would/should an estate agent tell you if theyve had a higher offer?

edgex

Well weve put an offer in on a property, a week ago, & the agent said they would get back to us 'quickly'

have now chased them up twice, last time yesterday morning, theyre supposed to be calling us back, but havnt so far.
all they have said, & not from the actual agent themself, but someone else in the office, is that theyve had offers.

in 'estate agent speak' does that mean higher offers?
if so, why not just say that?
should they tell us if they have already had higher offers before ours?

Doozergirl

It would kind of indicate that they're not that interested in your offer. Obviously it's not a professional response.

Is the house lived in?

Worth going for another viewing to talk to the vendor if it is? Worth going in to the EA directly if it isn't and asking straight out. It doesn't make me happy that they're not replying - it does make me a bit suspicious and I'm usually the one to stick up for agents but there's no excuse for not giving you a straight reply.

tenke

If only we had a crystal ball to know that ...

I think it depends on the EA, some of them will be honest and tell you there has been other higher offers.

Others will just let you wonder and wonder, withtout any feedback, so you dont know if to move on or wait ( This latter happpening to me now)

I wouldnt be calling or chasing them, as it may be shows desperation. I would look for alternatives and after some days talk to them directly and tell them if it is a no no from their side, then ok more plenty fish in the sea.

Sometimes offering goes smoothly and sometimes is a hard ball playing:cool:

Hope they get to you soon , I know the anxiety the whole offering process brings about :eek:

edgex

Its a repo, dont think its ever been occupied even.

to be honest, ive found the whole attitude of the agents to be completely crap.
went to a viewing, they had next to no info.
had to keep chasing up for answers, eg lease etc, have since found the info another way.

so looks like a trip into their office is in order


your not the only one thats suspicious, ive thought before, have they done some deal with a friend, so theyre just not putting any effort in to the sale, hmmm

besonders1

What your describing is quite a common thing, I was in a similar situation and found that many repo houses get a lot of interest due to them being price below market value. This gives estate agents more power whereas if you offered on any of the other "over valued" houses i bet they would be ringing you up every hour for an update.

chickmug

Hi Edgex

I agree with doozergirl there is NO excuse for bad manners from the EA. Its about time the EA's realised that todays buyer is tomorrows potential seller (for that EA). In my case, in recent years, I was trading with a 65%/70% of all new instructions coming from those who we had dealt with in the past. As sellers but as buyers or those the two groups reccommneded to us.

A significant number were those who remembered talking to us as and felt we always gave them the time of day. Too many EA's are full of their own importance and too greedy for their own good so little wonder people on this board favour selling privately or through online agents.

A good agent will keep all the people informed all the time something new areise that may affect the home they have expressed serious interest in - in other words perhaps have viewed.

We used to get those who wanted to be kept informed on certain properties, as to any offers etc, but they hadn't, in my opinion, shown the right level of seriousness so we were not prepared to do this but did say they were welcome to call at any time to check the most up to date position.

edgex

We know a local, very good estate agents, & a lot of people locally deal with them.

The 'chain' that this property is with though, well we certainly wouldnt use them if we were selling.

As you say, youd want to check if people are serious:
after a viewing, asking questions, chasing up for answers, putting an offer in, i would consider that to be serious.



so far, still no call back, which we were told yesterday, & emailed them again at 8:40 this morning, no reply.
they dont even have an auto-response on their email :rolleyes:

Doozergirl

Right. I did worry it was a repo by the sound of your experience

Have they asked for any confirmation of your ability to pay for the property at all?

Call them now, ask to speak directly with their sales manager and tell them point blank that you know they have to pass all offers onto the mortgagee or their agent and that even if there hasn't been a response (I'm not sure they've passed this on or they are simply trying to keep things quiet to save work which is WRONG) that you both you and the mortgagee should have been sent a notification of offer through the post.

They are obliged to pass these offers on and at least pay you the common courtesy of letting you know. If they tell you the offer has been rejected then ask them where that notification of offer is? It will show who is acting for the mortgagee. Theoretically you can contact them and complain about the agent if they are not acting properly.

I'd also ask them, if there have been other offers whether they have been accepted and if they won't tell you what the offer is, then which publication the 7 day notice is going into. To be honest, we've almost always been told what the offer is as it has to be made public knowledge.

Get on to them right now!

chickmug

edgex wrote: »

emailed them again at 8:40 this morning, no reply.
they dont even have an auto-response on their email :rolleyes:

There is a time for emails but now is the time for telephones or walking in their doors.

huntersc

The very same thing happened to me a couple of weeks ago. Made an offer, the EA didn't get back to me, kept me waiting obviously hoping that someone else would offer higher.

He came back to me on Friday. Told him to get lost. I won't be dealing with that agency again and I told him so.

WillowCat

huntersc wrote: »

The very same thing happened to me a couple of weeks ago. Made an offer, the EA didn't get back to me, kept me waiting obviously hoping that someone else would offer higher.

He came back to me on Friday. Told him to get lost. I won't be dealing with that agency again and I told him so.

Take it you didn't really want the house then?