Putting in an offer

bargainquest

I have just sold my house and this weekend we are re-viewing our shortlist and hope to make an offer on a house on Monday. There are two main contenders currently and if our offer isn't accepted on one of them we will have a second choice. My main question is if you make an offer on a property but the vendor takes ages to think about without rejecting it outright, are you obliged to wait around to hear back or can you offer on something else instead? I ask because one of the vendors we have spoken to already has an offer on the table that he has neither accepted or rejected (because the buyer hasn't sold his house yet) and it has made me think that we might end up in a position of waiting around and ultimately missing out on both properties.

david29dpo

basically, yes. you can do what you like. its a buyers market at the moment, IMO, if the vendors of any house wish to drag there feet, be it on there head!

Doozergirl

As said you can do whatever you want. It's polite to let people know what you're doing and it puts the pressure on them anyway which is good for you. I'd go so far as to describe the other house a bit, let them know yuo're telling the truth.

The unproceedable offer will get dumped like a shot if yours is anywhere close. If they haven't accepted the offer already, they won't lose another potential buyer waiting for them to sell.

bargainquest

Thanks for the advice. The first house we are likely to offer on is testing our financial boundaries at an asking price of 200k (just been reduced by 10k and has vacant possession) It has had one owner since it was built in the 70s and needs quite a bit of cosmetic work (inc kitchen and bathroom) Was thinking of offering 180K in first instance but max budget is 190K. The other house (the one with another less secure offer on already) is 179K and therefore perhaps a more realistic prospect but probably has less potential in terms of increasing future value.
Decisions, decisions!

Doozergirl

Ah well, you can tell the 70's house people that the other house is cheaper too

And if one does accept an offer, I'd still try a cheeky one at the other house, just to see how far you can push them

As long as you don't mislead anyone, you're fine.

david29dpo

take doozergirls advice, she knows what she is talking about!!