Offer made at asking price...Not sure of seller/EA's game

DonRoddy

Hello,
We have recently found a property that we're very interested in. It's my second time buying a house so I'm still very new to the process.
We really liked the property, it was in a good area and ticked all of our boxes. After our first viewing and a couple of days to think about it, we put in an offer at £5,000 below the asking price. I recieved a call back within a couple of hours from the EA saying that the sellers are looking for the asking price. The next morning (approx 2 weeks ago) we made an offer at asking price and the estate agent said he'd put it to the seller and we hadn't heard anything back for about a week aside from the fact that the vendor would like to think about it, and that there is a lot of interest in the property. We went for a 2nd viewing about a week ago, and asked for an update and were told that there is a couple of offers on the table and the seller will "put them all in a pot and decide whats best". During this whole period the property has been (and still is) on the market, with no indication of it being under offer. 

As we have already made an offer at asking price, shouldn't the EA tell us if anyones come in at a higher offer? Are they just trying to make us sweat and offer more? Is the vendor not really serious about selling (retired couple looking to relocate closer to children "in no major" rush). It makes me question why the property is on the market for an asking price - the advert did NOT say "offers over". 
I feel like we are being left in the dark here with wishy washy responses from the estate agent. 

Also, I dont know if it has anything to do with it but my wife and i are black, and the area we are looking to move to is predominantly white. The vendors were at both of our viewings and seemed really friendly, so I dont assume racism is at play here. 
I'm just tired of being messed around, we really like the house but I refuse to offer more than the asking price unless we are made more clear on the sellers position and the other buyers/offers. Our current property is under offer and progressing with the conveyancer so we are in a good position to purchase.

eidand

I wouldn't read too much into it. You're dealing with people and sometimes what they do is not logical.
I would give the EAs a deadline. If you don't hear by X date, your offer is off the table.
Look at other properties in the meanwhile and if something else suitable appears then go for that instead.

RelievedSheff

The colour of your skin will have no bearing on your offer.

If the vendors do indeed have several offers on the table then they are right in mulling them over and deciding which is the best offer for them to accept which isn't necessarily the highest bidder.

DonRoddy

Thanks for responding - we have been looking at many other properties, but nothing comes quite close to this (recently refurbished and well taken care of, no work needed when we move in. Perfect location for both of our jobs and close to family).
Others have advised me to put in a deadline, however I'm worried by doing this it won't make them move any faster (they seem really unbothered by this - both the EA and the vendor) and then our offer is gone. I might give it until the end of this week and chase up again, possibly putting a deadline in place. It's just a bit frustrating that when we put the lower offer in we were rejected immediately, then when we offered asking price we've just been waiting, and in the meantime the property has been open to the market and receiving other offers. Should the EA not have told us before that other offers are there at some point before/after we made our offer?

DonRoddy

I should also note, we would consider increasing the offer above asking price, however I'm not comfortable doing this until I know that we aren't just outbidding our own selves. Is the estate agent required to tell us that somebody has put in an offer at a higher price? Is it quite a common situation where a property that has multiple offers on it already is still on the market and open for viewings?

eddddy

Is the EA a 'traditional one' that's paid on completion, or one that's paid up front? If they're paid on completion, the EA would typically be pushing the seller to accept an offer and get things moving.

Typically, the EA would have told you that other offers were on the table, and probably invited you to give your 'best and final' offer.

eidand

DonRoddy said:

I should also note, we would consider increasing the offer above asking price, however I'm not comfortable doing this until I know that we aren't just outbidding our own selves. Is the estate agent required to tell us that somebody has put in an offer at a higher price? Is it quite a common situation where a property that has multiple offers on it already is still on the market and open for viewings?

yup, until an offer is actually accepted I would expect the property to remain on the market and still accept viewings.

greatcrested

Be patiant.

The seller is making a major multi-hundred-pound decision. So allow him time toconsider your and other offers. If there's ongong interest he may decide to continue viewings before deciding. Most of the women I've been out with spend longer choosing a new dress than people often do buying/selling houses!

Or maybe one of them works away from home and they wanted to discuss over the weekend. Who knows?

Don't rush to put on a deadline and potentially cut yourself off. Nor increase your offer till you hear back.

DonRoddy

eddddy said:

Is the EA a 'traditional one' that's paid on completion, or one that's paid up front? If they're paid on completion, the EA would typically be pushing the seller to accept an offer and get things moving.

Typically, the EA would have told you that other offers were on the table, and probably invited you to give your 'best and final' offer.

As far as I'm aware it's a traditional, locally headquartered EA. Which is why I'm surprised that there is little to no progression. When I pushed last week, they said "it's up to the seller, we can't do anything". Which doesn't sound right to me? Again I'm still very new to this, my first property went a lot smoother.

HummingBird76

DonRoddy said:

I should also note, we would consider increasing the offer above asking price, however I'm not comfortable doing this until I know that we aren't just outbidding our own selves. Is the estate agent required to tell us that somebody has put in an offer at a higher price? Is it quite a common situation where a property that has multiple offers on it already is still on the market and open for viewings?

I might be wrong, but I don't think they are allowed to tell you if they've had a higher offer.  It's seen as playing people against each other.  That is what I was told when I was selling.  They have obviously just had a number of offers and they are trying to decide which works best for them (its not always down to just the price).

DonRoddy

greatcrested said:

Be patiant.

The seller is making a major multi-hundred-pound decision. So allow him time toconsider your and other offers. If there's ongong interest he may decide to continue viewings before deciding. Most of the women I've been out with spend longer choosing a new dress than people often do buying/selling houses!

Or maybe one of them works away from home and they wanted to discuss over the weekend. Who knows?

Don't rush to put on a deadline and potentially cut yourself off. Nor increase your offer till you hear back.

Thank you - I guess because my first purchase and sale have gone so easily/quickly I didn't see the bigger picture, I've also had a lot of positive communication with the estate agents that I had dealt with previously. My wife and I are a little worried we won't get anywhere by the time we complete on our current house (it's being sold to a buy to let investor, who we've already told we are not planning to stay there as tenants). We just really don't want to miss out on this house!