To think we have waited long enough?!?

[desperatetomove]

Have name changed! Put an offer in on a house at the beginning of January, still not had the offer accepted!! The house they were buying fell through so understandably they had to find a new house, this has happened 4 times now, each time the estate agent has told us they are under negotiations and that we can start proceedings soon, then nothing. I don't know what to do, I call the agent weekly and there is no update, aibu to think we should have got somewhere and had our offer accepted in three months?? We thought we would have moved by now, what can I do?

Erm....find another house and bid for that.

Withdraw your offer. That will either focus their minds or it'll start you on the path to finding a new, better, house.

Good luck. It's so blummin' stressful!

I agree OP. Time to give up and move on.

We are looking at other houses and are keeping our options open but we love this house, it's perfect and nothing else is coming close at the moment. The house hd a sold sign outside and is under offer on the website, but we just can't do anything.

We had similar happen. Withdrew offer and put an offer on another house (there weren’t many that we’d have considered around; luckily one had been on the market a while and dropped into our price bracket). I’m so much happier with the house we ended up buying than the original one - better for us in many small ways even though it was less good in the immediate short term with two beds instead of three, for example.

I’ve kept an eye on the other house ever since we bought in 2009 because I am nosey and creepy. It was removed from the market soon after we withdrew our offer - the couple apparently couldn’t find something they wanted in the country - I think they were deluded as to how much they’d get for their money in the area they were looking in. It was put back in the market this spring and has sold. So we’d have been waiting nine years in our rented accommodation!

Never heard of this before! Absolutely ridiculous.

Ring the agent today tell them if you have had no response by 5pm you will assume the sellers are not interested in your offer and to consider it withdrawn.

It’s a complete given that they are not interested anyway otherwise they would have said yes!

If you think the agents have not passed your offer on you could pop a note through their door stating you made an offer in Jan to the EA and they have not given you a response, you wondered if the info had been passed to them? Etc

Happened to us years ago. In the end we looked elsewhere and I kept an eye on the original house we loved. Thirteen years later I saw it had sold and I think that many have only been on the death of the owners.

Bottom line is they are not willing to commit to sell. I'd also simply with draw.

they're taking the piss... withdraw your Offer.. see how fast they SPIN

You say your offer has not yet been accepted so if the house is showing as under offer and has a sold board outside, would that not mean they have accepted another offer? Is the EA just stringing you along?

So that you don't cut your nose to spite your face, I would give the EA a date that you will withdraw by if your offer isn't accepted or rejected by then. I would personally say by the end of the week at close of business.

Tbh I wouldn't fancy going through the hideous ordeal of house buying with a vendor who can't even make their minds up whether to accept or not. I would anticipate a shed load of problems with them ongoing. It's hard enough with willing participants. Good luck OP.

As far as the estate agent has told us the board outside and it being under offer online, is our offer, he said they cannot formally accept our offer and start proceedings until they have had an offer accepted on a house. I'm a first time buyer so don't know where I stand really, I don't want to pull my offer and then it go to someone else. The estate agents know I'm losing patience but I just don't know what other options I have other than withdraw.

We used the phrase "unmotivated seller" with the agent when our vendor dragged her heels. There was no chain on either side, she just didn't want to move in with her daughter (old lady who could no longer live alone), so sat on all the documents, made up all sorts of lies fables about why she couldn't move. In the end, the agent passed on our message to her daughter and surprise surprise, things got under way.

However, she still had her wits about her and deliberately made mistakes in the paperwork to slow the transaction down e.g. she said that there was no mains water or sewerage to the property . Our solicitor wrote back and asked if her solicitor could explain the exact nature of the "bucket and chuck it" arrangements for bodily waste .

You sound like a dream. I'm trying to sell my house atm, 2 bed terrace in the SE, if a buyer wanted to move quickly like you I'd bite their hand off.
Find another house OP, sellers sound like time wasters.

OK, so they have accepted your offer, it’s just that they haven’t found anywhere to buy yet. So you have to be patient and wait but I’d be looking at other houses in the meantime.

You could try and force them to move along by saying you’ll withdraw it but they may just call your bluff as not many people will sell without somewhere to buy. If your offer is asking price or you are otherwise in a strong position, you’ll have more chance of it working. But if they call your bluff, then what do you do?

Curtain that's my worry, if I withdraw it then I've lost the house haven't I. We viewed two at the weekend and are looking everyday there is just nothing that is suitable. The estate agent knows we are looking around as one of the viewings was another house up with them, but they didn't seem bothered when I asked for the viewing.

I would wonder what the agents are saying to them.

I've bought and sold 3 properties and each time the agents were a PITA. They've probably told the owners that you are happy to wait as long as it takes or something. While telling you that the sellers are going as fast as they can. If you can possibly make tentative contact with the sellers yourself i would. Introduce yourself and gently ask them how it's going as you're keen to get underway. It's worked for me twice in the past.

I think the agent is aware of something you do not know about. it is perfectly possible for them to accept your offer subject to them finding somewhere they like. They do not need to keep this limbo situation.
Can you get a friend to call up and ask about the property?
TBH i think they are stringing you along and it's not going to happen.

The thing is, they don’t owe it to you to sell...so no, you can’t expect anything.

Leave the offer standing, keep looking at what else is out there, if you find a property you like, then withdraw your offer before placing one on the new property.

Your choice is to settle for another property or wait for this one. It’s frustrating, but you are winding yourself up by thinking they ‘owe’ you something when they don’t.

Ask for another viewing. Then hope they are in and ask. It can take a while unfortunately. I would check that they aren't allowing any more viewings with the agent. If you really want it then it might be worth waiting.

I wouldn't wait more than 3 days to have my offer accepted or not, but 3 MONTHS?

they cannot formally accept our offer and start proceedings until they have had an offer accepted on a house
that's complete bollocks. A buyer cannot make an offer until they have accepted an offer on their own house - well, they can, but most sellers won't even consider it until they are ready to proceed.

Are you in England? It's not binding to accept an offer anyway, but in a way, they are doing you a massive favour. They are still looking, so it's much better for you than accepting your offer, letting you spend money on mortgage and survey, then nothing happening.

Seriously, forget about the house, actively look for something else. You might hear from them, you might not, dont'waste time. At least they don't make you waste any money, so they are not that bad on that aspect.

I simply don't understand how a "sold" sign has gone up outside the house if they haven't accepted your offer? At most the sign should be saying "under offer" or something similar. The house is nowhere near sold! Also, when you say they haven't accepted it, do you actually mean that you have had no feedback from them whatsoever? Surely it is "accepted" in the sense that they have said yes to your offer but starting the surveys etc is dependant on them having somewhere to move to?

While I can see that the situation is annoying, you admit yourself that you have no other options so it is easy to see that they may be similarly struggling to find anywhere to purchase. You can pull out of this purchase but what will that achieve? You haven't' got any other house which you would be happy to move into.

what if someone came alone and offered them more ? what would happen to your 'non accepted' offer OP ?

This is very unfair. Our house is sold STC and we knew we had to give our buyers a firm yes or no, it's cruel otherwise. It sounds to me like they're having a good look around and seeing what they can buy in their budget. Do you think there's a danger that they might come back and ask for more money? Did you offer the full asking price?
The suggestion you ask a friend to try and arrange a viewing might be a good idea too; this will give you an idea of their intentions. On the other hand, if you love it then you'll have to hang on while they find somewhere.

what if someone came alone and offered them more ?
to be fair, if it's in England, it wouldn't make any difference if the offer had been accepted. Until you exchange, everybody can change their mind. It's a stupid, and very expensive, system!