How Long Before Offers Are Made After Viewings

Gezza123

Hi Guys,

Just a general question here really....

Just wondered how long is usually takes for buyers to put in an offer on a property they have viewed and are interested in?

I know this question may be a bit like the old saying "how long is a piece of string?" so I apologise in advance if you think I am a total tool for raising this question, however, just looking for your general thoughts and opinions really......

Me personally, if I really liked a property after I had viewed it, I would probably have an offer in within a few days.

The situation we are currently in is we have a potential cash buyer lined up for our place, who is very interested.

After viewing (before he even left my house!) he immediately requested my contact tel number and gave me his as well with words along the lines of "I will definetely be back in touch with you", however, that was 2 weeks since the viewing and the only update my EA is giving me is "he is definitely still interested but is in talks with his mortgage advisor"

Can't always trust what Estate Agents say can you!
Although wht they are saying may be true.

I don't want to ring the guy myself as I may come across a little desperate.

I am definetely not desperate, just a little anxious (and maybe a little impatient!)

Anyway, I would appreciate your thoughts / comments please guys.

Cheers

lpp1980

I've made two offers on different properties I've viewed this month. Both were viewed on Saturdays and I made my offers the following Monday. I'd guess thats the normal timeframe, if you really like the place.

My hunch is this guy isn't in a proceedable position or doesn't have a mortgage agreed yet. You wouldn't hang about if you really liked a place and you could finance it. You'd want to make your offer and get negotiations under way.

LilacPixie

my buyer viewed on a friday evening and offered monday lunchtime. house we liked we viewed tuesday mid afternoon, finished viewing 3:10 and by 4:30 had offered and had it accepted. We were in a proceedable position and our buyer was pushing for a quick completion date so we went for it.

Littlebutterfly_2

I think 2 weeks is a long time without any offer made; when we viewed the house we're buying, I only had an offer in principle which took days to get. As soon as I had that, I viewed a second time and made an offer within the hour. So from viewing the first time, to getting the offer in principle to making an offer took a week.

It could be that he's decided to look around a bit but has you down as 'first choice' at the minute.

That said, if you have no other offers on the table, then really 'nowts spoiling' as he's not holding you up from accepting any other offer...mind you, it was THAT fear that made me make an offer for my house...I really knew I wanted it.

RedTomato

do you mean a no chain buyer? A cash buyer doesn't need a mortgage!

jebervic

Our buyer offered within 5 minutes of the viewing, we exchanged on monday of this week.

firstaspect

A few days maximum usually I'd think.
If he's speaking to a mortgage advisor then he's not a cash buyer right? Could be that your property is actually out of his price range and is having to try find a lender who would offer him that much money before putting in an offer.

MobileSaver

Gezza123 wrote: »

we have a potential cash buyer lined up for our place, who is very interested ... is in talks with his mortgage advisor

He is not a cash buyer if he is in talks with a mortgage advisor.

He is obviously not a serious buyer if no offer has been made after two weeks. I would say most offers are made within a few days of a viewing.

It may be that he is trying to raise funds at which point he could become a serious buyer but right now there's no point in calling him. If he's serious once he has funds then he'll make an offer, until then if you call him you will sound desperate and he will automatically lower his offer if he has any sense.

Personally I wouldn't waste any more time thinking about him, just assume he's not really interested and move on.

Gwhiz

48 hours max if really interested. Anything longer would raise questions for me!

delmar39

I would say the offer should come in the same day or day after if they're interested. Your EA could be right in that this potential buyer is looking to get their finances straight. However, you would have thought that they'd done that before looking. Perhaps this is an indication of how they'll behave if they did make you an offer. I would get a firmer update from your EA though, as they should be on his case. I know this goes against what is said above, but rather than being desperate you could simply ask your EA to find out exactly what's going on, the position they're in (cash buyer, mortgage bit of both) and then you'll have some more info to base your decisions on. If this attempt fails then yes, I'm afraid you'll just have to sit and wait and hopefully get some more viewings in the meantime. Horrible isn't it? Having been through it recently I know how you're feeling. These people view your property, make out that they love it, then you hear nothing. I know that's the game, but it's still hard all the same..hope you hear back.:)

kmmr

First property I think I offered the day after a second viewing.

The next place I put an offer in on the evening after doing two viewings on the same day!

Viewing in the morning was by my parents who were in town on holidays (they love this stuff!) and then I came around in the evening, had a look, made an offer. Vendor came back the next day with a counter offer, which I accepted. Place had only been on the market for a couple of days. Another buyer was 'thinking' about it, and missed the place! He came back in with a higher offer after mine was accepted, but they turned him down - rather nicely for me.

Exchanged and completed 6 weeks later.

Any longer than a couple of days and I would say they are not really interested. And if they do make an offer, I would be pretty dubious about it. Sounds like a flaky purchaser...