House under offer but won't tell me how much...

Sachs

The issue can often be the fee structure. If the EA is on say, 1.5% and you offer 2k more than the other guy the EA earns £30. They will probably lose money on dealing with you.
That's not to say that's how it should be but bad estate agents at the cheaper end of the market that's how it's going to be.

LilElvis

As the property is vacant, and the previous owner was elderly, this is going to be either a probate sale or because they have entered residential care. Therefore it is likely that the seller has little or no knowledge about the property to pass on to the agent. 

Researching the area is down to you - no agent is going to have an encyclopdeic knowledge of every square mile their agency sells in. In addition, only you know which facilities and amenities are important to you - one person might want major roads for quick transport links whilst another may prefer the quiet of rural back roads.

If you wanted the agent to show you the upstairs and the garden you could always have asked them. Personally I prefer to view uninterrupted and without the agent breathing down my neck/ overhearing every comment we make - they are in another room so can be asked questions if required.

Doozergirl

if you're a property lawyer, you'd understand why an estate doesn't want to commit to telling you want the boundary situation is, if they had a clue about it.   You'd also understand that most agents aren't all that experienced, especially the ones opening the front door for you.  You'd also understand that whilst they say 'not legally allowed' they mean 'not remotely obliged' to tell you another offer.  Or 'not legally forced' to open lofts etc.  

Ultimately, they do sales, marketing and a bit of progression to jiggle the chain along.  Detail is not their thing.  

The rest is down to, er, the property lawyers.  

I deal with people much less experienced than me, but that's what comes with getting older.  At least knowing who is supposed to be doing what and when is actually a
more comfortable a position than feeling led.  

wilfred30

I remember years ago, selling a house that a FTB was interested in but, as she wasted everyone's time by coming up with so many ridiculous demands, the Estate Agent ended up blacklisting her!

GDB2222

LegalNim said:

wilfred30 said:

LegalNim said:

wilfred30 said:

How on earth did you think the Agent would know about the neighbour's fence?
It's normal for the amount of an offer not to be disclosed to other potential purchasers.

I'd expect an agent to know where the property line is for a property considering that it's available on the internet... The fact that two weeks after sending an email, they still can't figure it out is ridiculous.

If, as you say, you're a property lawyer, I'm amazed that you don't know what an Estate Agent does and what issues are nothing to do with them i.e. the neighbour's fence!  
You seem to be displaying all the traits of a FTB that Agents/vendors are increasingly not wanting to deal with.  I fear you're going to have a lot of disappointments going forward and you may struggle to find an Agent and/or vendor willing to nurse you through the process. 

I thought an estate agent's job was to try and sell the property... Forgive me for expecting them to actually try to sell it by knowing something about it and not flat-out insulting the property to prospective buyers.

An agent's job is to earn commissions by introducing buyers the sellers are happy to sell to. They have done that in this case. Now, all they want is no boat-rocking. And along you come, demand to be shown round, ask questions that would require the agent to do much work to answer, or at least a bit of work. And, worst of all, you are threatening to put in an offer! At best, they might get a tiny increase in the commission, but you are likely to hold things up. Anything that holds up the sale is BAD, as the vendors could die, go mad, or change their mind, not to say the house could burn down.  

GDB2222

Oh, and worst of all, you are a first time buyer. So, you are not encumbered by a property to sell, and you appear to be financially stable, so there’s really no good way to persuade the vendor not to switch horses and consider an offer from you.

eddddy

LegalNim said:

Now the property is "under offer" but the agents won't tell me what the current offer is. What can I do?

FWIW, most EAs are members of the Property Ombudsman Scheme. Their mandatory code of practice says:

9g You must be fair and not misleading when disclosing the amount of any offers made to other buyers. Before disclosing the amount of an offer, you must advise the seller of such intention and get the seller’s agreement; and you must warn all buyers who make offers that it is your practice to do so. If you do disclose any offer to one buyer, then all offers must be immediately disclosed to all buyers with a current interest in negotiations for the property.

Link: https://www.tpos.co.uk/images/Codes_2019_a5/TPOE27-8_Code_of_Practice_for_Residential_Estate_Agents_A5_-_Effective_1_June_2019.pdf

And generally, EAs don't like disclosing offers, because it can result in gazumping - which delays the sale process (and so delays them getting their commission).

I guess the other side of the coin is, if you had made a successful offer, and you were spending money on mortgage applications, searches, legal fees etc - you probably wouldn't want the EA telling other buyers what your offer is, and therefore encouraging them to offer more.

Surrey_EA

eddddy said:

And generally, EAs don't like disclosing offers, because it can result in gazumping - which delays the sale process (and so delays them getting their commission).

I guess the other side of the coin is, if you had made a successful offer, and you were spending money on mortgage applications, searches, legal fees etc - you probably wouldn't want the EA telling other buyers what your offer is, and therefore encouraging them to offer more.

Something that I'd expect to be pretty clear to a property lawyer!

diggingdude

Property Lawyer........of course you are....unless you mean property such as laundry tablets and wooden chairs.  You sound like the sort of person who gives first time buyers a bad name,

Competsoph

@LegalNim I can’t offer any help but I am in a similar position to yourself and I am also finding EA very difficult to deal with! I’ve tried to show my interest in a particular property and ask questions but have been made to feel like I’m pestering and stupid! I’m sorry you’re having this experience!