How long is usual for offer to be accepted / rejected?

paulb567

Hi,

We put in an offer on a house had it rejected, waited about 5 days and put in another higher offer. This was 8 days ago, how long is reasonable to wait for an answer from the venders?

When we put the offer in the EA called me straight back to say the venders husband was away for a few days and needed to talk it over with him and she'd be in touch with me as soon as she hears anything. I'm trying very hard not too call the EA to enquire and risk seeming a little too eager.

How long do you think I should wait?

Thanks, Paul

Norma_Desmond

Not much longer! It's understandable to have a wait of a day or two, but the vendors are taking the mickey on this one - I'd call their bluff, phone the EA, and 'casually' drop the information that you've just seen another property you're interested in.....

paulb567

Norma_Desmond wrote:

but the vendors are taking the mickey on this one

Its starting to feel like that. I think they're holding out as long as possible to see if they get any more interest / offers before they make a decision on our offer.

mr218

from my experience, they probably are waiting for another party to respond and feel that if they keep you still interested they can make both of you outbid each other.
we had an offer accepted on a saturday and on monday when we called the agents to fix up the surveyor etc, they said that another party was interested in it and could offer more but they had a house to sell (unlike us who did not have a chain) and the vendor was interested in this offer. they kept us faffing about for a week. my husband then called up the agent and told them that his offer was his final and only on the table for another 2 days. they came back within the hour and said that they wanted to accept our offer and proceed with teh sale.

i assume you dont want to pay any more for this property. if so, tell the agent that your offer is on the table for 2 more days. if they respond fine, if not they you have not told them categorically that your offer is off the table. they can come back to you some time in the future if their other offer does not come through without any loss of face.

in the meantime look for other properties as well

lush_walrus

That is exactly what they are doing by the sounds of it.

If I were you I would forget playing games of i dont want the EA to know how much I like the property, you need the EA to think you are serious and that your offer is serious or they wont push for your offer hard at all.

Call the EA and ask them what is happening, if you are worried about being pushed up more, then tell the EA that you need to know about your offer in the next day or so either way so that yuo can start arranging appointments for other properties for the weekend. If your offer is not accepted ask teh EA informally (ie what their opinion is) on what offer would be acceptable to the vendor, if you are far off then there really isnt point in hanging around any more. Fix in your mind what level you are willing to pay for the property and stick to it.

Robert_Sterling_3

Why not look at other houses while you are waiting?