Vendor is a nightmare to contact - still not heard back on our offer

bethany95

Hello, looking for some advice. We placed an offer 3 days ago on a house we really like. Still no news. The estate agent has called and sent emails. The seller has tried to call back at 7pm apparently but obviously the estate agents are closed. She apparently works 8am-7pm and cant use her phone during these hours! We are finding it all very stressful as we have already missed out on 2 houses we liked. We need to meet the stamp duty holiday and worry that if she isnt contactable during the day how long will it take for the sale to proceed? Any advice would be so helpful! Thanks 

m0bov

If its bad now, imagine what it will be like during the process! Has she accepted or not? You want the EA to give you a yes or no, give them till end of day then move on and look elsewhere.

bethany95

m0bov said:

If its bad now, imagine what it will be like during the process! Has she accepted or not? You want the EA to give you a yes or no, give them till end of day then move on and look elsewhere.

Well its been three days and they are going to try and contact her Dad! This woman has two sons both teenagers so it already feels odd that they are having to try and contact her dad for an answer! We just really like the house so struggling to move on I guess. 

moneysavinghero

Why strange they would contact her dad?. If they cant contact her during office hours and they know they can contact her dad, seems a like a reasonable work around. Would be strange if they contacted teenage boys about an offer.

Eilidh1970

She must have a lunch break during the 8am to 7pm shifts when she could get a message to the estate agents. 

bethany95

Eilidh1970 said:

She must have a lunch break during the 8am to 7pm shifts when she could get a message to the estate agents. 

My thoughts exactly which is why we are worried about it 

hazyjo

Eilidh1970 said:

She must have a lunch break during the 8am to 7pm shifts when she could get a message to the estate agents. 

I know plenty who don't. We have lawyers who work through the night regularly, sometimes 3 nights running with a few hours grabbed on a sofa. I wouldn't want to try and buy a house off any of them.

If there's another point of contact, give it a go. If not, well, let's just say you'll be lucky to be in by Easter!

Falafels

Does she work 8.00am - 7.00pm every week? Or is it just part of a shift pattern? Either way, even if she has breaks there's no guarantee that they'll be at lunchtime. 

I still don't understand why she can't leave a message with the estate agent, though, and vice-versa. I used to work in an environment where mobile phones had to be left in lockers outside the main site - but people still managed to communicate with the outside world!

FinallyStoppedLurking

I'd contact the estate agent and give a deadline for the offer to be accepted. That deals with the issue of offer but you are still likely to face issues going forward. If/when your offer is accepted I'd raise the concern with the estate agent and ask them to put your concerns to the vendor regarding contact and the possible delays this may cause going forward.

The vendor of the property we are buying is very easy to get hold of but communication of a question can still take a couple of days as the estate agents have other things they are chasing up. I'd hate to think what it would be like in your situation and it would certainly be a big concern going forward. Things I'd consider - state of the property (are there likely to be lots of enquiries etc), onward chain (longer chain slows things down).

hazyjo

They could just communicate by email. Then they can respond when it suits.

davidmcn

hazyjo said:

Eilidh1970 said:

She must have a lunch break during the 8am to 7pm shifts when she could get a message to the estate agents. 

I know plenty who don't. We have lawyers who work through the night regularly, sometimes 3 nights running with a few hours grabbed on a sofa.

Sure, but even if they're working, lawyers generally aren't too far from a phone! Other jobs I could better understand not being able to take calls.