Why would someone accept an offer when another viewing was booked?

EssexHebridean

You’ve said it yourself - the property had been on the market for a long time. How much interest there was prior to that offer you have no idea - all you know I presume is what the agent has told you, and agents say all sorts of things for all sorts of reasons! If the offer was at the level that the vendor was prepared to accept, then after that amount of time a “bird in the hand” offer is probably worth just saying yes to, particularly if by now they are desperate to be able to start the process of being able to look for a property to purchase. 

When we listed our flat, we had two levels of price in mind. The first was a point where we would accept an offer immediately as long as the buyer was proceedable. The second was a lowest point we were really prepared to accept. Our eventual buyer made an initial (silly) offer - and we suggested the agent asked her if she needed “offers in the region of…” explained as it was so far under.  (Although she was buying as an investment, she was also a FTB, hence we genuinely didn’t know if she did actually understand how the process worked). She then made another offer,  slightly higher but still below our “will consider” level, before finally coming back some time later with an offer which sat right between our “true asking price” figure and the one we were prepared to consider. We explained that as we had a further couple of viewings booked we were going to honour those, but would let her know once we had feedback from those. Neither of those went to an offer, so we confirmed to her that we would accept her offer. All very clear and straightforward. 

user1977

staffie1 said:

There is no honour in this process, and in my experience, estate agents - who are typically guiding the seller’s decisions - are the least honourable of ‘professions’.

I don't see anything dishonourable about it? There's no principle that a seller can't accept an offer whenever they like (or simply withdraw the property from sale for other reasons) and cancel future viewings.

pjs493

bobster2 said:

pjs493 said:

I get what a lot of people are saying regarding not wanting to sit on an offer. But we’re talking about one working day here. The vendor could have easily asked for that weekend to think things over, allowed me to view on Monday morning as planned, and then made a decision based on whether I put an offer in or not. The estate agent could have even used it as a tool to put pressure on me to make an offer quickly. 

Well it doesn't sound like you get what people have been saying. 

As I wrote - the other buyer may have made the offer conditional on the house being immediately removed from the market - and no further viewings. Other folk have pointed out several other potential reasons.

The seller doesn't have any obligations to other potential buyers like yourself.

pjs493 said:

I’m not caught up or emotionally attached to the house, just surprised that after two years on the market the vendor accepted an offer immediately when a second viewing was set up for just days later. Especially as it went for so long without any interest. 

After two years on the market this would make it even more likely a seller would immediately accept a decent offer and take the house off the market.

pjs493 said:

I get that the other buyer could have also been a cash buyer, but I still can’t wrap my head around why they wouldn’t wait a couple of days to see if they could get a better offer. Most buyers would understand if a vendor asked for a weekend to mull over their offer. The estate agent knew it was well under my budget too so it’s not as if they thought I couldn’t outbid. 

For the third time -  the other buyer may have made the offer conditional on the house being immediately removed from the market - and no further viewings.

You need to wrap your head round the fact that the seller got what they wanted - and just move on. It does seem like you are "caught up / emotionally attached" and feel like the seller has wronged you in some way.

There’s really no reason to start insulting me simply because you can’t see the nuance and curiosity in what I’ve written. 

pjs493

Dustyevsky said:

You are dealing with people whose lives and motives are infinitely complex. You might never guess in a million years why somebody does something counter-intuitive in the particular world you inhabit.

As someone else said, it's best to move on!.

There was nothing to ‘move on’ from. It was one house I was considering. The post was asking why a vendor might not want to allow a booking on the following working day and accept an offer rather than take a weekend to think about things. 

I certainly didn’t expect the insults I’ve received in this thread for asking a question out of interest/curiosity. 

bobster2

pjs493 said:

bobster2 said:

pjs493 said:

I get what a lot of people are saying regarding not wanting to sit on an offer. But we’re talking about one working day here. The vendor could have easily asked for that weekend to think things over, allowed me to view on Monday morning as planned, and then made a decision based on whether I put an offer in or not. The estate agent could have even used it as a tool to put pressure on me to make an offer quickly. 

Well it doesn't sound like you get what people have been saying. 

As I wrote - the other buyer may have made the offer conditional on the house being immediately removed from the market - and no further viewings. Other folk have pointed out several other potential reasons.

The seller doesn't have any obligations to other potential buyers like yourself.

pjs493 said:

I’m not caught up or emotionally attached to the house, just surprised that after two years on the market the vendor accepted an offer immediately when a second viewing was set up for just days later. Especially as it went for so long without any interest. 

After two years on the market this would make it even more likely a seller would immediately accept a decent offer and take the house off the market.

pjs493 said:

I get that the other buyer could have also been a cash buyer, but I still can’t wrap my head around why they wouldn’t wait a couple of days to see if they could get a better offer. Most buyers would understand if a vendor asked for a weekend to mull over their offer. The estate agent knew it was well under my budget too so it’s not as if they thought I couldn’t outbid. 

For the third time -  the other buyer may have made the offer conditional on the house being immediately removed from the market - and no further viewings.

You need to wrap your head round the fact that the seller got what they wanted - and just move on. It does seem like you are "caught up / emotionally attached" and feel like the seller has wronged you in some way.

There’s really no reason to start insulting me simply because you can’t see the nuance and curiosity in what I’ve written. 

I'm sorry - I didn't intend to insult you - and I can't see any insults in what I've written - I've just repeated some of the reasons the viewing was cancelled. And quoted your own words.

BarelySentientAI

pjs493 said:

I certainly didn’t expect the insults I’ve received in this thread for asking a question out of interest/curiosity. 

OP - I would humbly suggest that if you are reading these posts as personal insults, that would give a reasonably direct insight into why you can't understand that the vendor did not wait for your viewing.

All I read through this thread is a list of reasons and circumstances that directly answer your question.  Just a few that I can remember:

1. Buyer's offer might have been conditional on no further viewings
2. Vendor might have got the offer they wanted and decided not to have the stress (or inflict the stress) of a bidding war - especially as someone who has 'bid up' is more likely to reduce the offer later.
3. Vendor's EA might have advised them to accept a proceedable offer given the length of time for sale.
4. Vendor might have just really liked that buyer and wants to sell it to them over all others.
5. Mercury might have been in retrograde on Friday and that seduced the vendor into a 'bad' decision (ok, that's a joke, but in reality it's just as valid as any other reason) 

As you've seen from people giving their experiences as vendors, some would honour existing bookings, some would not.  Neither is wrong, neither is right.

The last time I sold, I let the booked viewings that were on the same day as my offer happen because I thought people might have already been travelling/have childcare etc, but cancelled those from the following day.  That's no better or worse than any other timing.

If you are, as you say, just trying to understand what a vendor might be thinking and there's nothing personal about it, can I suggest being a little less confrontational with your language and not find insults in genuinely given advice?

Best of luck with your house search.

Dustyevsky

I didn't intend to insult the OP either.

I was thinking back to the many apparently strange decisions people made, either when we were selling or buying houses in the past. We had no real idea of their motives, and because people lie, often with good intent, we eventually learned that murmuring, "Now't so queer as folk!" was the best we'd do. 

In this case some very plausible reasons have been given, where "Bird in the hand..." might be more appropriate.

BungalowBel

We accepted an offer on our flat when we had two other viewings booked in - one a second viewing.

The buyer offered an acceptable price, had a mortgage in principal  and had no chain.  A totally acceptable buyer.  We may have lost her had we waited for the other viewings, even though one was within two days and the other within three.

pjs493

bobster2 said:

pjs493 said:

bobster2 said:

pjs493 said:

I get what a lot of people are saying regarding not wanting to sit on an offer. But we’re talking about one working day here. The vendor could have easily asked for that weekend to think things over, allowed me to view on Monday morning as planned, and then made a decision based on whether I put an offer in or not. The estate agent could have even used it as a tool to put pressure on me to make an offer quickly. 

Well it doesn't sound like you get what people have been saying. 

As I wrote - the other buyer may have made the offer conditional on the house being immediately removed from the market - and no further viewings. Other folk have pointed out several other potential reasons.

The seller doesn't have any obligations to other potential buyers like yourself.

pjs493 said:

I’m not caught up or emotionally attached to the house, just surprised that after two years on the market the vendor accepted an offer immediately when a second viewing was set up for just days later. Especially as it went for so long without any interest. 

After two years on the market this would make it even more likely a seller would immediately accept a decent offer and take the house off the market.

pjs493 said:

I get that the other buyer could have also been a cash buyer, but I still can’t wrap my head around why they wouldn’t wait a couple of days to see if they could get a better offer. Most buyers would understand if a vendor asked for a weekend to mull over their offer. The estate agent knew it was well under my budget too so it’s not as if they thought I couldn’t outbid. 

For the third time -  the other buyer may have made the offer conditional on the house being immediately removed from the market - and no further viewings.

You need to wrap your head round the fact that the seller got what they wanted - and just move on. It does seem like you are "caught up / emotionally attached" and feel like the seller has wronged you in some way.

There’s really no reason to start insulting me simply because you can’t see the nuance and curiosity in what I’ve written. 

I'm sorry - I didn't intend to insult you - and I can't see any insults in what I've written - I've just repeated some of the reasons the viewing was cancelled. And quoted your own words.

"For the third time"

"You need to wrap your head round"

"move on"

None of these were appropriate comments when i simply asked a question out of curiosity. Your post came across as rather aggressive.

And "It does seem like you are "caught up / emotionally attached"" came across as something of an insult because I'd made it clear several times that I wasn't emotionally invested in the property at all. It felt like you were trying to 'mansplain' by telling me I don't have a handle on my own thoughts.

I was simply curious and asked the question because, from my experience of being involved in property sales of close friends and family, I've never known anyone to cancel existing viewings and taken an offer when the viewings already booked in could result in a better offer. I've known people to tell the agent not to book in any more viewings, but have honoured the ones already booked in.

Bookworm105

pjs493 said:

I was simply curious and asked the question because, from my experience of being involved in property sales of close friends and family, I've never known anyone to cancel existing viewings and taken an offer when the viewings already booked in could result in a better offer. I've known people to tell the agent not to book in any more viewings, but have honoured the ones already booked in.

the answer to your question is your experience has been limited and for many vendors a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush (that have not yet landed in the hand)/

Many would regard it as honourable to cancel future viewings as it avoids buyers incurring expenditure on viewing property that is effectively no longer on the market