Help on next move as buyer

LateStarter

Unless the seller is desperate, the first offer is never accepted Never.

If you bid so much below asking, the EA (and the seller) pretty much expect you to come back with an improved offer. It's just how the game works. And if your improved offer is still more than 10% off the asking price, they'll probably say no to that too.

Good Luck.

Hoploz

Nubbins has said what I would say about the market moving etc. I completely agree.

I think you are busy trying to make this a game of chess where you are thinking what if we make the first move ... You offered, they rejected it, end of story as far as the seller and EA are concerned.

If the extra 5k is really your maximum (bearing in mind what Nubbins said about the market running away) then just get on the phone and offer it! Or if it has been a while since you offered then go for a second viewing. You won't know until you put the offer in, and if your new offer is not acceptable to them then forget it and move on. You can always tell them you will leave it on the table and to come back to you if they change their minds and you haven't found anything else yet.

Propertynewbie

Hoploz wrote: »

I think you are busy trying to make this a game of chess where you are thinking what if we make the first move ... You offered, they rejected it, end of story as far as the seller and EA are concerned.

It's not at all that. It's of no interest to us getting into a drawn waiting game with the EA or the seller. The 4-5 day window is a result of us wanting to avoid the delaying tactics (we think) that we experienced in the beginning, hence why I asked, 'Is it a good idea to initiate some interest again with the EA? Won't this just be seen as a sign by him that he can make us wait some more ... ?' That is, if this is how EAs would play it — and I ask because we don't know — maybe it's better for us to put the second offer at the end of it. Again, we only had a, or an indication of, response from the EAs when we stood firm on not wanting to come into branch for an affordability test, as we already had a broker with whom we were happy and who was himself more than happy to speak with them and provide the details, which he did, and requested a deadline (where we didn't at first) because we felt 5 days without having any indication from the EA is enough of a waiting time (the advice here was to specify an expiry date on offers).

We've had indications, not all of which we sought, that it's not unreasonable to wait for them to ring back and/or that the asking price was unrealistically high, so here we are exactly trying to weigh our options and our impressions by asking around. We would feel remiss if, having no pressures to put it in the offer or being tied in a bidding war, we just went in without getting other people's opinion.

I provided the time scales involved in order to get a sense from experienced forumers when would be the best time to put in a last offer, or that, given the background, this might be a wrong move and that it might be worth waiting for the EA to ring back. We're not hoping for the latter scenario, but we've read in these pages that they do happen, so it's just one more consideration. We might be wrong in our reading, but hence this post.

pinkteapot

You're overthinking things. Some people just want their asking price (no matter how high), and there's nothing you can do about it. Fundamentally, you and the seller disagree about the value of the house. Up your offer if the house is worth it to you, or move on and view others.

We had a low offer declined in a hugely overpriced house. It didn't sell until two years later. They never phoned us back to see if we were still interested!

EAs want to get deals tied up. This is their full-time job. They know when buyers and sellers can be brought together on price. They know what the seller will go down to (if anything) and they get a sense of how much you'll go up. If they know they won't waste their time on you.

Hoploz

I have no intention to offend you, OP! It just seems you are maybe feeling a bit paranoid, if I may say. I can see that you've been annoyed by the wait for the answer from the first offer. But perhaps the agent was trying to get the best picture of you as a buyer in order to present it in the best possible light to the seller. All the EA wants to do is tie up a deal. If they only get one offer they want it to come to fruition if at all possible. I am not suggesting you dump your own broker for one minute. Giving the EA your broker's contact details was the right thing to do, as this corroborates everything and he can then put your strong position to the seller. Maybe he put the offer forward straightaway but the seller asked for more details about you and he came back to you to ask. Then the seller thought it over for a day or two.

I am just suggesting that if you want to increase your offer then do so. The EA will be happy to put it forward, I'm sure.

Propertynewbie

Hoploz wrote: »

I have no intention to offend you, OP! It just seems you are maybe feeling a bit paranoid, if I may say. I can see that you've been annoyed by the wait for the answer from the first offer. But perhaps the agent was trying to get the best picture of you as a buyer in order to present it in the best possible light to the seller. All the EA wants to do is tie up a deal. If they only get one offer they want it to come to fruition if at all possible. I am not suggesting you dump your own broker for one minute. Giving the EA your broker's contact details was the right thing to do, as this corroborates everything and he can then put your strong position to the seller. Maybe he put the offer forward straightaway but the seller asked for more details about you and he came back to you to ask. Then the seller thought it over for a day or two.

None taken. But like I said, our mild suspicion was confirmed by a letter we later received (a week after) stating that our offer was only communicated 3 days (not 2 as previously stated) after we have put it forward. Perhaps it was our fault for not staying in the EA's office to hear him relay our offer, but being starting FTBs, we just assumed it was going to be done the same day if not right after we left considering the EAs didn't seem, in hindsight, to be preoccupied with work — they were all nonchalantly chatting before we walked in and amongst ourselves once we were there. The EA who dealt with us had our details — FTBs, ready to proceed, etc. — including the fact we had a broker. Whatever better picture the EA could have gotten of us, he could have asked of us on the day, a day after, 2 days after, or even 3 (we were asked to come in on the 4th day to see their broker).

I've put this thread up to see what better approach, if any, we can take in future dealings with the EA or vendor given the background. If I'm right, the consensus seems to be to not delay a 2nd and final bid any further as there's no point in waiting it out a bit. We were thinking of offering this coming Monday, since it's just after the weekend and the advice we've read is to stipulate that future viewings are cancelled — that is, most viewings are scheduled on weekends and it might seem pressuring them again to offer on a Friday with said stipulation in mind; that is, both parties are better placed to judge our or any additional offer after the weekend and possible viewings have gone. Which of course could be the wrong way of looking at it, but hence this thread.

nubbins

Your last post has actually given me brain pain!!:D

Put your revised offer in Monday and see what happens. I would not be making any demands or stipulations with a 14% under the ask offer as its probably going to wind the sellers up, if you offered the full ask or just under then maybe. Put it in and carry on looking, if you get it you've done well, if you don't then hopefully something else will come along. If they reject this offer and it is overpriced then you never know it might take them 1 or 2 months to realise yours was the best they are going to get and come back to you.

Propertynewbie

nubbins wrote: »

I would not be making any demands or stipulations with a 14% under the ask offer as its probably going to wind the sellers up, if you offered the full ask or just under then maybe.

Not even asking for the property to be withdrawn from the open market? Aren't we just easily setting ourselves up to be gazzumped?

We don't mind not stipulating an expiry date on the offer, but from what I've read here it is good practice to do so, so as to prevent your rejected offer being used as leverage against other buyers?

LateStarter

I'm really not having a go, but you're both overcomplicating it and being naive - what's in this for the seller?

And nobody is 'against' anyone - he /she s trying to sell something of value for the best price they can get. You'd do the same.

Propertynewbie

LateStarter wrote: »

I'm really not having a go, but you're both overcomplicating it and being naive - what's in this for the seller?

And nobody is 'against' anyone - he /she s trying to sell something of value for the best price they can get. You'd do the same.

I wouldn't know 'what's in it' for the seller as I wasn't thinking of it in those terms. I thought it would be prudent to get a second opinion (against what another EA and our broker advised, which was to wait) before lodging a final offer. One reads about EA's delaying tactics here; we thought we were made to go through one, but which at no point I've antagonised. My thinking is that if that really is the norm, then so be it. But if there was a way we could come out of that whole process in a better position, not just with this property but in the future, then we thought it's worth asking around if there's anything we can do. It appears there isn't.

I've moved on to ask about stipulations, as I'm fully aware the new offer wouldn't be near the vendor's asking price and what with comments about our offer possibly winding up the seller, I wanted to make sure we get it right the second time.

The suggestion was that it might be a bad idea to include them with such a low offer. I'm not fully convinced — not out of spite, or to paint anyone as against us, or some bid to play mind games — but only because it's against the general advice we've read here and that I wanted to make sure I got it right that we ought to be not insisting on the property/ads being withdrawn from the market upon acceptance of the new offer (or a survey done).