How long should it take for an offer to be accepted?

annaats

Just wondering if anyone has any advice...

We put in an offer on a house we really want 2 weeks ago, £132,500 (it has an asking price of £149,950), after several days we were told they had rejected this (unsuprisingly), the estate agent asked them what they would accept and they said they didn't know...

We then raised the offer to £134,000 and have now been waiting almost two weeks for an answer. Is it right to be waiting for so long? Our mortgage advisor joked a week ago that it was the longest wait in history, and now we think it's just getting ridiculous. If they just told us they won't accept that amount then we could have upped it several times by now.

We're trying not to be too pushy and have not stopped looking for houses, but this is the one we want and there are very few for the price in the area. Is also makes us wonder how long they may delay the exchange process should we get our offer accepted, is there any hope?!

We've found out that there are multiple people involved as vendors and our offers are going through a solicitor which is why they may take slightly longer than usual, but not this long... Apparently the house has been empty for a year, so we're guessing there's a family fued going on.

If anyone can offer any advice or relate to this it would be great to hear from you, as first time buyers we have no experience...

TIA
Anna.

princessamy86

It does sound rather like a family feud sorry! Unfortunately if they all have to agree on a price you might just have to wait until they have fought it out between them. I would maybe give them a few more days then submit your offer in writing, saying that you appreciate it may take time to reach a decision so in the mean time you will be looking at other properties. Hopefully common sense will prevail! It depends on how many people are involved but I would have thought that once they agree on the asking price then they would want to get it through as fast as possible? Having said that, if you want to renegotiate price after survey this could again delay things. Are you in a mad rush to move? If it really is the right house for you then it might just be worth the wait. And no, it's not normal that people keep you waiting for weeks on end!

MX5huggy

Sounds like the house is part of a deceased estate then could be alot of people involved in deciding what price to accept maybe even the odd charity that has to hold a board meeting etc ect. With it being vacant once you have aggreement sell to you you should be OK just don't start asking for £500 off because 2 windows need replacing or some such faffing about.

huntersc

I normally give them a day and then drop the offer if it takes longer. Don't let them push you around. The next call you make should be to the agent telling them they have until noon tomorrow before the offer is pulled and you find elsewhere. After that you will reduce it again.

All they're doing is using you as an insurance policy. Don't let them do that, it's not in your interest.

princessamy86

huntersc wrote: »

I normally give them a day and then drop the offer if it takes longer. Don't let them push you around. The next call you make should be to the agent telling them they have until noon tomorrow before the offer is pulled and you find elsewhere. After that you will reduce it again.

All they're doing is using you as an insurance policy. Don't let them do that, it's not in your interest.

The problem with this is that you might end up shooting yourself in the foot and coming across as the kind of buyer they don't even want to negotiate with. It's one thing doing that with a full asking price offer, quite another when you are looking to get the price down. You don't know if they are just struggling to agree, this is really common with multiple executors of a will, it seems to become almost open warfare sometime between siblings and family members. If you want it, then it's worth a bit of a wait surely?

annaats

Thanks for the sugestions, I'll see if I can talk to the estate agent tomorrow to let them know we're looking elsewhere and want these people to make their minds up, we won't cause them hassle, but want to get it in our budget.

It seem's they're happy to wait, our rent ends at the end of June so we'd like to get the process moving a little faster. I guess it's just wait and see, chase and see...

hethmar

I think you can conclude that raising the offer £1.5k wasnt enough for them. It may well be that the house has been priced to sell and so they will feel a bit miffed if you come in with such a low offer. As said, ask the EA what his opinion is. Have you checked out the price of houses in the same road?

david29dpo

I have dealt with a few deceased estates and from my experience the slightest hint of "blackmail" has got me nowhere. If i were you i would just wait but in the meantime look elsewhere.