How do offers work?!

[catchyjem]

Hi, I'm trying to sell my house at the moment. My agent has called and said she's received an offer for it, however she can't tell me what the offer is yet as they have to check out the buyers financial position first. Is this the norm? Seems strange that she can't even tell me what the offer is first?

Also, I am planning to buy my next property from the sale of this one plus cash. Does that mean that an agent won't put my offer forward until I prove to them that I have the cash?!

[Talia78]

We were told we had an offer and was told the amount - but also told that they hadn't proved they had the finances yet so it didn't mean much .. yet

When we offered on our new house they didn't put our offer forward until our estate agent had confirmed our house was STTC. We didn't need to prove funds at that point however

[SockDrawer]

That would annoy me. I would imagine it would be better to tell you what they’ve offered but that you can’t respond to it until they’ve checked their finances. Or not tell you anything at all until after they’ve checked.

[positivelynegative]

What a ridiculous position, I’d complain

[catchyjem]

It does sound odd doesn't it! I mean I might reject the offer so surely they would want to know that first

[jujuball]

Really weird to not even tell you what it is fair enough to say what it is but that it can't be accepted until it's been qualified.

[msgloria]

How long have you been on the market? It wouldn't surprise me if the offer is lower than the agent thinks you'll accept, and that she wants some time to 'work' this offer to package up and present to you as a good deal. I might be wrong, but I know it happens.

[catchyjem]

That sounds a bit worrying. We've only been on just over 2 weeks. It's not a particularly desirable property, it's ex council but we've looked after it and it's well presented. We have priced it reasonably and I'm prepared to accept a bit under asking but not too much.

[newnewnewbuild]

That's strange I've never heard of that before - are you in england?

When we've offered on houses in the past I don't remember ever having to prove our financial position before it was put to the homeowner. I think at most we just said "yes we have a mortgage in principle" but I'm sure we didn't have to show proof!

[catchyjem]

Yes in England-London! Quite a well known agent too, they have lots of branches.

[JoJoSM2]

Is that even legal? They need to pass on the offer to you legally. That’s not really doing it. I’d write an email to say that X mentioned there’s an offer and you’d like to be forwarded the details as you haven’t received those yet.

[PurBal]

Legally, agents have to put all offers forward to the vendor. So in my opinion they should be telling you what the offer is, even if there's a financial check as a caveat. From the .gov website "They must show any offers promptly and in writing to the person selling the house.
Estate agents are also legally obliged to pass on any other offers for the property right up to when contracts are exchanged." They can be reported to the property ombudsman if they fail in their duty.

[2GinOrNot2Gin]

Seems really odd.. we're selling our house and we were told of all offers immediately and their situations but evidence wasn't sent in until we chose a buyer.
Same as the house we're buying.. we made an offer; negotiated a price and then once the sellers accepted we sent in our evidence to make the offer official. Their agent called mine before they presented the offer just to check we'd sold but we didn't have to prove how we'd pay until after.
I wouldn't be happy with that I'd be asking to be told what the offer is.. waste of everyone's time them presenting their evidence if you won't even consider the offer they're making.

[Bluntness100]

That’s really weird and controlling.

I’d email and copy in a manager or general email address and say you want to know what the offer is and find it unacceptable to not provide this i formation, that they are providing a service and they should do so. They can check the financial position out simultaneously.

Seriously I’d have requested she put me through to a manager immediately or I was emailing in.

Legally she needs to pass the offer on. She’s breaking the law.

[Bluntness100]

Also op. Remember you’re paying them and paying rhem well for their service, you are employing them to sell your house.

Withholding the offer info would deeply concern me

But more than that, the buyer is likely to pull out, as they don’t even know if you’ll accept or not.

Something is wrong here. Your agent is trying to prevent the sale.

[catchyjem]

I can't think why she'd try and prevent a sale? She has also booked another viewing in for Monday. I'm so confused.

[lolabears]

They should tell you.

And yes you will need to demonstrate your affordability to the EA who is marketing the house you want.

[JoJoSM2]

I can't think why she'd try and prevent a sale?

Because she’s got a pal who’s interested but doesn’t want a bidding war and wants it for a good price. She’ll fob off others. Or perhaps she’d rather the Monday viewers got it as she’ll get a cut from the in-house mortgage broker and conveyancer. Who knows.

[Bluntness100]

Because op,your buyer is sitting waiting to know if you’ve accepted or not. That’s usually done immediately or next day if you need to think about it.

Your agent is preventing it. Your buyer will be sitting thinking wtaf.

I don’t know why she’s not passing it on, but it’s highly irregular and illegal.

I’d wonder if she knows someone who wants to buy it cheap.

[Bluntness100]

@JoJoSM2

I can't think why she'd try and prevent a sale?

Because she’s got a pal who’s interested but doesn’t want a bidding war and wants it for a good price. She’ll fob off others. Or perhaps she’d rather the Monday viewers got it as she’ll get a cut from the in-house mortgage broker and conveyancer. Who knows.

Or this, she’s trying to get commission on an in-house broker

But make no doubt, you agent is now acting illegally.

[catchyjem]

Thanks so much for the info. I'll have to tread carefully I think!

As for proving I have cash for my next purchase, will an agent ask to see my bank statements or what? Seems a bit dodgy as well!

[Bluntness100]

@catchyjem

Thanks so much for the info. I'll have to tread carefully I think!

As for proving I have cash for my next purchase, will an agent ask to see my bank statements or what? Seems a bit dodgy as well!

No, you don’t need to tread carefully, you’re paying for a service, phone them and say you wish to know the offer, it is normal for you to know. It is legally required you know and know promptly.

And yes, you need to provide proof of funds, it’s done when your offer is accepted so yes you need to provide this to them.

You don’t provide proof of funds if your offer is rejected by the vendor. Another reason why your agent is behaving shadey.

[catchyjem]

Actually just thought, why would she tell me there's an offer at all? Surely if she were up to something dodgy she would have just said nothing and not passes the offer on to me at all?

[Bluntness100]

Because she’s doing the min so it doesn’t look like she’s breaking rhe law. She’s told you there is an offer. Legally she needs to tell you what it is, at the same time, but she’s withholding this info.

Have you never seen location location location? When Kirsty or Phil makes an offer? And the agent informs the vendor? That’s how it actually works.

Did that not happen when you bought your current home? Did you not put an offer in and it was passed on and then you needed to prove funds when it was accepted ? That’s normal process?

You didn’t have a process where the agent said well I need to check funds before I ask the seller did you?

[lolabears]

As pp said, no treading carefully. You need to phone and say you'd like to know the offer and don't be fobbed off. If you accept the offer then they can check your buyers funds.

You shouldn't need a full bank statement just the top bit that states your name and the current balance. If you're also using equity you'll need proof of that too. They'll also ask for id. This is completely normal and necessary for them to mark the property as sstc.

[msgloria]

I just don't think these things are always black and white... agent might be working with the buyer to help them come up with an offer that the buyer can afford and that the OP might accept. In-house broker could be assisting.

It's not unknown for a potential buyer to say "I really like this house but it's a bit more than I can afford, what might the seller accept?", and then the agent works with the buyer to assess how much they can likely stretch to.