Wednesday and he said that he was away on holidays and had been out of the loop for two weeks. He said our offer had been sent to the vendor but that he had not received a reply. He assured us that he would get in touch with the vendor and would be in contact with us and we have heard nothing since. He is aware that we are looking at another house and also a site although house option would be quicker for us.

ellieh1

nutjobb wrote:

So is placing a bid with a deadline a no no? I am placing a bid tomorrow on a house with no bids yet and above the asking price but I was going to put a deadline of Friday, trying to get a quick result. Will be our third house bidding on and don't want to be wasting time..

We have spoken with some friends who are in different business areas and three of them have recommended that we put a timeframe on our offer and we are seriously considering this.

nutjobb

nutjobb wrote: »

So is placing a bid with a deadline a no no? I am placing a bid tomorrow on a house with no bids yet and above the asking price but I was going to put a deadline of Friday, trying to get a quick result. Will be our third house bidding on and don't want to be wasting time..

Why would you bid above the asking price if there are no offers?

ellieh1

ellieh1 wrote: »

We have spoken with some friends who are in different business areas and three of them have recommended that we put a timeframe on our offer and we are seriously considering this.

What happens when the time elapses? You walk away, that’s your only option then, if you phone the EA after that day to enquire, you won’t be taken seriously, you can’t bid again because you gave an ultimatum on the last one. So the only time it potentially of benefit is if it is your absolute final offer and you are certain you won’t be making another.

Your friends may be captains of industry, but bidding on property is not like other businesses. I’ve bought and sold a lot over the last 25 years, though you might hear the odd time it works, 99.99% of the time it is ignored and the EA tells the vendor you are a flakey bidder. Buying is a drawn out game, generally vendors are more interested in maximising the buying price rather a than accepting a bid by 5pm Friday. Only once have I accepted a time limited offer, and that was a purely cash sale where I knew the buyer was looking at investing in another property close by. But I also knew that his offer was the max I was likely to get.

mr_cochise

ellieh1 wrote:

We have spoken with some friends who are in different business areas and three of them have recommended that we put a timeframe on our offer and we are seriously considering this.

Why on earth would you do this?
So say the time limit expires and then they come back a week later and accept your offer. If you have nothing else found would you refuse a house just because of a random time limit.
You simply remind the vendor/EA that you are actively looking at other properties.

Dolbhad

Dav010 wrote: »

What happens when the time elapses? You walk away, that’s your only option then, if you phone the EA after that day to enquire, you won’t be taken seriously, you can’t bid again because you gave an ultimatum on the last one. So the only time it potentially of benefit is if it is your absolute final offer and you are certain you won’t be making another.

Your friends may be captains of industry, but bidding on property is not like other businesses. I’ve bought and sold a lot over the last 25 years, though you might hear the odd time it works, 99.99% of the time it is ignored and the EA tells the vendor you are a flakey bidder. Buying is a drawn out game, generally vendors are more interested in maximising the buying price rather a than accepting a bid by 5pm Friday. Only once have I accepted a time limited offer, and that was a purely cash sale where I knew the buyer was looking at investing in another property close by. But I also knew that his offer was the max I was likely to get.

I agree. A timeframe will only works if you are happy to work away do the time frame isn’t met so the offer needs to be your final offer. The market appears to abit slower now. I was bidding last year and this year. Last year within a day or two I’d hear back that the a higher offer has come in. And usually first offer is asking.

This year I’ve often waited two weeks as they wait for other offers. Esp as this year offers start at below asking so sellers will wait it out. So depends on your situation. If it’s at asking or above asking and it’s your final offer, put a time frame on. Otherwise you do have to wait it out. But as have been said numerous times here, look at other properties and keep bidding.

nutjobb

bubblypop wrote: »

Why would you bid above the asking price if there are no offers?

To encourage going sale agreed on the property quickly. There is also a piece of equipment in the garage that I want to negotiate in.

I don't know, maybe it's a mad idea, looking to hear from others experiences.

Graham

Mod Note

off topic posts deleted

Edgware

mr_cochise wrote: »

Why on earth would you do this?
So say the time limit expires and then they come back a week later and accept your offer. If you have nothing else found would you refuse a house just because of a random time limit.
You simply remind the vendor/EA that you are actively looking at other properties.

Do it to get on with his business and not entertsining bull**** from some shyster of an estate agent. They are either selling or theyre not

Hollybeg

Dav010 wrote: »

They are business transactions, but not ones with a defined price, the value is set by the market, everyone knows this before they bid. So it is not like other transactions where you pay the advertised price and bob’s your uncle.

Don’t put time limits on an offer unless it is your absolute final bid, the EA/vendor won’t heed it unless it is well above what they expected to get, it is in their best interest to wait for other offers, and it makes you look like a complete novice.

If you want to give them a nudge, tell them you are interested in another property and want to know where things stand before you consider a bid on the other house.

Good god ...

OP, as I’ve said, bid the price you’re comfortable with and put a clear time limit on it (From my experience, 24 hours is plenty). Only idiots get into bidding wars with faceless people.

ellieh1

We just want a response to our bid, accept, reject or counter offer. Surely it is not too much to expect a response from a vendor in a timely fashion and in our opinion three weeks without any response at all is taking the proverbial!!

Hollybeg

Hollybeg wrote: »

Good god ...

OP, as I’ve said, bid the price you’re comfortable with and put a clear time limit on it (From my experience, 24 hours is plenty). Only idiots get into bidding wars with faceless people.

Only someone who is clueless expects to stand face to face with other bidders. Are you advocating that the op make only one bid on every property and if it isn’t accepted, move onto the next one? Only an idiot would think they are going to find a property no one else wants. There isn’t a home buyer in the country who wouldn’t want all other buyers to bid like you, just add €500 onto your bid, hey presto the novice is gone because of a time limit and determination not to get into a “bidding war with faceless people”.

24 hrs is more than an enough time to be ignored.

L1011

The advice of time limiting offers went around a lot when there were virtually no other buyers - 2010-13. It's unlikely to work now

duffman13

L1011 wrote: »

The advice of time limiting offers went around a lot when there were virtually no other buyers - 2010-13. It's unlikely to work now

It really depends where in the country and even now where in Dublin. There is no right or wrong way off doing it but timing offers is useful in certain situations. More interest on a property the less likely it is to work IMO

drunkmonkey

Dav010 wrote: »

Surely when it is advertised as “for sale”, then it is for sale? All bids are there to be trumped, the EA nor the vendor set a property’s true value, that is the highest price a bidder is willing to pay for it.

It's not for sale unless someone is willing to sell it to you, anything else is just gathering interest. I wouldn't place a random bid unless it was agreed with the EA it would be considered as a bid to buy as opposed to a bid to jack up the price. An EA will have something agreed with a seller maybe have 5 viewings, show it X amount of times, advertise for 2mts etc then sell. I'm saying hold off on bidding until it's ready to be sold.
The main thing is establish when it can be sold from the EA.

VonLuck

In a similar situation myself. Submitted an initial offer via email which was rejected. Second offer was acknowledge as I received an email response saying so, but didn't say that it was accepted or rejected. It's been a few days since that email, although it was a bank holiday weekend...

If I ask if my offer was accepted it they may see this as me being very keen on the property and would hold out for more money. On the other hand if I don't email they could be trying to get more viewings in to get someone else bidding on the property and hopefully a bidding war.

I might email them tomorrow and ask for an update on the offer as I have been viewing other properties and would like to know where I stand, which is pretty much true.

drunkmonkey

drunkmonkey wrote: »

It's not for sale unless someone is willing to sell it to you, anything else is just gathering interest. I wouldn't place a random bid unless it was agreed with the EA it would be considered as a bid to buy as opposed to a bid to jack up the price. An EA will have something agreed with a seller maybe have 5 viewings, show it X amount of times, advertise for 2mts etc then sell. I'm saying hold off on bidding until it's ready to be sold.
The main thing is establish when it can be sold from the EA.

How does an EA agree that your bid is a bid to buy, without the vendors consent? And until the highest bid is accepted, all bids are there to jack up the price, how many people bid lower than an existing bid. Vendors generally want the highest price achievable rather than the highest price after the fifth viewing.

I’m still struggling with your only bid once and put a time limit, imagine losing out on a house for the sake of €500 if that is your strategy and someone makes that bid. Now you are saying hold off until it is ready to be sold, after all others have bid and driven the price upward for you, again, one more bid of €500 and you are gone.

Hollybeg

Dav010 wrote: »

Hollybeg wrote: »

Good god ...

OP, as I’ve said, bid the price you’re comfortable with and put a clear time limit on it (From my experience, 24 hours is plenty). Only idiots get into bidding wars with faceless people.

Only someone who is clueless expects to stand face to face with other bidders. Are you advocating that the op make only one bid on every property and if it isn’t accepted, move onto the next one? Only an idiot would think they are going to find a property no one else wants. There isn’t a home buyer in the country who wouldn’t want all other buyers to bid like you, just add €500 onto your bid, hey presto the novice is gone because of a time limit and determination not to get into a “bidding war with faceless people”.

24 hrs is more than an enough time to be ignored.

*ROLLEYES*

You know nothing about my business or strategy. The properties I purchase have been well researched and the estate agents I deal with know I'm not f**king about. I'm ready to close quickly. So when I put in a bid, it's my final one; sh1t or get off the pot. In the OP's case, 3 weeks is taking the p1ss. Either the property is for sale or not.

Hollybeg

Hollybeg wrote: »

*ROLLEYES*

You know nothing about my business or strategy. The properties I purchase have been well researched and the estate agents I deal with know I'm not f**king about. I'm ready to close quickly. So when I put in a bid, it's my final one; sh1t or get off the pot. In the OP's case, 3 weeks is taking the p1ss. Either the property is for sale or not.

You understand the difference between a property speculator and a home buyer? You are talking about two completely different strategies and bidding processes, to apply the business of property speculation to home buying is just naive. A property researched based on rental yield, development potential and resale usually involves no level of emotional attachment and most people who buy multiple properties, particularly in the same time period can make one off cash offers and if not accepted, move on to the next. Most home buyers where spouses, children, schools, proximity to family and work do not have the luxury of being so detached, applying your logic to that makes buying a lot more complicated.

You are like a character from Glengarry Glenross, always be closing, here’s the cash, 24 hrs or I walk. As a property speculator your lack of understanding on bidding and the rigid determination that only one bid should be made no doubt means you miss out on a lot of valuable properties, a slightly higher bid than your one and only bid is enough to make you walk away making you the most perfect underbidder any bidder could hope for.

Property is for sale, vendor just hasn’t accepted the bid I would suspect, would that be a fair assumption?

awec

Hollybeg wrote: »

Good god ...

OP, as I’ve said, bid the price you’re comfortable with and put a clear time limit on it (From my experience, 24 hours is plenty). Only idiots get into bidding wars with faceless people.

I would think that it's far more likely that the vendor in your case was absolutely delighted with the bid you placed relative to all others they had received, and that is why they accepted it so quickly.

And less to do with your grandiose time limit, that struck fear into the heart of the EA to the point they got their client to instantly accept and wait for no better offers.

In other words, you probably bid a lot higher than anyone else had at that point, and they knew there was no chance anyone would pay more than what you wanted to pay.

Hollybeg

Dav010 wrote: »

Hollybeg wrote: »

*ROLLEYES*

You know nothing about my business or strategy. The properties I purchase have been well researched and the estate agents I deal with know I'm not f**king about. I'm ready to close quickly. So when I put in a bid, it's my final one; sh1t or get off the pot. In the OP's case, 3 weeks is taking the p1ss. Either the property is for sale or not.

You understand the difference between a property speculator and a home buyer? You are talking about two completely different strategies and bidding processes, to apply the business of property speculation to home buying is just idiotic. A property researched based on rental yield, development potential and resale usually involves no level of emotional attachment and most people who buy multiple properties, particularly in the same time period can make one off cash offers and if not accepted, move on to the next. Most home buyers where spouses, children, schools, proximity to family and work do not have the luxury of being so detached, applying your logic to that makes buying a lot more complicated.

You are like a character from Glengarry Glenross, always be closing, here’s the cash, 24 hrs or I walk. As a property speculator your lack of understanding on bidding and the rigid determination that only one bid should be made no doubt means you miss out on a lot of valuable properties, a slightly higher bid than your one and only bid is enough to make you walk away making you the most perfect underbidder any bidder could hope for. Silly stuff.

Property is for sale, vendor just hasn’t accepted the bid I would suspect, would that be a fair assumption?

As I've said, only idiots get into bidding wars and you sound like one of those.

VonLuck

Hollybeg wrote: »

As I've said, only idiots get into bidding wars and you sound like one of those.

This has to be a troll, right?

Hollybeg

VonLuck wrote: »

Hollybeg wrote: »

As I've said, only idiots get into bidding wars and you sound like one of those.

This has to be a troll, right?

I gave some the OP advice, the chap 2 posts up practically calls me an idiot and I'm now a troll?

OK.

Graham

Mod Note

Hollybeg, please keep it civil if you wish to continue posting here.

As you are new I suggest you read the forum charter.

ellieh1

Just an update....phoned EA this afternoon for an update and got no answer and no return call. Hopefully will hear more tomorrow. It is a week since I last spoke to EA who said we would get a response from the vendor as soon as possible.

drunkmonkey

ellieh1 wrote: »

Just an update....phoned EA this afternoon for an update and got no answer and no return call. Hopefully will hear more tomorrow. It is a week since I last spoke to EA who said we would get a response from the vendor as soon as possible.

When they come back to you if it's not accepted ask how much they want for it today.

drunkmonkey

drunkmonkey wrote: »

When they come back to you if it's not accepted ask how much they want for it today.

What answer do you expect to this question?

I suspect most vendors would choose to let the bidding process play out, or add a sizeable premium to a bid accepted today in order to offset potential loss by not letting bids continue.

drunkmonkey

Dav010 wrote: »

What answer do you expect to this question?

I suspect most vendors would choose to let the bidding process play out, or add a sizeable premium to a bid accepted today in order to offset potential loss by not letting bids continue.

Well as a buyer you then know what the today price is after asking, your choice then do you pay a premium or take your chances in a bidding war.
Either way it's a figure worth finding out.

drunkmonkey

drunkmonkey wrote: »

Well as a buyer you then know what the today price is after asking, your choice then do you pay a premium or take your chances in a bidding war.
Either way it's a figure worth finding out.

And one which is likely to change if there are further bids, also, if you bid the higher price today, nothing to stop the EA from going back to underbidders to see if they will better your bid today. Either way the vendor is on a winner, you may have paid well above what anyone else would have bid, or you will have given the bids a big bump and someone else tops that.

drunkmonkey

Dav010 wrote: »

And one which is likely to change if there are further bids, also, if you bid the higher price today, nothing to stop the EA from going back to underbidders to see if they will better your bid today. Either way the vendor is on a winner, you may have paid well above what anyone else would have bid, or you will have given the bids a big bump and someone else tops that.

If there's other bidders your in the bidding process you didn't strike quick enough. I think a lot of people buying their first home are way too slow to act having a few viewings and generally dily dalling than trying to buy it straight away if it ticks all the boxes. You don't seem to think it's any use to find out how much it's for sale for. I don't get that logic. Find out then you can chose to pay today's price or lay down a bid for someone else to take a shot at.

Star Lord

All that is assuming that the sellers want to make a quick sale. Lots would be happy to take your bid, then sit on it for a while to see if they get any higher offers.

You seem to think that some kind of spit-and-handshake "sell it to me now" deal is appealing to vendors, where largely, they just want the best offer that they can get, and expect the sale to take a few weeks at a minimum, if not a couple of months.

drunkmonkey

drunkmonkey wrote: »

If there's other bidders your in the bidding process you didn't strike quick enough. I think a lot of people buying their first home are way too slow to act having a few viewings and generally dily dalling than trying to buy it straight away if it ticks all the boxes. You don't seem to think it's any use to find out how much it's for sale for. I don't get that logic. Find out then you can chose to pay today's price or lay down a bid for someone else to take a shot at.

I think you are making a lot of poor assumptions.

Firstly, early in the process vendors often don’t know the max price the property is worth in the market, and unless a quick sale is necessary, why would the vendor agree to take one offer early in the process unless it is above their expectation?

Secondly, to entice the vendor to sell early rather than wait to see if higher bids come in, you may end up paying far more than you would if you are bidding. This hardly seems a sensible way of buying, an extra €10k over a mortgage lifetime costs a lot.

Thirdly, laying down a bid with a premium for others to beat, is a EA/vendor’s dream, they will thank you for it. They now get to tell all other bidders the new bid price is much higher.

Fourthly, rather than the market setting the price, you are asking the vendor to do that, probably with a premium if you want them to exclude other bidders. That’s some canny business talk.