Bidding on house - how long does it take for a reply?

Girl about Town

Thank you very much DPFIONN for your reply. I'll elaborate a little more - I'm aware that a 75K limit is scary - When I went to view the property, I brought a seasoned investor (30 odd years of buying investment properties in the area) with me and I have a structural engineer lined up should the EA accept my offer. My bank took copies of the particulars of the property when I put in my mortgage application and even upped my mortgage request by a few thousand. Could I ask the EA which bank is selling the property? and would he tell me? However, back to the property - There are two other houses on the street unsold (asking prices 80 - 85K but not in as good condition) - as my friend who went with me pointed out both to myself and the EA, because of it's location, it is not family friendly - parking can be an issue and is on a very busy road. I couldn't see a young family making trips backwards and forwards with kids and shopping each time they tried to park - I've been there, done that and have that Tshirt. He also pointed out that he as an investor would not purchase it as a rental, firstly because of the layout of the property and secondly because of the parking issue. I have been renting for several years until the kids grew up and left home (took longer than I expected ) As it was always my intention to buy once the crazy prices went out the window. I have everything needed for a home bought and paid for - including the kitchen and sink. I've also a 5K Contingency for any urgent/immediate work required but am quite happy to tip along slowly working on the house - I've become quite an accomplished DIYR over the last 20 years. I really do appreciate any advise offered. I think that I'll offer the 70K and if they refuse on the spot will tell them quite clearly that 75K is my top offer and that I'm ready to move immediately and have finances in place and will have proof of finance with me when I meet with them. Should things go my way and they accept my offer next week. Do I need to pay anything to the EA there and then if offer accepted? or would I tell the EA that my solicitor will arrange the deposit required with the offer? Thanks again

OREGATO

Best of luck with the house hunt girl about town,

One thing to note is that bidding processes can take quite some time, even if you do offer the €75k, the estate agent is more than likely going to leverage this against other interested parties who will offer more.

If however you do get the property, you will have to pay a booking deposit to the estate agent, this is 10% of the deposit.

After that, it turns into a waiting game I guess, for us it was nerve racking as you just never know if it'll go through or not, so many factors can stop a sale of a house.

Also, in terms of the 5k you have as backup/contingency, I'd recommend upping that budget especially with a house that needed mondernising

Girl about Town

Thank you all for your tips and advice so far on this forum - It is very much appreciated. Just off the phone will Killian (Killers1) who very, very kindly has explained the offer process to me with great clarity and this newbie now knows the steps to follow. Killian, thank you so much for your help and patience. I'm aware that you are a broker and as I've already got my funds in place 'finally' your kindness and advice was not just a case of possible new business (however paltry my funds are:) ) and was genuinely 'one person with experience and the knowledge of the process, taking the time in helping another out who has little knowledge and even less experience of dealing with Estate Agents'. Fingers and everything else crossed for others about to put offers in - wishing ye all the best of luck I'll update you as to level of success

dizzymiss

Girl about Town wrote: »

Thank you all for your tips and advice so far on this forum - It is very much appreciated. Just off the phone will Killian (Killers1) who very, very kindly has explained the offer process to me with great clarity and this newbie now knows the steps to follow. Killian, thank you so much for your help and patience. I'm aware that you are a broker and as I've already got my funds in place 'finally' your kindness and advice was not just a case of possible new business (however paltry my funds are:) ) and was genuinely 'one person with experience and the knowledge of the process, taking the time in helping another out who has little knowledge and even less experience of dealing with Estate Agents'. Fingers and everything else crossed for others about to put offers in - wishing ye all the best of luck I'll update you as to level of success

Best of luck girlabouttown. I really hope it goes well for ye.

We've upped our offer a further 1k on the first house as the other bidder came back with counter offer. We are about 3k off our limit i.e. what we are willling to pay for that house. Still have heard back from the EA on the second house. She was off yesterday.

we were thinking, if we didnt get the first house, should we go in with a best and final offer on the second house. These houses are virtually identical, five doors apart? The best and final offer is what the couple were originally looking for the house when it first went on the market. It's what we are almost at on the first property. Our thinking is if the secind EA gets wind that the first house went for a higher price anyway that it'll drive things up. We know the couple are eager to sell and if we go in, cutting out all the bs and offer their original asking they might take it. We wouldnt br going above that as we're not willing to pay more than what we think it's worth (this is going on what previous properties in the area have sold for recently).

Would really appreciate any and all advice and thank you for all so far.

TheDriver

as tempting as it is, I would keep it such that you can bid some more for 2 reasons:
1) a final offer can generate greed in a seller who thinks they could get more
2) you can always go up but its difficult to go down in money........

dizzymiss

So had no word from EA on house one since Friday, until this afternoon that is. He said the other bidders need some time to decide whether to come back with a higher bid or pull out. They'll be calling him in the morning with a decision. Im hoping this puts us in a strong position and may have some good news soon.

morrigan2014

dizzymiss wrote: »

So had no word from EA on house one since Friday, until this afternoon that is. He said the other bidders need some time to decide whether to come back with a higher bid or pull out. They'll be calling him in the morning with a decision. Im hoping this puts us in a strong position and may have some good news soon.

Good luck dizzymiss!! Let us know how you get on! About to embark on another bidding process this week. Round 5! Ding ding!

dizzymiss

Thanks and best of luck morrigan2014. Keep us posted.

dizzymiss

So we decided last night to bow out on one of the houses and concentrate on the one we preferred the most. Bidding on the two was only becoming counter productive so we made a decision. Before we got a chance to call the EA this morning, he called saying there was a further bid on the house and we had until 12midday to decide as the owner wants the sale closed. So as decided, we've stepped back.

We have a healthy bid in one the other house and will pursue it aggressively as my husband says. Fingers crossed we've made the right decision.

Cathmandooo

dizzymiss wrote: »

So we decided last night to bow out on one of the houses and concentrate on the one we preferred the most. Bidding on the two was only becoming counter productive so we made a decision. Before we got a chance to call the EA this morning, he called saying there was a further bid on the house and we had until 12midday to decide as the owner wants the sale closed. So as decided, we've stepped back.

We have a healthy bid in one the other house and will pursue it aggressively as my husband says. Fingers crossed we've made the right decision.

When you say you stepped back, did you take your offer off the table or leave it even though you're not going over the latest offer?

dizzymiss

Cathmandooo wrote: »

When you say you stepped back, did you take your offer off the table or leave it even though you're not going over the latest offer?

We didnt withdraw the offer, just didnt meet the deadline that was set for midday today.

dizzymiss

Went Sale Agreed on the second house today. We are absolutely over the moon. Have to go in on Monday with booking deposit and solicitor & engineer details.

So so happy

dpofloinn

Congratulations

morrigan2014

dizzymiss wrote: »

Went Sale Agreed on the second house today. We are absolutely over the moon. Have to go in on Monday with booking deposit and solicitor & engineer details.

So so happy

Big congratulations dizzymiss! How exciting!

Diane Selwyn

Congrats! hope it all goes smoothly for you now!

dizzymiss

Just thought I would come back with an update.

So we had gotten our mortgage approval (not AIP as we learned from a previous application with a different bank) prior to going sale agreed. We were told what our budget was and worked off that. Once sale agreed we ammended our application to reflect the amount we required (50k less than what we were actually approved for) and it went back to the underwriters as a formality.

It was denied. They changed their minds. So we'll likely be pulling out of the sale unless a miracle happens. Gutted. But then that's life. Move on. Find a bigger family friendly rental.

flutered

dizzymiss wrote: »

So, we have viewed a number of houses over the last couple of weeks and plan to put a couple of offers in next week.

My question is, how long from when you put an offer in does it generally take the seller to return with an answer? Are we looking at days or weeks?

the ea is a fisherman, your are one of the fish.

dizzymiss

flutered wrote: »

the ea is a fisherman, your are one of the fish.

thanks flutered but established all that and moved along. Went sale agreed and updated as above. Unfortunately not meant to be. Just fibd it hard to swallow. Bank approve you and then at final point renege.

jimmi

dizzymiss wrote: »

Just thought I would come back with an update.

So we had gotten our mortgage approval (not AIP as we learned from a previous application with a different bank) prior to going sale agreed. We were told what our budget was and worked off that. Once sale agreed we ammended our application to reflect the amount we required (50k less than what we were actually approved for) and it went back to the underwriters as a formality.

It was denied. They changed their minds. So we'll likely be pulling out of the sale unless a miracle happens. Gutted. But then that's life. Move on. Find a bigger family friendly rental.

Did they really just come back with a flat refusal and no explanation? We've taken the figure we're approved for with a pinch of salt, not that we wanted to spend so much anyway but we're working off a budget a good bit less. What you're describing is a scenario I'm afraid of, especially considering how difficult it's proving to actually agree a sale......on anything.

dizzymiss

jimmi wrote: »

Did they really just come back with a flat refusal and no explanation? We've taken the figure we're approved for with a pinch of salt, not that we wanted to spend so much anyway but we're working off a budget a good bit less. What you're describing is a scenario I'm afraid of, especially considering how difficult it's proving to actually agree a sale......on anything.

Tightening of policies. That was the explanation. We were the same. We were never going to go for anything as high as what they offered. We went sale agreed, contracts drawn up and everything. Disaster.

Little Miss Cutie

dizzymiss wrote: »

Just thought I would come back with an update.

So we had gotten our mortgage approval (not AIP as we learned from a previous application with a different bank) prior to going sale agreed. We were told what our budget was and worked off that. Once sale agreed we ammended our application to reflect the amount we required (50k less than what we were actually approved for) and it went back to the underwriters as a formality.

It was denied. They changed their minds. So we'll likely be pulling out of the sale unless a miracle happens. Gutted. But then that's life. Move on. Find a bigger family friendly rental.

Hi DizzyMiss,
Really sorry to hear this. I am sorry to pry but just wondering did they refuse it after you had your offer letter signed?

We are recently sale agreed with signed offer letter returned so just wondering if it was after this stage.

Again, really sorry this hasn't worked out for you