Being a first time seller...

bylromarha

...is it the done thing to put an offer in on someone elses house when you haven't had an offer on your own?

If they accept the offer, how long is it normal for them to wait if we still don't get an offer?

Cristy

Interesting one, I'd like to know what people think too. My (newly appointed ) EA has advised us to wait until we have a proceedable offer before putting an offer on the house we want, because a. we'll be taken more seriously and b. we'll be in a much better negotiating position (even more so as our house will be probably bought by a FTB).

[Deleted User]

Your offer won't be taken seriuously until you have a buyer. Even if they do accept it, they'll probably keep the house on the market until they find someone with a closed chain. Get yourself a Buyer asap, you'll be in a better position and able to get a better deal out of it.

suki1964

We put an offer in on a house we wanted before ours was even on the market

It was accepted and the vendors were willing to wait for us as long as we put down a deposit.

In this case it worked well for both of us. The vendors were not on a chain (new build) and we were shared ownership so knew we would have a buyer straight away plus we had a mortgage lined up in advance.

I dont think that theres any harm in putting an offer in as long as you are up front about your posistion. Some people arent on chains or they themselves havent found their new home

bylromarha

Thanks for advice all.

Vans- am trying to get a buyer ASAP, but not had any viewings in 4 weeks (grrr). My belly keeps on growing and we need to move by June else the new baby will be sharing the dogs bed!

silvercar

Opposite story here. We found a buyer and then took 3 weeks to find a property we liked. Luckily the seller's of the house we want had already found a property but unluckily the seller of this property is refusing to exchange until she sorts the probate out on her late husband's estate. This is driving everyone mad, especially as it is her house she is selling not one she owned with her husband. So in the mean time everyone is waiting with the FTBs at the other end of the chain getting impatient.

Jorgan_2

It all depends on the situation the vendor is in. If they want a quick sale they may accept the offer, but keep marketing the property until such time as a proceedable buyer comes along. As an EA I advise my clients not to take a property off the market if they have an open chain offer, no one knows how long their property will take to sell. Some vendors will give a cople of weeks grace to give you a chance to sell.

Offering on a property before selling can also be costly. Lets say you see your dream house for sale at £200k and yours is for sale at £150k. You really want the dream house so offer £198,000 to show the vendor that you are really keen on their home. You then receive an offer of £144k on your house from a FTB, its less than you wanted to take but you really want that dream house so you accept. Had you not been desperate to sell you may have been able to hold out and achieve a figure of £147k on your property & by being in a strong position negotiated on the new property to £195k. By putting an offer in before selling you have 'lost' £6k. Worth thinking about.

dander

When I was selling, there is no way I would have accepted an offer from someone in your position. I might have said to the agent whether the amount would be acceptable in theory, but that's all.

Sorry, but a buyer with a house to sale leaves you in exactly the same position as if you didn't have a buyer!

Woby_Tide

there is no harm in making an offer personally, we offered on our current property whilst ours still had no buyer. We just did it more as a statement of interest and intent and fully agreed that seller should keep it on market until we could get a buyer.

Declaring your interest could also help, if someone who has a buyer offers £150k, and you without a buyer offer £160k and are hopeful of selling within a week or so, if you don't make the offer, the sellers could well just accept the first one to get moving, if you make an offer, they may hang fire for a week or so on the offchance you can proceed. Offering costs nothing.

Rachel85

I don't think there is any harm in making an offer, however it will obviously be subject to you selling your own home and chances are it will be kept on the market until you have a buyer for your place.

If you were to express an interest, this would give the vendor an incentive to find somewhere else to live too, so you would be less likely to be hanging around for ages with the risk of the chain collapsing.

Personally I would say that you are very interested in the property and that you will be putting in an official offer as soon as your house has a buyer

mandi

Hi
I wouldnt advise you to offer , you need to register your intrest,and advise the estate agent that you must be kept fully informed of any intrest in the property.

In the meantime, ring your estate agent everyday, make it know that you want some interest on your own, ask what they are doing to promote your property.. When was it last advertised in the press? get them to advertise it for the next 2 weeks at least, ask how many sets of details have gone out, baisicly............. make them do the job your paying them to do...