Clarity On placing formal offers on buying a property

steve2000

Hi, I'll try to keep this quick.
I viewed a property last week and placed a low offer on it.
After a few days I rang the estate agent to ask if my offer had been considered.
The agent said that the vendor was not interested in my offer but I got the impression that the agent was lying.
I also get the impression that the agent had not passed on the details of my offer to the vendor.

My question is that I am aware that the agent has a legal responsibility to pass on my offer, but how can I prove that they have done so?


Extra info. the property was advertised for 80k an I placed and offer of 70k.
I think my offer was reasonable considering the area and the current condition of the property
(the property will require moderate "updating".

G_M

The agent does not need to pass on offers if the seller who employs him instructed him not to (eg "I don't want to see offer lower than £X")

However, there is nothing to stop you putting your offer in writing and copying it to the seller.

steve2000

Hmm. it's impossible to contact the seller.
The agent has not given me any details of the seller and the house is currently empty.

I had hoped that the agent must reply to me in writing to refuse my offer. but it seems this may not be the case? The agent didn't say anything about not being instructed on certain offers.

My opinion is that the property is overvalued slightly, and since I am a cash buyer, then the vendor may agree to the sale.
However, I do not think the agent is notifying the vendor of my offer.

I know its sounds loopy and "conspiracy theory" but I promise this is a genuine question.


If i was to put my offer in writing, is the agent required to respond in writing?

PS thank you for your reply. I had 90 hits to this question before someone tried to answer.
I suspect that may be because the question is relatively unusual. but thank you all the same

AnotherJoe

steve2000 wrote: »

My question is that I am aware that the agent has a legal responsibility to pass on my offer, but how can I prove that they have done so?

.

Ask the vendor

mije1983

The only way you can 'prove' the agent has passed the offer on is to ask the seller.

You could always post a letter through the door of the property in the hope that they visit occasionally. The downside of that is that you will look a bit strange if the seller has indeed rejected the offer and they will wonder why you have done this!

You're other option is to increase your offer if you believe it is worth more than £70k. If not, walk away.

steve2000

Thanks for the fair and sensible answers on this.

The only person entering the property is the agent. so that rules out a lot of options.

I guess I have no way of knowing if my offer was relayed to the seller or not. (unless they accept my offer).

cr1mson

You could get the owner's details from land registry if you really wanted. Think about £3. Not sure if it is a good plan as may weaken bargaining position ie if you are willing to go to so much effort you will probably pay more.

davidmcn

cr1mson wrote: »

You could get the owner's details from land registry if you really wanted.

That won't necessarily give you their current contact details though - their address on the register may well be the property address, or the address of a property they sold at the time they bought.

Cakeguts

My guess about this is that your offer is too low. If the property is empty there is a fair chance that it is already priced low to allow for being updated. The 80K may be a probate valuation in which case the sellers may not want to sell below that value. It is possible that the agent knows this and so there wouldn't be any point in passing on your offer or there may have been other offers in the region of £70k that have already been turned down as too low.

You say that you think your offer was reasonable and you are entitled to your opinion but you have to remember that the seller is also entitled to their opinion that 70K is too low.

Your offer has been rejected so what do you want to do now? Either increase the offer or find somewhere else?

steve2000

I would probably walk away from it.
I know there are 2 similar properties in the same street at 115 GBP.
By the time they accept 110 and take 5000 of for the agents fees and SOLs fess, they will come out with 100k.

The house which I like is up for 80K. I found out recently that the house was owned by an older person who has gone into care and wants the money to pay for a carer. there were no other details or information, and I didn't want to ask prying questions to the agent.

The problem is that the house has not been updated since to 70's or 80's.
It needs a new bathroom, kitchen, and re-decorating throughout, and will require a number of new ceilings as there are some pretty big cracks. (simply skimming them will not be enough). however the walls seem to be solid.
I estimate the costs would come into the 20k mark or maybe more.

I there fore offered 70K which would give me a reasonable buffer should I have mis - estimated my modernization costs.

Considering I am offering cash, I would have thought that was a good offer.

The houses in the city have dropped 20% in prices in the last 2-3 years. (North of England).

at 80k there is no incentive to repair this property. otherwise I could run into a loss, either now or in the future. its bad business if you can't at least break even. and for this reason, I do not think the property is worth more than 70k.

Thrugelmir

steve2000 wrote: »

The agent said that the vendor was not interested in my offer but I got the impression that the agent was lying.

For what purpose? The same comment is posted on here all the time. Simply no logic to the accusation. Unfortunately some vendors are in no rush and are happy to wait a while longer. After all it is money that at stake.