How long to give vendor to accept offer?? Is a week too long?

kurgyb

We put in an offer last week. Property is on for £475k, we put our first offer in for £430k which they rejected and said they were looking for something inbetween so we decided not to mess around and offer our highest of £450k. This was last Saturday and they came back to us with some story about vendor husband going away on business etc and they would let us know the following Friday (so 6 days).

The property is on with multi agency and I have done some investigating and the owners are clearly waiting to see if they get a better offer in the meantime (fair enough) HOWEVER we cant be expected to wait around forever.

We are willing to give one final offer of £457,500 (this will put us at our absolute max so couldnt offer more if we wanted). I am aware most viewings happen on a saturday but I dont want them making us wait until after the weekend to know. Or am I being unreasonable and impatient?

BTW we dont come with a chain and have the mortgage agreed in principle.

Thanks for all of your replies

shiny76

kurgyb wrote: »

We put in an offer last week. Property is on for £475k, we put our first offer in for £430k which they rejected and said they were looking for something inbetween so we decided not to mess around and offer our highest of £450k. This was last Saturday and they came back to us with some story about vendor husband going away on business etc and they would let us know the following Friday (so 6 days).

The property is on with multi agency and I have done some investigating and the owners are clearly waiting to see if they get a better offer in the meantime (fair enough) HOWEVER we cant be expected to wait around forever.

We are willing to give one final offer of £457,500 (this will put us at our absolute max so couldnt offer more if we wanted). I am aware most viewings happen on a saturday but I dont want them making us wait until after the weekend to know. Or am I being unreasonable and impatient?

BTW we dont come with a chain and have the mortgage agreed in principle.

Thanks for all of your replies

I don't think 1 week is too unreasonable, the husband could be away on business or they could be stalling.

Deadlines are only so effective. What happens if you insist on a deadline of Friday then you hear nothing but they come back on Monday accepting the offer? Would you tell them they are too late?

cattie

It would be human nature for vendors to wait until after a weekend with viewings booked in to see if they get any more interest.

If I were you, I wouldn't put my final offer in yet, I'd wait for a response to the one currently on the table. I think what I would do is contact the ea you're dealing through and say that you would appreciate an answer by Monday at the latest as there is another property that you are very interested in.

Hopefully this will give them the push they might need and if they think you might be casting your eyes elsewhere, seriously think about accepting your offer or losing it.

Ok, you may have to be patient for a few more days and even if they come back by Monday to say no, you can then put your best and final offer to ea in the hope that that will seal the deal.

Bufger

kurgyb wrote: »

We put in an offer last week. Property is on for £475k, we put our first offer in for £430k which they rejected and said they were looking for something inbetween so we decided not to mess around and offer our highest of £450k. This was last Saturday and they came back to us with some story about vendor husband going away on business etc and they would let us know the following Friday (so 6 days).

The property is on with multi agency and I have done some investigating and the owners are clearly waiting to see if they get a better offer in the meantime (fair enough) HOWEVER we cant be expected to wait around forever.

We are willing to give one final offer of £457,500 (this will put us at our absolute max so couldnt offer more if we wanted). I am aware most viewings happen on a saturday but I dont want them making us wait until after the weekend to know. Or am I being unreasonable and impatient?

BTW we dont come with a chain and have the mortgage agreed in principle.

Thanks for all of your replies

Do not offer more without hearing what they have decided about the previous offer!!!!!

Play hardball. Ring up the EA and tell them you want a decision by Sunday as you have viewed another property you are willing to make an offer on (even go to the extent of picking a property from another estate agent and quoting it). I can bet you hear by Sunday :cool:

hazyjo

So they're coming back to you tomorrow?

Silly question, but why don't you just wait 'til tomorrow to see if they're rejecting or accepting it? Or are you saying you think there'll be viewings lined up for over the weekend and they'll make you hang on again?

I'd at least give them the benefit of the doubt, and be on the phone Sat morning.

I wouldn't be setting deadlines. I'd hate it as a seller - would feel I was being bullied - and, as above, what will you do if they haven't decided? You can't force them to accept, it's a major decision and a lot of money, and they probably have a lot of weighing up to do as it's probably under what they initially wanted.

Don't up your offer until they've rejected this one.

If it's on with multiple agents and has been for some time, it's probably not likely to be snapped up by someone else this weekend.

Good luck.

Jx

kurgyb

Ooops sorry I didnt explain that correctly. I most def wont be offering before we know the other one is rejected first. It has been on the market for 3 months but the price has just been dropped hence the new interest.
I will just wait and see.

The estate agent know we have this little buffer left to offer (a hazard of telling them how much you can go to when registering with them).

When I did my covert investigating they had had a second viewing last week and the buyers said they loved it but needed to speak to financial advisors (their budget is bigger than ours, this was all given too me by an over chatty receptionist)...that was last sat and they have yet to make an offer yet.

I have brought two houses previously and the bartering has usually taken place over 2 days etc, i'm not used to this waiting lark haha.

Part of me is desperate for something else to come on the market so we have a plan B (I say this as all the houses we are looking at in the area are quite similar but not much comes on)

Thanks for the replies so far

olgadapolga

Can I just say, as a vendor, that we had an offer late one morning and by the afternoon the potential buyers were hounding us for an answer. This made me extremely cross. We'd been seriously considering their offer, and this made me want to explode as they had already viewed the property three times, twice at very short notice and major inconvenience to ourselves.

I went mad at the estate agent, and told him that although we had been seriously considering their offer, they had no chance now unless they were willing to pay virtually the asking price (I think we went down by 1% or some stupid amount, instead of the 95% they'd offered). I said that if they weren't prepared to pay that price then they could just *go* away (but I wasn't that polite!).

They offered our minimum price, but it cost them dear. About £10k (plus all the indemnities and insurance that we also refused to pay for during the conveyancing).

Had they been just a little more patient, they would have got a bargain. They hassled us, and they paid for it. So be patient.

kurgyb

Thanks Olgadapolga, I quite agree there should be an adequate amount of deliberation time and in the week they have asked to consider the offer I have not asked the estate agent at all to chase them. However if they dont give us an answer either way I will ask them to be chase up, there has to be some give and take?

However I dont really know how long that give and take should be

geoffky

oh dear.....you gave all your trump cards away to someone who is working for the other side......some would say your mad.. never play poker..

alaninmanchester

Interesting reading, I decided to offer the asking price on a property, then had to prove I was a cash buyer, which I did, then was told they had got a higher offer so increased my offer, then told offer was being put to vendor, a week later no answer or news, agent still doing viewings, clearly trying to get another higher offer!! no wonder agents get a bad name, is it?

Jonbvn

kurgyb wrote: »

The estate agent know we have this little buffer left to offer (a hazard of telling them how much you can go to when registering with them).

Big mistake. You can guarantee that they will decline your current offer.