Am I expecting too much?

[Rudolphian]

Ok so this will be outing if involved, but I'll go ahead anyway.
A property went on for sale on Friday just gone.
We viewed on Saturday and put on offer in on Saturday.
The house was on for 265.
We offered 260.
On Saturday they asked us for out proof of funds and AIP. Which I sent on Saturday.
They said the vendor would be busy doing viewing all Saturday so they would get in touch on Monday.
On Monday at around 5pm they rand us to say that some viewers wanted a second viewing for Tuesday so they would ring on Tuesday.
They didnt.
Today my husband rang. And they said that an offer had been made at asking which the vendor may accept.
Also told him that if we wanted to up our offer we had til the end of today to do this.
I'm just really confused.
Were we too enthusiastic so they are making it up that there is an offer to see if we would go higher?
If an offer had actually been put on would they not automatically let us know to see if we could up our offer. Rather than just arranging a sale.
Also they are only saying we have til the end of today because we rang. If we had rang tomorrow, I assume they would have said we have til the end of tomorrow?
We can afford to go a little higher. But I thought it was normal to offer a little lower and then negotiate the price.
I really dont want to get into a bidding war. So despite the fact we like the house we are also able to wait til next year and carry on viewing.

I just said to husband we'll wait and see if they contact us over the next few days before getting in contact.
I'm just confused. Isn't it automatic if they have another offer you ask the other person if they can up their offer?

Maybe the people with the second offer are in a better position.

That’s a bit strange. Normally, they’d do the viewings and tell you the deadline for best and final offers without you having to keep on ringing for updates.

If there were a lot of viewings, it’s quite likely there’s another offer or a number of offers. If you like the house, I’d just submit your best offer.

But they have asked you to up your offer.

@BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz

But they have asked you to up your offer.

They didnt ring us to let us know. We rang them and they mentioned it. My husband rang and they said only one other offer and as an afterthought asked if we wanted to up our offer. If we hadn't rang them I'm not sure if or when they would have contacted us. I'll ring on monday if they dont ring us for an update prior to that.

Maybe the EA was waiting to hear from the Vendor as to whether they wanted them to call and ask you

It’s so bloody stressful I know OP, we are moving too at the moment.

It certainly sounds like the vendors want to encourage a bidding war, so be careful and be prepared to walk away.

The property we are hoping to purchase, had also just come on the market, we were among the first few viewers. We offered asking price but insisted no more marketing or viewers. We knew there were more viewings booked and thought a below asking price offer wouldn’t be accepted, due to the amount of interest & given the property had just come on. This worked for us.

The vendors can accept any offer they like, sometimes not just based on price, but if the buyer is in a better position to proceed, ie a cash buyer or in a shorter chain etc.

Good luck, I hope you get some good news soon.

They hadn't accepted your offer yet, so were staying open for more offers.

Ok.
I assume they are waiting on more offers? Then contact us to see if we will up offer?
But the way they spoke like it was a done deal with the new offer.
Doesn't matter. Will just ring next week.

As they hadn't accepted your offer they're not really responsible for keeping you in the loop.

If someone offered asking price and they accepted then it's kind of bad luck to you for not offering higher. If you hadn't called they probably wouldn't have chased you up. If you actually want the house I'd proactively offer higher right now, at least £5k over asking.

@JaniceSopranoJr

As they hadn't accepted your offer they're not really responsible for keeping you in the loop.

If someone offered asking price and they accepted then it's kind of bad luck to you for not offering higher. If you hadn't called they probably wouldn't have chased you up. If you actually want the house I'd proactively offer higher right now, at least £5k over asking.

No I agree it's my responsibility. It's just if I was selling a house I guess if I had more than one offer I'd want to make sure I was getting the best price. Part of that would be the estate agent ringing the people who had made the offer and see if they could up their offer. And if I had multiple offers I'd want the estate agent to go to best and final offers etc that would involve the estate agent doing some leg work. But if the other offer is in a better position to proceed it makes sense.

Its obviously well priced, desirable and has generated lots of interest. So the agents aren't too bothered. I was in this position once as a buyer and honestly keeping the agent on side was half the battle. We ended up paying 10% over ask (was well worth it in the end) and they would have dumped us in a second if we'd been problematic as they had others lined up offering the same. Agents dont get much more commission for edging up the price a bit, so many will prefer to take the easiest path.

That makes sense.

If I had an asking price offer I wouldn’t necessarily expect an under-asking offer to be considered.

Encouraging a bidding war is bad form. They only mentioned it to you because you called, I imagine.

When we offered lately, I gauged the situation as amazing house, many other viewers, desperately wanted it, no way was I risking that for a few k knocked off.

I am always suspicious of "offers" like this. I think agents love to whip up a bit of excitement to make buyers think they have to offer more/ act quickly.

The house hasn't even been on the market a week. Unless they are very keen to move fast a seller is likely to wait a week or two before accepting an offer.

We are in the process of selling and buying at the moment. When we sold we got an offer on the first day of viewings but it was too low. The buyer upped their offer suddenly a week later. I still wonder whether the agent pulled a trick? Why would they suddenly up it?
We are buying through the same agent. We viewed a house that was a bit above our budget out of sheer desperation because nothing else was coming on the market. We loved it. Came home and cried into our wine glasses as we assumed it would be under offer after a week. Told the agent we loved it but we would only be able to offer 7% under asking and to come back to us if the sellers were open to offers.
A month passed and it was still on the market (which is a long time round here at the moment). We did some sums and decided we probably could come up a bit and so went back for a second viewing.

Low and behold the next day they had an offer which they were going to accept unless we matched/ increased. We refused to counter it. Five days later it was back on the market - the offer didn't pan out, the buyer's chain wasn't complete (when we were told we couldn't view unless we had a complete chain and could proceed). We offered 5% under asking, full and final (channeling Phil and Kirstie 😂) which was accepted.

I would love to know if the original offer was genuine. I really suspect it wasn't.

I might be old fashioned (or just old) but if I was viewing a property that had just come on the market, and was having multiple viewings on the same day as I was viewing it, and I really wanted it, I would offer the full asking price there and then. Look at it from the vendors point of view. They have got people queueing up to view, so why should they sell it at a discount to the first person that comes along? I certainly wouldn't. I would only start discounting if I was having a problem selling. If you like somewhere, get your dibs in straight away and offer the full price. There might be scope for discounts after survey of course.

Ok.
Literally just got an email asking us if we have thought about increasing our offer at all.
And to not to hesitate to ring to discuss further.
Really need to have a good chat with my husband to see what we should do.
We are in a good position. Chain free. But do need a mortgage. Have the deposit.
We can move fast if needed or wait as long as the vendor needs.

It doesn’t sound as though you want it? You offered under, knew about other viewers but didn’t up your offer, was advised to have an offer in by the end of the day yesterday but didn’t submit one. They’ve contacted you today to give you the chance to still submit and are happy to talk to you but you’re thinking about it.

If there is another offer on the table the vendor might not wait, if you really wanted it you’d have offered more by now, is your heart really in it?

We do want the house but are at the limits of what we can offer.
I'm worried about looking too enthusiastic so they keep telling us about " phantom offers" so we'll up ours.
The max we can go to is 265. So we offered a little less to give us some room to increase and negotiate.
I'm just a bit wary of ringing and upping the offer. Then being told. Actually someone else has offered more and can we up it further etc
I'm going to ring and say our best and final offer.
It's a really good house that's in our price range and we do want it. But think it's just good to be wary and not to just rush in.

Just think carefully about how much you want it.

We did this with the first property we saw. We had in our heads that we'd ideally spend up to X and this property had been on the market a few weeks with no offers. We made an offer and SURPRISE there was potentially another buyer. We were told if we offered a little more the seller didn't want a bidding war and we'd get it. So we did.

But the other mysterious interested party made a slightly bigger offer. In hindsight we should've offered more but at the time the EA was trying to say we wouldn't be a preferred buyer if we didn't have a mortgage appt with them and it felt like the other buyer was made up to force us into an appointment. But they weren't! The EA was genuinely awful, but there was genuinely another buyer.

That property became the one that got away. Since then prices have gone up and up where I am and it would've been a bargain.

It actually came back on the market the other week and this time we bid more, however (our sale had fallen through), we could only make this offer a day after they wanted to accept a lower one. This time it didn't make a difference that we wanted to offer more and we still lost out. The EA still messed us around.

Maybe if we'd got in there the first time they would've waited for us to find a new buyer and we'd be moving in there any day now. Hindsight!

Saying that, we have now found a new house we like that has finally wiped out those 'it got away' feelings :)

@WellIWasInTheNeighbourhoo

Its obviously well priced, desirable and has generated lots of interest. So the agents aren't too bothered. I was in this position once as a buyer and honestly keeping the agent on side was half the battle. We ended up paying 10% over ask (was well worth it in the end) and they would have dumped us in a second if we'd been problematic as they had others lined up offering the same. Agents dont get much more commission for edging up the price a bit, so many will prefer to take the easiest path.

the above is right, you're at the back of the queue and the agent isn't bothered much, sold recently had 10 offers within days, sadly offers within asking price went right at back as I had offers almost 20% above asking price. sometimes offering less and then counteroffer doesn't work subject to the market demand. Now, if you think what your offer is right or can't afford more then stick to it, bought recently another bidder offered same as me, was asked to up my offer, genuinely was my best and gave them my reasons they accepted mine. if you really like the place and you think it is worth more(remove emotions if you can) then update your offer. otherwise, wait for the next one, remember you are only need to get lucky once.

I doubt it’s phantom offers if it’s had other viewings, just stick to your budget, strong believer in if it’s meant to be it will, for houses.

They're not allowed to make up offers. Obviously you have no way of knowing if they are just a rule breaker.

Ok so I rang yesterday.
They said ours was the best and they were pending offers. But we were in the best position to move.
We upped to best and final. But the estate agent said the vendor had been shocked he had had an offer so quick. That he is viewing properties that he will move into and they should get back to us next week.
When viewing he said he was downsizing cos of a relationship breakdown. And that he didnt want to rush.
We cant go any higher.
We just want an answer. And if he accepts the property off the market. I mean how long do you wait to see if they have accepted the offer or not. Would you offer a deadline?
Right now he has had the offer for over a week now. And there is still no clear answer.
We are not in a hurry to move but if he is going to accept we want the property closed to further viewings etc.