Should EA's pass on all offers to the vendor?

saver_newbie

Hi, Yesterday I made an offer on a property for 138,000. I was told by the EA that they already had offers for 140,000 and that they cannot accept my offer.
Can an EA do that, don't they have to pass on all offers and let the vendor decide. What if I am in a better position than the other bidder as I am not in a chain, considering the very small difference in the bids shouldn't the EA be giving the vendor a chance to decide ...


Also can there be a situation wherein the vendor has said he wont accept anything less than 140,000 (I am skeptical about this other bid). In that case do the EA even have to mention to the owner that they have received a bid slightly lower than the expected price?
Thanks.

MrsJ2008

I would guess they can.

I'm a seller and if I told my EA not to accept offers under a certain amount, I would hope the EA would listen to what I've said and only contact me with offers above what I'd asked. Maybe the sellers can't go below £140k which is why the EA have automatically rejected your offer.

I put a bid on a house which was below the asking the price. That EA came back to me and said it was too low and what was my position (i'm selling). It's probably been about a month since that happened and the same EA rang me yesterday to see if i'd sold mine as the sellers were asking about me. Reckon they are desperate to sell, unfortunately i've not sold so am stuck here for the time being.

Mutton_Geoff

The Code of Practice published by the OEA states

6. Submission of Offers

6a By law, you must tell sellers as soon as is reasonably possible about all offers that you receive at any time until contracts have been exchanged (in Scotland, missives have been concluded) unless the offer is an amount or type which the seller has specifically instructed you, in writing, not to pass on. You must confirm each offer in writing to the seller, and to the buyer who made it, within two working days.

6b You must keep a written or computerised record of all offers you receive – including the date and time of such offers – and the seller’s response. Such records should be made promptly.


You could ask the agent below which amount the vendor has asked that offers not be submitted. Of course there could be something lost in translation in that the vendor could not accept your offer, not that they didn't pass it on.

saver_newbie

Thank you for your responses. I am going to ask the EA politely if he has been instructed not to pass on certain offers and if not what the seller’s response to my earlier offer was. The EA may not want to answer these questions. Not sure if they are questioned like this usually.

"You must confirm each offer in writing to the seller, and to the buyer who made it ..."
The above statement is interesting ... I wasn't aware that the EA should confirm each offer to the buyer. If that is true then that is not usually followed. My friend tells me that the only offer confirmed to him in writing was his bid which was finally accepted.

ema_o

If the vendor is in the property I would pop a note through the door telling them of your offer, that you are chain free and that the estate agent has not accepted your offer, might come to nothing but at least you know the vendor heard from you.

We had all our offers confirmed in writing by estate agents.

saver_newbie

Thanks ema_o. That is very good advise but in this case the house is empty, with the seller having moved.

RoxieW

I just offered 180K on a 230K house. The EA laughed and said it was a silly offer and that it wouldnt be accepted. When I asked him to pass the offer on he said the vendor 'wont go that low.' I'll try again when it's still unsold in 6 months.