HELP! Estate agent won't pass on our offer!

catt_2

Well, not quite but now I've got your attention, I'd appreciate your advice.;)

My brother-in-law has had his eyes on a couple of houses for ages and would like to buy either of them for a home because they used to belong to family members.

Well, one of them came on the market a few weeks ago.

The house was overpriced at £250,000 so he didn't view it.

He's just back from 2 weeks holiday and in the time he was away the house has been reduced to "offers in the region of £235,000". There is only one estate agent marketing it and he contacted them immediately only to be told that it's "gone".

The agent then tried to tell him about other properties as soon as he learned that my brother-in-law is not in a chain, has nothing to sell and has his mortgage offer in principle. But he stood his ground and without revealing a family connection to the house he persisted and discovered "gone" means that there is an offer that the seller finds acceptable.

We all want to see that house back in the family and I'm wondering whether my brother-in-law should just wait to see if the sale collapses or whether he should contact the seller directly. He seriously wants to offer £225,000 but can't go higher. No idea what offer the seller has at present.

Last year houses in the road were selling for £230,000 but none have been sold this year so there is no comparison. And the house needs work to bring it into a proper state of repair and update it.

What do you think?

geoffky

230 last year 225 this year oh my god...have people not been watching the markets or news....oh to be this seller and start a bidding war...ps i think anyone going near property at the moment needs to go and see a doctor.(seriously)

Lisey_Loo

I would pop round and have a word with the seller, or drop a note round.

The seller might appreciate having a Plan B to fall back on so to speak, if things change.

If you don`t ask, you don`t get.

I have just sold my Nan`s house for her, and the first people to view made an offer £10k below the asking price. The 2nd person wanted to offer the asking price, but hadn`t sold her house.

Our EA told us about both offers, and let me make the decision.

I think they should be told about your call, and then they have all the information.

Hope you get the house back in the family... I know how it feels to see strangers in `your` home...

chickmug

Catt

Has it been made clear to the EA an offer is being proposed as they are bound to pass all offers on to the seller?

Is the EA a member of the NAEA?

Rifleman

Personally, if I really wanted the place I'd just knock on the door and speak with the vendor.

The agent does have a legal obligation to pass on any offers, but they may not want to pass on a new offer in case it messes up the current deal which could then result in the agent loosing a sale and thus the comission.

The other reason could be that the existing offer might be higher and so the agent doesn't want to waste the vendors time or the vendor may even have specifically instructed the agent not to approach them with offers under a certain price.

It's true that there's currently a massive drop in house prices, but one thing that people tend to forget is that if someone really wants something, they'll pay for it. What's the sentimental value of this house? Can he really not go another 10-20k (roughly £65-£130 a month on 25yrs repayment @ 6%)? If the answer is no because of budget, etc then he needs to be honest with himself and start looking at cheaper property.

As for not buying now, why not? It'd definately be a bad idea if he wanted to sell it again in the short term, but if he's looking at it as a home, and potentially a long term investment, then I can see no reason not to buy it.

Rabiddog_2

And he knows where the Gold is buried in the Back garden!

Jorgan_2

Are you saying he hasn't put an offer in yet? If thats the case, put in an offer below the £225k, he can then increase if needed and see what happens.

catt_2

Thanks for all the tips.

Here's my update. There's been a change in my brother-in-law's circumstances. Meanwhile, the property he was interested is still being marketed by the agents. As a sign of the times, the price has moved downwards to "offers in excess of £200,000" but no takers.

....mmm....further reductions on the cards?....And would they really not consider offers under £200,000?.....

QTPie

catt wrote: »

....mmm....further reductions on the cards?....And would they really not consider offers under £200,000?.....

Of course they will consider them... If he wants it, then he should offer what he wants to pay for it and go from there...

Good luck
QT

dwsjarcmcd

They should consider any offer particularly when the buyer is in your Brother-in-laws position. I would ignore the 'offers over' bit, it is irrelevant in today's market and put an offer in around the £170k mark and start from there.