Is contacting the vendor directly ok?

jodiepoke

We had our offer accepted on a property nearly a month ago. So far there is no progress on the purchase and we are getting no responses from the estate agent about the forward chain/what’s going on.

Is contacting the vendor directly an ok thing to do? Have you contacted your chain directly to try to cut out the middle man?

I’d keep the contact polite and as respectful as possible in case you were thinking it would only be pushy messages.

thanks 

lucypilates

I don’t see any problem with contacting the vendor directly if they’ve given you their number already.

i has direct contact with both my buyer and vendor and contact was kept to a minimum but did help with progressing the sales … i’d say there are no hard and fast rules about it but if the vendor is not amenable  to direct contact then you have to respect that.

Irishpearce26

Ok so what has taken place in the 4 weeks since you offered from your end? 

Falafels

When you say there has been no progress on the purchase, has your solicitor received a Memorandum of Sale yet? Has your solicitor been able to give you any information?

If you want to contact the vendor direct, then you could always ask the estate agent if the vendor would be willing for this to happen, but not all would be. Depending on the personalities involved, it can really help matters along, and I've always had direct contact with the other parties involved. With our recent purchase, however, we felt it better for all contact to take place via solicitors. 

Weathergirl_76

The property I am in the process of buying, I had initial contact with the vendor to the point of arranging a date for a survey. I had a near impossible time getting hold of the agent the day after I viewed the property to put an offer in. I sent emails asking them to call me, and where the branch were busy, their calls were being diverted to other branches who couldn’t deal with my enquiry and told me they would email the branch. I eventually managed to speak to the seller’s agent 2 days later and put my offer in. I was told they would check out my chain and call me back later that day or the following. By the end of the following day, no news from the agent and again, despite my calls I couldn’t get through. I didn’t want to lose the property as I presumed viewings were still going on, so I drove there and put a note through the door explaining I had made an offer and what it was, and was having a nightmare getting in touch with their agent. I wanted the seller to know I made an offer, I put my number on there and left it at that. 

Within an hour I had a reply from the seller who wasn’t aware of my offer.  Anyway, we remained in contact until formal memorandum of sale was issued and I arranged the survey with him direct, and now I have left it at that, as I am aware this is a business transaction and don’t want to be a pain! But, we have each other’s numbers if needed. It is much easier going direct, in my case because I couldn’t get in touch with the sellers agent and was panicking I would lose the house. 

Irishpearce26

Weathergirl_76 said:

The property I am in the process of buying, I had initial contact with the vendor to the point of arranging a date for a survey. I had a near impossible time getting hold of the agent the day after I viewed the property to put an offer in. I sent emails asking them to call me, and where the branch were busy, their calls were being diverted to other branches who couldn’t deal with my enquiry and told me they would email the branch. I eventually managed to speak to the seller’s agent 2 days later and put my offer in. I was told they would check out my chain and call me back later that day or the following. By the end of the following day, no news from the agent and again, despite my calls I couldn’t get through. I didn’t want to lose the property as I presumed viewings were still going on, so I drove there and put a note through the door explaining I had made an offer and what it was, and was having a nightmare getting in touch with their agent. I wanted the seller to know I made an offer, I put my number on there and left it at that. 

Within an hour I had a reply from the seller who wasn’t aware of my offer.  Anyway, we remained in contact until formal memorandum of sale was issued and I arranged the survey with him direct, and now I have left it at that, as I am aware this is a business transaction and don’t want to be a pain! But, we have each other’s numbers if needed. It is much easier going direct, in my case because I couldn’t get in touch with the sellers agent and was panicking I would lose the house. 

Do you have a solicitor? This seems a bit far fetched, an agent wants to sell the house so I doubt they wouldn't pass on an offer.

babyblade41

Your solicitor is the one you need to contact.

For me I don't give out my contact number to buyers unless absolutely necessary 

Weathergirl_76

@Irishpearce26 Yes, I have a solicitor. I wasn’t prepared to lose the house, so decided to put a note through the door.  The vendor did not know I had made an offer 2 days prior. The issue I had was getting in contact with the seller’s agent, which I am told for this specific estate agent is not unusual. It may well seem far-fetched, but it’s what I felt was necessary to ensure the vendor knew I’d made an offer as I strongly suspected he wasn’t aware. 

When I eventually told the agent I have had difficulty getting through, they told me they have been extremely busy and are short staffed. Incidentally a few months back I tried to view a property with the same agent and they never returned my calls, I had to contact them several times to get it arranged. 

Irishpearce26

Weathergirl_76 said:

@Irishpearce26 Yes, I have a solicitor. I wasn’t prepared to lose the house, so decided to put a note through the door.  The vendor did not know I had made an offer 2 days prior. The issue I had was getting in contact with the seller’s agent, which I am told for this specific estate agent is not unusual. It may well seem far-fetched, but it’s what I felt was necessary to ensure the vendor knew I’d made an offer as I strongly suspected he wasn’t aware. 

When I eventually told the agent I have had difficulty getting through, they told me they have been extremely busy and are short staffed. Incidentally a few months back I tried to view a property with the same agent and they never returned my calls, I had to contact them several times to get it arranged. 

No issues with you making contact with the vendor, id do the same. That agent sounds terrible, if I was the vendor I would be sacking them immediately.

Weathergirl_76

@Irishpearce26 I am lucky I did not choose that agent to sell my house, (I did get them in as one of 3 for a valuation) as it’s been a long road which would have been made even worse if potential buyers couldn’t get through. I think there is a lot of value in agents that answer their phones. I have no doubt that they are so busy/short staffed, they can’t keep up with demand. 

peterhjohnson

If you are also selling, I would have a chat with your own agent along the lines of being worried that the whole chain might collapse. With any luck, they will be just as concerned as you are but also have much more experience in sorting such issues out. An agent local to me has a dedicated "sales progression" department who dedicate their lives to making property sales happen