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What does this mean? Offered on a house and playing the waiting game

34 replies

firsttimer08 · 20/07/2011 11:52

So I found my dream property and our initial offered of 5% below asking was rejected and we have now put in 3% below. We can probably improve our offer by a 5-6K but cannot afford to go up to the asking price (though I told the agent this is our final offer, we have a mortgage agreed and FTB, so no chain).

Apparently our offer is being deliberated upon (its been 24 hours) and when I ask have there been other offers, I am just told "there is other interest". What does this mean i.e. can I take it to mean there are other similar offers or is the vendor playing a waiting game to see how other viewings/interest pans out (i.e. so lots of interest but no other offers?) It doesn't help that the property is listed with another branch of the EA, so the agent I am speaking to has to pass on offers to the other branch and is not really communicating directly with the vendor - so the agent does not have full information it appears.

Would be great if some of you experienced buyers out there can decipher this communication with the agents ! lol. Also was it wrong to say this is our 'final' offer when we could potentially go up slightly, but not by a lot?

I am soo stressed, waiting for a response of yay or nay and thinking up of possible scenarios.

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Thromdimbulator · 22/07/2011 17:00

So sorry, it's emotionally draining isn't it.

Where are you? Is it a particularly buoyant pocket in the general market? Think they must me mad to reject 3 percent below.

Seen this today? Rightmove tells sellers to get real on house prices.

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Whorulestheroost · 22/07/2011 17:16

They are idiots in my opinion. Chain free first time buyers they should be snapping your hand off. They are just being greedy. Like somebody else said nobody offers the asking price these days. Let the agent know the offer is still there but won't be increased and be prepared to walk away :(

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SybilBeddows · 22/07/2011 18:11

Wow. Fancy turning down 3% below asking. There's a good chance they'll live to regret that.

Good luck with finding another nice one, OP.

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Shanghai · 22/07/2011 22:23

That is crazy to turn down that close to asking price!! They must be holding out thinking that you'll come up so don't do it! I have to follow that advice myself at the moment and it's so hard when yo really want a house. We've even ended up getting an independent valuation To try and convince them that our offer is a very good one, but still they are sticking at 15k above it..... Ggrrrrrrr so much for a buyers Market!

Hang in there first timer - I'm sitting on my hands myself and would love to just up the offer to get it over and done with, but the argument that has convinced me is that I can't be sure that the mortgage company will value it at the higher level so we'd just be back in the same situation in a few weeks time if the bank won't give us the right amount because of valuation.

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oliviasmama · 23/07/2011 02:22

arghhhh! poor you!

they are crazy not to accept an offer as close to the asking price, deluded.

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LIZS · 23/07/2011 07:01

They're probably hoping you'll just go higher. Agree , leave the offer as it is with the EA, check back in a few weeks but look elsewhere (and make sure EA knows this!) in the meantime.

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Karstan · 23/07/2011 09:39

Are you sure you really want to be making offers on a property that's currently tenanted? I wouldn't be thinking of this as a no chain property really.

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firsttimer08 · 23/07/2011 15:16

That is good advice. I will let the agent know that our offer still stands. We are on london, but i am really amazed that sellers are expecting unreal prices! We are in london and here the gloomy economic prospects have not hit home with sellers. We are looking elsewhere for sure. There was another property we liked that came a close second, so we may pursue that.

What are the potential issues with a tenanted property? As my name suggests, we are new to this!

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Karstan · 23/07/2011 15:27

The issues are that the tenant doesn't leave and a court process to evict can take a long time. Are you willing to risk having a sale held up?

Of course if you think the property is a bargain and you're not working to any particular timescale then it might be worth it, but it's something to be aware of.