Timescales

BenBar

Hello All

I will keep this short.

Put an offer in last Saturday on a house a full asking price. Requested in the offer letter that the board is displayed as sold with in 48 hours and no more showings.

I drove past today and the For Sale board is still up and there is a picture in the agents window (lucky for them they were closed). Am I being overly cautious in worrying about them keeping the picture and board up.

On their website it shows SSTC.

I know that the offer is not binding, but am thinking either the agent is incompetant or trying to play games and get a better offer?

What do you think?

Thanks

wobbley

You're scared of being 'Gazzumped' aren't you?
Fact is the EA is not acting for you he's acting on behalf of the vendor and if a better offer comes along then it's better for both of them. You can't really do anything except request politely that they get the 'sold' notice up ASAP.
I wouldn't be too pushy as it may show them that you think you got a bargain - then, after you've spent a grand on a survey they get a better offer. Maybe genuine maybe not but it will be a spanner in the works.

towseriv

Could just be that the guy they use to put up the sold board has not got around to it. I would leave it till early next week before you ask about it. The house we bought was not 'boarded' as sold for about three weeks becase we never asked for it. As for the window they may just be waiting for another instruction they want to place in it, or they just are stupid. If you are worried you could get a friend to call and make a viewing appointment and see what they say. Could even get them to be indignant and say it does not say sold in the window or on the sale board and see if anything happens from that??

mjfusent

Not really yet. So far you've just made an offer and had it accepted, has your surveyor been round yet? Until the survey most sellers (me included) don't feel really confident that the buyer is for real, the surveyors visit at least confirms they buyer has spent some money and therefore has made some commitment to buy.

If you get too paranoid, call the agent pretending to be a buyer (or have one of you mates do so), the agent should say the house is "under offer", if not ask if there's been any interest - if they don't then say its under offer you've every right to play hell.

But its probably just the agent being careful, lots of sales fall apart early on, its probably no problem.

david29dpo

you made your offer subject to the house being taken off the market. give it a few days then insist. in the meantime get your surveyor round or at least give the vendors a date. round here the sold signs go up in minutes so the agents can gloat!

PoorDave

BenBar wrote:

Hello All

I will keep this short.

Put an offer in last Saturday on a house a full asking price. Requested in the offer letter that the board is displayed as sold with in 48 hours and no more showings.

I drove past today and the For Sale board is still up and there is a picture in the agents window (lucky for them they were closed). Am I being overly cautious in worrying about them keeping the picture and board up.

On their website it shows SSTC.

I know that the offer is not binding, but am thinking either the agent is incompetant or trying to play games and get a better offer?

What do you think?

Thanks

What was the response to the offer? I presume it was accepted. Was it a verbal offer followed by a letter? Are you sure someone has actually seen the letter?

Guys doing the signs are usually quite laid back about timescales, in my experience!

Also, agents don't necessarily change their window displays the instant something is sold.

I like the idea of getting a friend to try to make a viewing appointment!

Jorgan_2

Has the vendor accepted the terms of your offer? Just because you requested the board to be changed, doesn't mean the vendor has to accept your terms, however if they haven't the agent should come back & tell you.

As has been stated, the board company may not have got round to changing the board, I use a company with the word 'quick' in their name, my definition of quick is 48hrs, theirs seems to be a week.

silvercar

The house I've exchanged on was still on the EAs website with no "under offer" or "SSTC" label until we actually exchanged. I think some EAs like to give the impression houses are available to bring punters in.

BenBar

Thanks to all. Yes my final offer of full asking prices was accepted. The EA seems like a bit of a wheeler dealer, so was a bit concerned. In my offer letter I asked for weekly updates on the stage of the property etc, so I will call today and ask for an update and drop in there about the board etc.

Thanks for all your comments I will let you know how it goes.

Ben