Do we retract our offer?

badger09

I agree with others, I would leave offer on the table but view other properties.
It really doesn't sound as if they are serious. If they were, they would explain to you what is going on and why the delay.
Could be a valid reason  - illness, bereavement etc but up to them to explain.  

youth_leader

I'm sorry you are having to wait so long, they are obviously looking for offers over asking.  In mid October I was the first to view a bungalow, and when I went to my car rang the EA and offered full asking price.  The EA rang me back and said the vendor wanted to allow the other viewings booked in to continue over the weekend.  On the Monday the EA rang me again and said it was mine if I would offer a few thousand over the asking price - I offered the amount of stamp duty I would save, at the time I assumed we'd complete by then, it's now looking as though it's going to be tight.  I heard back later that afternoon that the vendor had accepted my increase.  

LDS8623

badger09 said:

I agree with others, I would leave offer on the table but view other properties.
It really doesn't sound as if they are serious. If they were, they would explain to you what is going on and why the delay.
Could be a valid reason  - illness, bereavement etc but up to them to explain.  

Totally agree. Just some sort of explanation would have sufficed, but now they’ve left us to stew and come up with a myriad of possibilities and second guesses that are likely to be completely untrue! We’d probably have been pretty open to a lot of scenarios if they’d been a bit more upfront with us. 

Thanks for the advice though everyone! It’s reassuring that we’re not being complete divas in this situation 😂 

We’ve actually had an email from them in last couple of hours to arrange a call, which in itself suggests it’s not going to be a straightforward sale (if they even sell). Glad we’ve got some viewings lined up as I think this purchase is probably doomed! So won’t retract the offer until we’ve got a better understanding of the situation.

Cheers!

gettingtheresometime

princeofpounds said:

If THEIR agent tells you to go and look at other properties... that's a bit of a hint.

This in spades.
Talking to our neighbours recently they admitted they were warmed off another property near by the EA as basically the sellers have a history of putting their house on the market and then withdrawing it for no logical reason

boots_babe

I'd have to disagree with the suggestion of just leaving the offer on the table. If you do that, then the vendor knows you're still available as a backstop option if nothing better comes along, leaving them in a nice position but you in a poor one.

Of course go ahead with this call they've requested, but if you don't get a firm response to your offer on the call, if it were me I would withdraw the offer and make it clear that I was moving on to look at other properties.

lookstraightahead

boots_babe said:

I'd have to disagree with the suggestion of just leaving the offer on the table. If you do that, then the vendor knows you're still available as a backstop option if nothing better comes along, leaving then in a nice position but you in a poor one.

Of course go ahead with this call they've requested, but if you don't get a firm response your offer on the call, if it were me I would withdraw the offer and make it clear that I was moving on to look at other properties.

I agree with this. You don't need to wait for anything. Look what you have done to ensure your sale - you should expect the same. You're in a really good position now. Personally I wouldn't wait for them to find a house if that's what's it's about either. You can swap your rental with them when they leave! 

janoid19

boots_babe said:

I'd have to disagree with the suggestion of just leaving the offer on the table. If you do that, then the vendor knows you're still available as a backstop option if nothing better comes along, leaving then in a nice position but you in a poor one.

Of course go ahead with this call they've requested, but if you don't get a firm response your offer on the call, if it were me I would withdraw the offer and make it clear that I was moving on to look at other properties.

I'm not sure why it would leave the OP in a poor position. They can carry on looking at other houses and if the vendor has nothing better come along and decides to accept the OP's offer then the OP can either tell them its too late as they have found something else or go ahead and purchase.

They are not tied down to anything by leaving the offer on the table if they like the property.

boots_babe

janoid19 said:

boots_babe said:

I'd have to disagree with the suggestion of just leaving the offer on the table. If you do that, then the vendor knows you're still available as a backstop option if nothing better comes along, leaving then in a nice position but you in a poor one.

Of course go ahead with this call they've requested, but if you don't get a firm response your offer on the call, if it were me I would withdraw the offer and make it clear that I was moving on to look at other properties.

I'm not sure why it would leave the OP in a poor position. They can carry on looking at other houses and if the vendor has nothing better come along and decides to accept the OP's offer then the OP can either tell them its too late as they have found something else or go ahead and purchase.

They are not tied down to anything by leaving the offer on the table if they like the property.

Hi, 

By poor position, I meant that the vendor is safe in the knowledge that they can treat this person as a 'back up plan', and so by leaving an open offer on the table it's likely to disincentivise the vendor to take the offer seriously any time soon. They will probably think it's great, they can keep on marketing in the hope of a better offer, but think that they can come back to their safety net offer any time they want.

By withdrawing the offer or at least putting an expiry date on it, you will focus the vendor's mind. They may come to the realisation that this offer is not so bad, and may be better than staying on the market and risking no more offer. Of course they may also mull it over and decide the offer isn't for them, and want to stay on the market for a higher offer. Even this outcome would be a good thing, as it would at least mean the person who has made the offer can mentally move on from this property, and know to focus their efforts elsewhere, instead of constantly wondering if the vendors might get back in touch.

AnotherJoe

boots_babe said:

janoid19 said:

boots_babe said:

I'd have to disagree with the suggestion of just leaving the offer on the table. If you do that, then the vendor knows you're still available as a backstop option if nothing better comes along, leaving then in a nice position but you in a poor one.

Of course go ahead with this call they've requested, but if you don't get a firm response your offer on the call, if it were me I would withdraw the offer and make it clear that I was moving on to look at other properties.

I'm not sure why it would leave the OP in a poor position. They can carry on looking at other houses and if the vendor has nothing better come along and decides to accept the OP's offer then the OP can either tell them its too late as they have found something else or go ahead and purchase.

They are not tied down to anything by leaving the offer on the table if they like the property.

Hi, 

By poor position, I meant that the vendor is safe in the knowledge that they can treat this person as a 'back up plan', and so by leaving an open offer on the table it's likely to disincentivise the vendor to take the offer seriously any time soon. They will probably think it's great, they can keep on marketing in the hope of a better offer, but think that they can come back to their safety net offer any time they want.

By withdrawing the offer or at least putting an expiry date on it, you will focus the vendor's mind. They may come to the realisation that this offer is not so bad, and may be better than staying on the market and risking no more offer. Of course they may also mull it over and decide the offer isn't for them, and want to stay on the market for a higher offer. Even this outcome would be a good thing, as it would at least mean the person who has made the offer can mentally move on from this property, and know to focus their efforts elsewhere, instead of constantly wondering if the vendors might get back in touch.

Exactly ! All that. 

 By leaving the offer on the table you are giving them a nice backstop and a way to encourage other purchasers, who may also offer higher because FOMO.

I can tell you what happened at the time OP, what happened was after they had an AP offer that didn't have the condition "if you stop all viewings" they decided to go for more money. Why else would they delay an AP offer. They suddenly thought "oh perhaps we undervalued" rather than "OP is so keen to buy they paid overvalue"
If it was me, unless I was desperate to buy this house I'd say accept our AP offer by the end of today or it's withdrawn.

eidand

I would not leave the offer on the table as they will simply use it to ty and get more from other buyers. No, give them 24 hours and then say the offer is no longer on the table after that. They had enough time to think about it ....