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.

Dav010

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.

Dav010

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

Dav010

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?

Dav010

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!!

Dav010

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.