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Original poster

Contacting owners directly

28 replies

Ellie2015 · 30/09/2020 13:24

Hi we lost on a property that’s been up on the market at 650K (highest in the area has been 575). Since it ticked all boxes, in desperation we offered 620 but estate agents surprisingly did not even bother responding to our offer! Apparently they got 650 which is asking price.

When I called in today to check the progress, the estate agents started off with ‘oh yes it’s available, do you want to view it?’ Then said ‘there is no problem with people offering 650 its buyers who aren’t moving out quickly’ then says ‘they won’t consider anything less than 620. If you offer 650 they might consider moving out’. It’s so discrepant story from them, I feel like I could just knock the owner’s door and have a decent chat with them and inform the difficulties. I feel that estate agents didn’t even pass our offer to them. I thought they were obliged to pass our offer to them even if they have instructed asking price and give a response to us.

It would be odd to knock on someone’s door but they have met us during viewing and perhaps will understand why were there...but then we may loose they estate agents forever!

We love this house but can afford to go £75K higher than the market price. We have already gone above budget and market price to get this. Don’t know what to do...

Any suggestions??

OP posts:
Original poster
Ellie2015 · 30/09/2020 13:25

Ps: the property went sold STC about 4-6 weeks ago

OP posts:
MothershipG · 30/09/2020 13:31

How about dropping a note through their door with your contact details, not many people would be comfortable with being put on the spot on their doorstep. That gives them the option to reply or ignore as they prefer.

Original poster
Ellie2015 · 30/09/2020 14:17

Totally agree and like the idea but I wonder if that could lead to any complications in future? The note can also act as a proof...(I am thinking of the estate agents...)

OP posts:
Mumoftwo1994 · 30/09/2020 14:29

@Ellie2015

Hi we lost on a property that’s been up on the market at 650K (highest in the area has been 575). Since it ticked all boxes, in desperation we offered 620 but estate agents surprisingly did not even bother responding to our offer! Apparently they got 650 which is asking price.

When I called in today to check the progress, the estate agents started off with ‘oh yes it’s available, do you want to view it?’ Then said ‘there is no problem with people offering 650 its buyers who aren’t moving out quickly’ then says ‘they won’t consider anything less than 620. If you offer 650 they might consider moving out’. It’s so discrepant story from them, I feel like I could just knock the owner’s door and have a decent chat with them and inform the difficulties. I feel that estate agents didn’t even pass our offer to them. I thought they were obliged to pass our offer to them even if they have instructed asking price and give a response to us.

It would be odd to knock on someone’s door but they have met us during viewing and perhaps will understand why were there...but then we may loose they estate agents forever!

We love this house but can afford to go £75K higher than the market price. We have already gone above budget and market price to get this. Don’t know what to do...

Any suggestions??

I used to work for an estate agent and if someone's offer was below the asking price by the vendor should be aware but sometimes we were just too busy to get back to some people, perhaps it's wrong but to as an agent 30k below the asking price can come across cheeky and sometimes they would be the last person we'd contact. It's not personal for them even though it is for you. Hope this comes across okay, just giving the perspective I had from working in the field.
Oliversmumsarmy · 30/09/2020 14:29

they won’t consider anything less than 620

Did you ask what happened to your offer of £620,000.

Are they considering it?

Saz12 · 30/09/2020 14:46

Have you directly asked the EA? Phone them, tell them your offer of £620k is still on the table, but you’d like to hear the vendors’ response.

Could it be that the vendors want to try to take advantage of a “sellers market” (fair enough!) but aren’t actually going to sell unless they get a very generous offer.

WhenPushComesToShove · 30/09/2020 14:53

When we were buying our current house, the estate agent had two other interested parties that she deemed to be better able to proceed. I thought we might lose out so I typed a note to the seller saying we would very much like to buy their house and were very happy to speak to them directly if they felt comfortable doing that. She rang me immediately and said they had been given the impression that we weren't interested anymore. Long and short is we bought their lovely home and are still friends now.

Original poster
Ellie2015 · 30/09/2020 15:27

Aw send me your luck dust!

What makes us unsure doing that is EA told us that they wouldn’t consider anything below market price. I wonder if that’s the reason they wouldn’t bother responding to us.

We don’t think it’s cheeky at all in this climate to go 45K above the market price. They have asking price 75-100 K above the market price. The next door that went 25 K above rest of houses (550k) is because they had a newly built German kitchen. This one doesn’t but we don’t mind. We are desperate and we love this house and so happy to pay that lot but still feel we are probably missing something due to these EA.

with so many examples we are thinking of leaving the note idea...

Do you think we could directly ask the EA to put us through to the vendors? Or could we arrange another viewing? Will they disagree if they know we are giving less offer?

OP posts:
ZoomRoom · 01/10/2020 07:38

Arrange a other viewing and if the vendors are there then mention your offer?

Shopgirl1 · 01/10/2020 07:50

If someone has offered the asking price then that is the market price for the house.

pilates · 01/10/2020 07:52

I thought by law if you made an offer the agent has an obligation to put it to the seller?

Pipandmum · 01/10/2020 08:09

@Mumoftwo1994 I buy and sell a lot and if that was the attitude of my estate agent I'd fire them.
I do not understand OP - has the house gone under for £650, or is it still available? Has the agent forgotten that you have already viewed it and put in an offer?
I would not knock on the door but it does seem like the agent is incompetent. Every offer should be put to the seller. £30k below asking is not cheeky at that price level - 5% below ask is quite an acceptable bid. Perhaps a note through the door explaining you have a genuine offer and your circumstances and ask of they could get back to you. The agents will still get their commission and if I was the seller I'd be on their case for not keeping track of who is interested. The agent should have contacted you if the other buyer dropped out.
It's an awful buying/selling system in this country. Offers should be in writing and binding. Good luck.

Burnthurst187 · 01/10/2020 08:54

@pilates

I thought by law if you made an offer the agent has an obligation to put it to the seller?
That is correct. On my contract with the EA it's stated in the small print
Original poster
Ellie2015 · 01/10/2020 08:56

Thanks so much. The house is on STC status and reportedly they have asking price but then EA is giving contradictory statements. He says if I give them asking price then the vendors will move out quickly. EA also mentioned buyers wants to pull out as vendor not moving out quickly. He offered me to view the property! And yes it looks like they had forgotten our offer! so that tells me that perhaps the other buyer has given higher than ours price but vendor might be wanting more money or there is problem with the current buyer.

Best way I have thought is give it a week and then arrange another viewing. At that point we will mention our offer to the vendor and clarify if they had received our offer.

Thanks so much guys. It’s 5% below asking price but it’s way higher than normal prices for same specification houses in the same road. I think pentup demand has caused this sudden boom but it’s likely to settle down soon. Atleast I think so.

OP posts:
areallthenamesusedup · 01/10/2020 23:06

Always put any offer in writing and ask EA specifically to pass on to vendor. E-mail is fine. Follow up and check EA they received the mail.

2me2u2u2me · 02/10/2020 07:04

I’ve just sold my house, even though I had the offer and I had accepted it my estate agent contacted me with another offer and said they were obliged to let me know when other interested parties had put offers in, i obviously didn’t accept it but was made aware.

A few weeks ago I saw the perfect house I wanted, I phoned their estate agents and they wouldn’t let me view it or put my offer forward because they’d accepted an offer from another buyer, I was gutted. So I went round to the property put a note through saying if anything went wrong with the sale would they contact me, a few days later the sellers contacted me because their current buyer was messing them about, I went to view it the day after put an offer in and got the house straight away, I’d definitely recommend you contact the sellers direct by way of a note.

22WR · 02/10/2020 10:31

Another vote for contacting the sellers directly by note.

We offered on a house a few years ago and the vendors turned it down as they wanted a higher offer. A few weeks later we posted notes through other houses in the area advising if they were looking to sell, to contact us. A neighbour told the vendors who then contacted us directly to say they'd found a property themselves and so now we're willing to accept our original offer.

I felt daft posting the notes at the time but it paid off and I wouldn't hesitate to do the same again.

Good luck!

2me2u2u2me · 02/10/2020 10:55

@22WR My friend recently went on Location L L and that's what their researchers do, they go around the area that you're interested in and put flyers through, and it works, people umm and ahhh, can be thinking about it, or not quite got round to it, that's why Phil's always saying we got it before it went on the market.

user1471538283 · 02/10/2020 16:02

Pop a note through the door. We've had this recently where the EA is either incompetent or saving the property for a mate

Original poster
Ellie2015 · 02/10/2020 21:44

We did put our offer in writing but these EA didn’t bother responding to them despite chasing it up!

We were planing to arrange another viewing but would you say it would be rather a good idea to leave a note and let them know that our offer is there and if anything goes wrong with the current buyer they should contact us directly?

Thanks

OP posts:
Original poster
Ellie2015 · 03/10/2020 22:17

...note vs another viewing? 🙏🏼

OP posts:
WhenPushComesToShove · 04/10/2020 00:35

Arrange another viewing, have a prepared note with your contact details on it and tell the owners you love their home and would really like to buy it. Tell them you would be prepared to pay full asking price (why lose it for 20-30k if you really want it and can afford it) and that you have made an offer through the estate agents already. Then hand them your contact details so that they can stay in touch directly if they have any questions and re-emphasise that you really would hate to miss out on this opportunity to buy. Then contact the agents and tell them what you have done (leaving out the contact details part). This way the home owners know how much you want their home, what you are prepared to pay and the estate agents are fully aware and can't dick you around. Very best of luck

Original poster
Ellie2015 · 11/10/2020 22:11

Thanks a lot. Sorry picked your message only today. Already have posted a note in a paid envelope to the owner! Hope it works fingers crossed!

OP posts:
Original poster
Ellie2015 · 19/10/2020 18:56

Update- we posted a stamped letter. Owner has very politely responded with a thank you note via text and have said:

‘We did actually get our full asking price of £650,000 but the house we wanted went to someone else and now we have lost our buyer. We are struggling to find another house we like, but if we do then we will go back on the market with our own house, maybe then you can come an have another look at our house’

Not sure what to make of this. Do I still have hopes on this? What should I respond to them?

OP posts:
GU24Mum · 19/10/2020 19:10

I don't think you need to respond at all. I'd read that as the seller (politely) telling you that they aren't in a position to accept an offer now but that they'll be happy to have you round if they do. Suspect they hope that if they do get you round again they may be able to get a higher offer from you though that will depend on the market at the time and what price house they are buying.

I wouldn't let this put you off keeping up your search as you may hear from the sellers again but equally you may not.

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