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

Missy79

I've bought property before but not had to deal with estate agents as I was already renting the property, my sales agent was rubbish and now I'm buying on the open market I've experienced a lot of the issues you have. It's frustrating but mildly understandable that they don't know anything (and I mean literally anything!) about the properties they're selling while viewing, but what's worse is they tend to also be unwilling to try and find any answers if you are interested in the property but need further info (and I don't mean things the solicitors would deal with, I mean basic queries). Their only job appears to be to unlock the door.

blue_max_3

Missy79 said:

I've bought property before but not had to deal with estate agents as I was already renting the property, my sales agent was rubbish and now I'm buying on the open market I've experienced a lot of the issues you have. It's frustrating but mildly understandable that they don't know anything (and I mean literally anything!) about the properties they're selling while viewing, but what's worse is they tend to also be unwilling to try and find any answers if you are interested in the property but need further info (and I don't mean things the solicitors would deal with, I mean basic queries). Their only job appears to be to unlock the door.

If they had any more intelligence, they'd be stacking shelves   
But seriously, I have found the ones I have come into contact with have been fine. My recent failed attempt to buy, ended up with the property I was thinking of offering on, going for over the asking!

warby68

Why do you want to know the offer?
So you can annoy absolutely everyone by offering £1 more? 
You do have a guide, several in fact - the asking price, the state of the local market, what other comparable properties have sold for, what other properties you are interested in and your budget. Use those.
If you want a clue before you put it in, ask the agent I'm thinking of offering X , am I wasting my time? Sometimes you will then get a guide as to what ballpark the other offer is in.
Don't expect much encouragement from an agent when an offer has already been accepted - they just want that deal done and dusted. They're only interested for a very small window when they're trying to get enough offers for the vendor to pick at least one. So don't offer on properties which they consider sold unless its in the context of ' I know its sold but if something falls through, I'd consider offering X'. It just makes you look less shifty than trying to undo done deals.
My advice to novice FTBs is to find someone in real life to hold your hand and talk things through with rather than firing questions at random 'professionals' who will soon see through your lack of knowledge and your possible nuisance quota.

missile

LegalNim said:

Thanks, this is what I thought but I just hoped there was another option. It's tough when you're just negotiating in the dark.

That is why it is called a blind auction.

Jumblebumble

warby68 said:

Why do you want to know the offer?
So you can annoy absolutely everyone by offering £1 more? 
You do have a guide, several in fact - the asking price, the state of the local market, what other comparable properties have sold for, what other properties you are interested in and your budget. Use those.
If you want a clue before you put it in, ask the agent I'm thinking of offering X , am I wasting my time? Sometimes you will then get a guide as to what ballpark the other offer is in.
Don't expect much encouragement from an agent when an offer has already been accepted - they just want that deal done and dusted. They're only interested for a very small window when they're trying to get enough offers for the vendor to pick at least one. So don't offer on properties which they consider sold unless its in the context of ' I know its sold but if something falls through, I'd consider offering X'. It just makes you look less shifty than trying to undo done deals.
My advice to novice FTBs is to find someone in real life to hold your hand and talk things through with rather than firing questions at random 'professionals' who will soon see through your lack of knowledge and your possible nuisance quota.

The other issue with knowing the offer is that it may not help much as said offer may not exist
The offer may be concocted by the EA
The offerer may be a time waster
The offerer may be a mate of the vendor
etc

eidand

As long as the property is "Under Offer" and not "SSTC" I would  go in with my own offer. 
What someone else offered is pretty irrelevant, as the context is far more important, are they proceed-able, are they chain free or not etc.
I'd say offer what it's worth to you irrespective of any other offers and also i'd leave the offer on the table unless you find something else, as many sales do fall through.
Only way I would go over asking or guide price, is if I really ( and I mean really .... ) wanted that particular property, in that particular area and I would not want to lose it. A few k extra makes little difference over the length of the mortgage.

robatwork

Missy79 said:

. Their only job appears to be to unlock the door.

I'm often EA bashing on here. For good reason. My last round of house viewings last summer was particularly eye opening. The EA principal at one I was very interested in was OK but 99% unavailable. So I was "shown" round by one of his agents who "knew the property well". To be honest she barely managed to open the front door, needed help in opening the patio doors and knew absolutely nothing about the house. Couldn't answer one question. On top of that she didn't ask anything or make any comments at all as I looked round. Not even "how did you like the house?" as I left. Personality of a damp haddock. 

Mahsroh

Put the boot on the other foot. 
You make an offer on a property. The EA then picks up the phone to another interested party and says: "someone has just offered X, would you like to offer X + £1".
Would you be criticising the EA then, or would you think that's perfectly reasonable behaviour? 

eddddy

eidand said:

As long as the property is "Under Offer" and not "SSTC" I would  go in with my own offer. 

This is a resurrected thread from  3 months ago - but anyway...

EAs generally use the terms "Under Offer", "Sold STC" and "Sale Agreed" to all mean the same thing.

According to the Property Ombudsman....

The Property Ombudsman has said that in her view, there is no difference between ‘Sale Agreed’, ‘Under Offer’, and ‘Sold Subject to Contract’.
...
She told us: “All estate agents use different terminology to define the status of a property and The Property Ombudsman’s Code of Practice for Residential Estate Agents does not define which term agents should use.

“In my view, ‘Sale Agreed’, ‘Under Offer’ and ‘Sold Subject to Contract’ all propose the same, that the seller has accepted an offer on the property, that is, a sale has been agreed, but contracts are not yet exchanged.

“‘Sold’ should only be used once contracts have been exchanged.”

Link: https://propertyindustryeye.com/sale-agreed-under-offer-and-sold-subject-to-contract-theres-no-difference-says-the-ombudsman/

eidand

eddddy said:

eidand said:

As long as the property is "Under Offer" and not "SSTC" I would  go in with my own offer. 

This is a resurrected thread from  3 months ago - but anyway...

EAs generally use the terms "Under Offer", "Sold STC" and "Sale Agreed" to all mean the same thing.

According to the Property Ombudsman....

The Property Ombudsman has said that in her view, there is no difference between ‘Sale Agreed’, ‘Under Offer’, and ‘Sold Subject to Contract’.
...
She told us: “All estate agents use different terminology to define the status of a property and The Property Ombudsman’s Code of Practice for Residential Estate Agents does not define which term agents should use.

“In my view, ‘Sale Agreed’, ‘Under Offer’ and ‘Sold Subject to Contract’ all propose the same, that the seller has accepted an offer on the property, that is, a sale has been agreed, but contracts are not yet exchanged.

“‘Sold’ should only be used once contracts have been exchanged.”

Link: https://propertyindustryeye.com/sale-agreed-under-offer-and-sold-subject-to-contract-theres-no-difference-says-the-ombudsman/

that makes no sense whatsoever, regardless of who says it
why would you need several different statuses for the same thing? or is that too much logic, right there?