Offer On House - No Answer from Vendor

MidMan25

Hello,

Yet another thread looking for advice!

We made an offer on a house 2 weeks ago, offering 92% of the asking price.

This was the first offer and there haven't been any since.

The house has been on the market for almost 6 weeks now and is in a relatively low demand area.

We called the estate agent last Thursday to ask if there was any update, he said the seller was hoping to get more, as it stands our offer is neither rejected nor accepted.

We do like the house and would pay more if necessary but obviously we are trying to pay as little as possible, especially while there are no other interested parties.

I would appreciate any advice on how to handle the situation. We aren't currently interested in any other properties but would like to try get the deal across the line soon if possible.

Thanks

seamus

He has no other offer on the table, he's hoping something will come in, but not rejecting yours so that you don't go away, and hoping that you might throw a little more in to get it across the line.

This is where you need to force the vendor sh*t or get off the pot.

You can go one of two ways; the stick or the carrot:

1. Tell them that the offer is good until 10am Friday. After that, you're withdrawing it. And do that.

2. Offer them 93% or 94% on condition that they accept today and take it off the market today. Otherwise you're gone.

Offer 1 is obviously the smarter choice financially. However some vendors are stubborn, they have a figure in their head and would rather sit on the property for a year than sell it below that figure.

Offer 2 is dangling the carrot. if you really want the property it's the way you're more likely to get the vendor on board.

However, either way you need to be prepared to follow through and walk away. If they don't come back to you with an acceptance and you ring up on Monday morning again asking about the property, then you've shown your hand and he will keep you on the hook until you offer asking.

Uriel.

I would say just be patient. You've made the offer and it's up to the vendor's to respond one way or another. How did make the offer?

Might be no harm putting it in writing to the EA if you haven't done so already. Tell them you are offering €X and you would appreciate to have a formal reply to the offer - you could also state that you are looking at other properties.

I would continue your search as well.

MidMan25

Thanks for the responses, pretty much sums it up really, two completely different approaches :pac:

We don't want to walk away from the property or be forced to walk away by the estate agent calling our bluff as we do like it a lot.

For context, the owners aren't Irish and are moving back to their home country.

I submitted the offer over the phone but also followed up with an email to have it in writing.

We are continuing looking but there aren't many houses coming for our sale in the area so even though demand isn't huge, the selection isn't either.

Blackjack

MidMan25 wrote: »

Thanks for the responses, pretty much sums it up really, two completely different approaches :pac:

We don't want to walk away from the property or be forced to walk away by the estate agent calling our bluff as we do like it a lot.

For context, the owners aren't Irish and are moving back to their home country.

I submitted the offer over the phone but also followed up with an email to have it in writing.

We are continuing looking but there aren't many houses coming for our sale in the area so even though demand isn't huge, the selection isn't either.

Third option. Just sit tight and wait it out. If there are no other offers, then the vendor will come to you. They may ask for more. You could then go for option 2 as suggested above. The danger with this over the other 2 is another bidder comes in and you get involved in a bidding war. If you are comfortable waiting, then do so, as you have time on your side while you know the vendor is looking to move.

Option 1 and 2 are a little risky as they could alienate you from the process. If your bluff is called, it means the vendor knows you are interested and will look to squeeze more out of you if you make another offer beyond your stated deadlines.

MidMan25

Thanks Blackjack! I must say it's a fascinating process (First time buyer). There is definitely an advantage to be gained in life if you know how to play the situation when buying a house!

I think we will begrudgingly remain patient for now, maybe ask for an update at the end of the week and put the squeeze on a bit.

seamus

MidMan25 wrote: »

Thanks Blackjack! I must say it's a fascinating process (First time buyer). There is definitely an advantage to be gained in life if you know how to play the situation when buying a house!

I think we will begrudgingly remain patient for now, maybe ask for an update at the end of the week and put the squeeze on a bit.

A little bit of theatre doesn't hurt.

If the estate agent has other properties in the area that are in any way close to what you're looking for, arrange a viewing of them, even if you're not that interested. Feign interest, pretend to like the other properties.

Don't let them think you're a captive audience, and you may even find something else you want.

Quandary

We were sale agreed on a property for 7 months up until January and the seller was messing us around quite a bit. Lots of little issues but the house was a great deal so we tried to give him every opportunity to resolve them. We warned him and the estate agent that we were viewing other properties and that we would withdraw from the sale if we found a suitable alternative property.

the seller continued to faff around and we went sale agreed on another property which resulted in him losing the sale.

Make sure to let the estate agent know that you are actively viewing and willing to bid on other properties which meet your criteria. Whether it is true or not be sure to give this impression. Let the estate agent know you are looking to move quickly and have everything in order to allow for a quick sale.

April 73

MidMan25 wrote: »

Hello,

Yet another thread looking for advice!

We made an offer on a house 2 weeks ago, offering 92% of the asking price.

This was the first offer and there haven't been any since.

The house has been on the market for almost 6 weeks now and is in a relatively low demand area.

We called the estate agent last Thursday to ask if there was any update, he said the seller was hoping to get more, as it stands our offer is neither rejected nor accepted.

We do like the house and would pay more if necessary but obviously we are trying to pay as little as possible, especially while there are no other interested parties.

I would appreciate any advice on how to handle the situation. We aren't currently interested in any other properties but would like to try get the deal across the line soon if possible.

Thanks

The vendor is sitting tight hoping that someone else may come alone & beat your offer. This is where patience & nerves of steel are required. Don't time limit your offer & don't up it either.
Your offer stands - the vendors need to make a move.

By all means view something else the EA has to offer. Reiterate that you have mortgage approval, a solicitor ready to go & are committed to purchasing a house. Work on the EA & try to find out what the vendor will accept. It's up to the EA to try to get you both to meet at an agreeable amount. He is more likely to do this if he knows a bit more about you, and thinks you are a good bet to get the sale across the line.

There are no rights & wrongs to bidding on a house. Being impatient to get a decision can make you overplay your hand though. Take a breath & practice patience! It's very hard to do but ultimately better.

MidMan25

April 73 wrote: »

The vendor is sitting tight hoping that someone else may come alone & beat your offer. This is where patience & nerves of steel are required. Don't time limit your offer & don't up it either.
Your offer stands - the vendors need to make a move.

By all means view something else the EA has to offer. Reiterate that you have mortgage approval, a solicitor ready to go & are committed to purchasing a house. Work on the EA & try to find out what the vendor will accept. It's up to the EA to try to get you both to meet at an agreeable amount. He is more likely to do this if he knows a bit more about you, and thinks you are a good bet to get the sale across the line.

There are no rights & wrongs to bidding on a house. Being impatient to get a decision can make you overplay your hand though. Take a breath & practice patience! It's very hard to do but ultimately better.

I'm happy to be patient but I suppose just trying to avoid the situation where another bidder joins the party and presumably the price ends up being higher than it would otherwise have ended if we could get the deal done before that!

Lemming

April 73 wrote: »

Work on the EA & try to find out what the vendor will accept. It's up to the EA to try to get you both to meet at an agreeable amount. He is more likely to do this if he knows a bit more about you, and thinks you are a good bet to get the sale across the line.

The EA's sole concern is getting as much for the vendor as possible; not getting you, the buyer, a sale. They are not looking out for you in the slightest save how much they can squeeze out of you.

Weebly

You could ask the EA if they would find out from the vendor if they have a get the deal done today price in mind. Doing this indicates you are serious about buying the property, you are in a position to make a deal and you aren't going to wait forever. All without offending anyone

amdublin

MidMan25 wrote: »

I'm happy to be patient but I suppose just trying to avoid the situation where another bidder joins the party and presumably the price ends up being higher than it would otherwise have ended if we could get the deal done before that!

Sitting being patient pretty much guarantees another bidder will join the party and you will be soon in a bidding war - it's what the vendor wants.

Send an email now saying you are withdrawing the offer Friday 5pm.

They will either accept it - great.
Or not - if you still want the house you can go back in to the fray in two weeks time making your offer again (which again confirm needs to be accepted within the week)

You need to be strong and push acceptance. Sitting tight means it is just a game of chance and you are leaving it completely down to luck and hope that another bidder doesn't join...which I think will.

MidMan25

amdublin wrote: »

Sitting being patient pretty much guarantees another bidder will join the party and you will be soon in a bidding war - it's what the vendor wants.

Send an email now saying you are withdrawing the offer Friday 5pm.

They will either accept it - great.
Or not - if you still want the house you can go back in to the fray in two weeks time making your offer again (which again confirm needs to be accepted within the week)

You need to be strong and push acceptance. Sitting tight means it is just a game of chance and you are leaving it completely down to luck and hope that another bidder doesn't join...which I think will.

Thanks amdublin, this is how I feel, sitting back and doing nothing could work out but it's unlikely to and as you said another bidder will join in.

I'm uncomfortable putting a time limit on any offer for the reasons stated above that you would have to follow through with it.

P. Breathnach

amdublin wrote: »

Sitting being patient pretty much guarantees another bidder will join the party and you will be soon in a bidding war - it's what the vendor wants....

Of course the vendor wants the best deal possible.

If OP's offer is the best price achievable, then the vendor's holding out for a while won't change things much (except for wear & tear on OP's nerves). If it's not, then OP might have to decide how far to go in a bidding contest.

At least it looks like there isn't a ghost bidder in the game.

I'd endorse April 73's advice. Wait it out, but look at other properties just in case.

davo10

amdublin wrote: »

Sitting being patient pretty much guarantees another bidder will join the party and you will be soon in a bidding war - it's what the vendor wants.

Send an email now saying you are withdrawing the offer Friday 5pm.

They will either accept it - great.
Or not - if you still want the house you can go back in to the fray in two weeks time making your offer again (which again confirm needs to be accepted within the week)

You need to be strong and push acceptance. Sitting tight means it is just a game of chance and you are leaving it completely down to luck and hope that another bidder doesn't join...which I think will.

Dear God do not do this if you want the house. If you put a time limit of 5pm, that only works if you are actually walking away after that. If you go back 2 weeks later with another bid, the EA and the vendor will think you are a complete numpty who cannot be taken seriously. The "accept my bid or else" should be reserved for your final offer, when you are at your max and cannot or will not go higher, it is a last (and mostly futile) throw of the dice in a rising market where the odds favour the vendor getting a higher price if he/she waits.

MidMan25

davo10 wrote: »

Dear God do not do this if you want the house. If you put a time limit of 5pm, that only works if you are actually walking away after that. If you go back 2 weeks later with another bid, the EA and the vendor will think you are a complete numpty who cannot be taken seriously. The "accept my bid or else" should be reserved for your final offer, when you are at your max and cannot or will not go higher, it is a last (and mostly futile) throw of the dice in a rising market where the odds favour the vendor getting a higher price if he/she waits.

:pac: What approach would you suggest?

amdublin

At the moment you are sitting there fearful someone else will come in and bid (which they will)

The vendor is not in fear because they have your offer sitting there and are waiting for a higher one.
You need to turn it that they are the ones fearful - of losing your offer - by making your offer time bound you achieve this.

Are you buying in Dublin?? Someone else is definitely going to come in and gazump your offer unless you push for it to be accepted.

davo10

amdublin wrote: »

At the moment you are sitting there fearful someone else will come in and bid (which they will)

The vendor is not in fear because they have your offer sitting there and are waiting for a higher one.
You need to turn it that they are the ones fearful - of losing your offer - by making your offer time bound you achieve this.

Are you buying in Dublin?? Someone else is definitely going to come in and gazump your offer unless you push for it to be accepted.

Vendors are not fearful at the moment and certainly placing a time limit does not induce fear, EAs and vendors are more likely to ignore it and consider the person a time waster, it's a tactic you can only use once, going back a second time and saying the same thing begs the obvious question "what about the "or else" condition you put on the last offer?"

davo10

MidMan25 wrote: »

:pac: What approach would you suggest?

There are no hard and fast rules for bidding on a house, patience is required, the highest bid (unless there is a cash buyer) will always win and right now vendors are prepared to wait for hat highest bid. You have to stick in there, set a limit on what you are prepared to pay and bid incrementally until you either get the property or reach your cut off point. Don't set a time limit until your very last bid.

MidMan25

Not buying in Dublin! We're actually buying in Cork but well outside the city in an area with a limited no. of potential buyers. That said houses are selling quite quickly here, buts its not the case of having a line of potential buyers stretching around the block.

The property has been on the market for a month and a half now so I suppose the EA still feels they have time on their side to wait for better offers.

We want to apply the pressure or at the very least get some sort of dialogue going because our offer was submitted 3 weeks ago now. We would pay more for it but we're not going to go and bid against ourselves so we need to try and summon a counteroffer from the vendor/EA!

mad_cyclist

i own both residential and commercial property , experience has taught me that time limits absolutely do not work and certainly do not work in a sellers market which we are in now

estate agents are big into brinksmanship , if you give any sort of ultimatum , they will dig in hard

either be patient or look elsewhere

TeaBagMania

MidMan25 wrote: »

Not buying in Dublin! We're actually buying in Cork but well outside the city in an area with a limited no. of potential buyers. That said houses are selling quite quickly here, buts its not the case of having a line of potential buyers stretching around the block.

You answered the question I was going to ask, obviously in the city you would have more interest than a remote location, you’re just going to have to sit tight and wait while not showing them how interested you are in the house.

On a side note, I’ve never seen so many messers when it comes to buying a house in Ireland. Never seen sellers pull this crap in the states

Quandary

You said houses are selling relatively quickly in this area and that the house has only been on the market around 6 weeks. That means the vendor might be willing to sit back and play the long game, especially if they are not hard pressed to get a quick sale. If this is the case then an ultimatum will most likely not get you anywhere.

If you desperately want this house and only this house, and are prepared to bid a little more, then playing hardball by setting a time limit could backfire and leave you in a very weak position.

Ask is the seller looking to move very quickly. Try to find out as much information about the seller as possible. If you want to get the ball rolling and are worried about another bidder coming in, call the estate agent and ask what is the lowest possible price thst the seller will accept. Say you are not able to meet the asking price but would be willing to consider an increased bid if it meant closing the sale very quickly.

Most estate agents will want as quick a sale as possible so it is likely they will "advise" the seller to consider dropping the price at least a little bit to facilitate a quick sale.

Dr_Kolossus

Hi, I was in a kind of similar situation as you about 1 year ago. Was looking for a house in ratoath. saw one I liked for 350k. Put in a bit at asking. Was told vendor wanted a quick sale. 4 or 5 weeks later and no other offers just ours.

Really liked the house and was still willing to buy at asking. EA virtually guaranteed that the house was ours. Cue 3-4 weeks of EA saying vendor will accept on monday, monday passes and told vendor will definately accept by next Monday if no other offers etc...

Then After several weeks of this, EA says can we offer 10k more. Any other bidders I ask, none says EA. So you want me to bid against myself I ask, no way! EA says that vendor really wanted more than asking and 10k more would close it.

So im starting to get pi$$ed. I say to EA there are other houses im looking at, and i dont want to offer on multiple properties (don't think it's morally correct). Anyway im nice about it, and say, if they want to reconsider our offer and we havn't bought elsewhere they can come back to me, and i may still be willing to buy, but as of friday 5pm our offer is officially off the table.

Friday passes,EA never gets back to me. 6 months later and I buy around the corner. Pay 65k more but get 600 square foot more and triple the garden in a much nicer cul de sac. I check the ppr and the original house sold for 375k.

I'm happy with house I bought. Vendor got 25k more so I guess they are happy. have mutual friends with the guys who paid 375, would love to find out if EA removed our bid and these guys offered 25k more but would hate to let the buyers feel they were shafted.

Anyway, that's just my experience, we were obviously serious about buying, had loan approval sent to EA for the house etc.. But they just strung us along. I tried putting in a kind of take it or leave it and didn't even get an acknowledgement. But things worked out better anyway. Karma!

athtrasna

Tried the defined timeline offer in the past. The response from the EA "our client refuses to be dictated to". At that time we decided their client could FRO and pulled out. This was about two months before the crash, hope lucky we were!

amdublin

Op, there is no right or wrong answer. Not one method is guaranteed to work. There are pros and cons to everything you choose to do, or choose not to do if you just sit and wait.

Go with your gut.

Best of luck to you. I hope you get the right house for you - this one or another one.

gaius c

Lemming wrote: »

The EA's sole concern is getting as much for the vendor as possible; not getting you, the buyer, a sale. They are not looking out for you in the slightest save how much they can squeeze out of you.

Not entirely correct. They want to get their commission and they won't get that if the seller is paying silly buggers with their only bidder.

If the EA is not strongly suggesting they accept this offer, this must be fairly sure another higher offer will come out of the woodwork.

P.S. there's also the possibility that the vendor has a reserve price that's higher than the asking price. If the EA is not even bothering to try to get you to come up a few % to save face, you might be well off what it will take to get the vendor to do business.

MidMan25

Sale agreed seller/ea came back with a counter offer that was half way between the asking and our offer. Happy with the amount we had to pay in the end. Fingers crossed all of the rest goes smoothly!

TeaBagMania

Awesome and congrats, keep us posted

amdublin

Congratulations that's fantastic news!

Well done and good luck on the next stages. Hopefully you will be back in a few weeks with more news that all is progressing smooth.