Agent won't accept offer

bonrosie

I live in N.Ireland and we have recently seen a house we would like to buy. We phone up to put an offer on it, but the the estate agents selling the house have told us they will not accept an offer until we have an offer on our house! Our house has only been on the market for a couple of weeks and we have had not interest as yet - but it is early days. I find this a bit unbelievable - surely the chances of us finding a buyer for our house at the exact time we find a house we want to buy are very slim. There has to be a gap somewhere in the chain.

Is this now standard practice? I am very angry as we could lose this house if we can't sell ours quickly. We also don't want to be forced into accepting a rubbish price for our house. Anyone else encounter this?

anselld

You are not in a position to proceed. The vendors may have instructed the agent only to forward proceedable offers.

bonrosie

Thanks for your reply. No, this is not the vendor's wishes, it is down to the estate agent. The vendor hasn't found a new house yet and is in no rush to move.

hazyjo

Certainly standard practice elsewhere, can't speak for NI. Chains occur all the time. Once you have a buyer, then you either offer on a house you've seen and liked, or you start looking. Your buyer either agrees to hang on, or you could consider moving out into rented or staying with friends/family. The majority of the time, these things do manage to tie in with each other. I definitely wouldn't accept an offer off you without you having a buyer.

Jx

bonrosie

Thanks hazyjo. The first time we bought we were first time buyers so this is all new to us. I guess it's better to try and sell our house first and then we are in a better position to look/buy.

chopper78

The agent is legally obliged to pass an offer to the vendor, but the vendor is not obliged to accept any offer and I cannot see any vendor accepting an offer from somebody not actually in a position to proceed. Why put in an offer when you aren't in a position to proceed? It could well be that if you have been on the market for two weeks with no interest, then it could become two months, or even two years. Do you think the vendor will simply hold on and wait?

Even if they did accept your offer now, there is nothing to stop them subsequently accepting another offer further down the line (e.g. next week) when you still remain unable to proceed but someone else is, so such an offer at this stage is a complete waste of your time, the agent's time and the vendor's time, especially if they then start looking for somewhere to live based on an unproceedable offer.

So the agent is not correct in refusing to accept your offer - legally they must pass it on - but don't be surprised when the vendor knocks you back.

Sell your house first, then start doing the serious looking. Viewing houses now when you're not in a position to buy is soul destroying because you'll find somewhere you love and want to have, but you can't have it and when someone else comes in and beats you to it how gutted will you be?

ruggedtoast

At least you have found somewhere you want to go, which will make you more attractive to buyers.

You should probably be asking your prospective sellers how close they actually are themselves to being able to move out.

JQ.

I wouldn't accept your offer as you're not in a position to offer, you're offering money you don't actually have. You need to sell your house before making offers. Reasons I would not accept an offer off someone who's not sold:

• It could take them 5 years to sell their house
• They may sell their house for less than anticipated and therefore try and reduce their offer to me as they can no longer afford the original offer
• They could be a dreamer/timewaster, having already accepted an offer on their own house shows commitment

Either get your house sold and make some offers, or sell your house and move into rented / family. If you are chain free it puts you in a really strong position when making offers and also means you don't feel under pressure when looking for a house, as you're not worried about losing your buyer. It's not ideal for everyone, but we'd be tempted to do it on our next move as our ideal house in the ideal location does not come to the market very often.

Good luck.

bonrosie

Thanks chopper78. I think that is probably what we'll do from now on - wait until we sell our house before seriously looking. It is soul destroying to lose out on your 'dream' house because yours isn't sold. We've already lost out on one property as the vendors accepted a lower offer from someone who's house was sale agreed.

bonrosie

Thanks for that - all helpful advice.

doyouwantfrieswiththat

Thats ridiculous, whether you can buy or not the EA must pass this offer on, I am in NI too and selling and would be FURIOUS if the EA done this, who is the EA you are dealing with?