Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

Flip

1 2 3

Original poster

EA telling people not to make an offerl

63 replies

Highho · 14/08/2022 16:25

We viewed a house yesterday that ticked a lot of boxes for our family. It needs a lot of work but has potential and we would move there with a view to living there for the foreseeable.

Our current home is not on the market. We've had it valued and are finishing off the garden and then it will be advertised. When we explained this to the agent yesterday, he told us to not bother making an offer as we would be overlooked having not sold ours yet.

I've never known an estate agent try to dissuade a potential buyer before and when I arranged the viewing in the first place, I had to explain our current situation. Why didn't they say don't bother then!

Is this really how the market is now? Would you still try to put an offer in?

OP posts:

hotfroth · 14/08/2022 18:36

Estate agents like to make as much money as possible, and one way to do that is to make sure that they are handling the sale of more than one property in a chain. So they will want to put offers forward from people whose homes are also on their books.

(ExH once worked for a particularly sneaky EA firm).

There is no reason why you can't put your offer through the seller's letter box, by the way. You can let them know your house will be on the market soon.

YankeeDad · 14/08/2022 18:40

@Highho this is contrary to what others have posted, but I think it worth pointing out that if you make an offer in England, normally the estate agent is obligated to pass it on to the vendor.

The EA can advise the vendor to reject it, but depending on several factors including the price you’re willing to offer, the amount of other financing you would need, the amount of interest in your target house by other buyers, and the nature of your house (=easy to sell quickly?) you might still have some chance.

if your house has been valued by a credible EA then it could also strengthen your position, especially if you are willing to price it to sell quickly.

Whinge · 14/08/2022 18:42

so Put it on the market first thing tomorrow.

I agree. If you like the property then yours could be on the market by tomorrow. At the moment you're not proceedable, if you want to be in a better position forget doing the garden and put it up for sale.

Clymene · 14/08/2022 18:44

Why on earth would anyone want to sell to you? You don't have any money!

OutDamnedSpot · 14/08/2022 18:51

Round here you wouldn’t even have been allowed to view, let alone offer. Why would anyone accept an offer from someone who can’t actually move? (Unless your next purchase isn’t dependent on a sale?)

Littlemissweepy · 14/08/2022 18:56

I had an offer accepted on a property last year, was subject to sale, and my house wasn’t on the market at that point. I wouldn’t want to sell before I knew I had somewhere to buy. My house sold to our first viewer less than a week later. Was on the market for less than 24 hours. We completed the whole chain 3 months later. I am in Scotland though. EA’s should have less control in my opinion.

Ohnonevermind · 14/08/2022 20:00

I remember reading (Malcom gladwell) that estate agents keep their own houses on the market for longer and make more money too.

the Different to an estate agent in terms of commission is small but a vendor could be missing out on thousands, less viewings is less work too

WoWsers16 · 14/08/2022 22:08

So we accepted an offer for our house for someone who wasn’t on the market - they viewed our house - then put their house on the market the following day and made an offer - we accepted as they had 28 viewings booked within 2 hours so we knew it would sell. We had to wait 10 days for their open day but we didn’t mind: was great when they got the offer tho! It’s a shame the offer they accepted that buyer has been a right pain and slowed things down by months! 😂

Ticksallboxes · 14/08/2022 23:46

There was a long thread about this a few months ago which was eye-opening.

The advice was that you should sell your own home, put the money in the bank and rent before you make an offer.

Posters were saying it seems like a complete upheaval initially, but it saved so much time, money and stress in the long term that it was really worth it in the end.

Honeyroar · 14/08/2022 23:50

Highho · 14/08/2022 17:56

@HippeePrincess That's the most annoying part! They could have told us on the phone when we arranged the viewing and then we wouldn't have got our hopes up for nothing. They specifically asked about our position and never mentioned a thing 🙄

I would expect they presumed you were going to ask them to list your house.

Starseeking · 15/08/2022 00:33

I'm surprised the agent let you view the house knowing your position.

TinySophie · 15/08/2022 00:42

It’s only slowed you down by a day or so though, as presumably now that you’ve found a house that you like you can call them back and ask them to both market yours and pass your offer on.

It’s a bit strange that you didn’t just start the ball rolling in that first call; what’s the issue?

illiterato · 15/08/2022 00:47

remember reading (Malcom gladwell) that estate agents keep their own houses on the market for longer and make more money too.

I think this applies mainly in markets like the US where the real estate agents tend not to have exclusive rights, so it’s better to persuade the vendor to sell at any reasonable price and seal the deal than to lose out to a competitor. In the uk the estate agent normally has exclusive rights.

Heronwatcher · 15/08/2022 07:59

Yes this is very common. As a seller I wouldn’t accept an offer from someone who wasn’t under offer themselves or a cash buyer. EAs allow viewings because what can happen is that the interested party decides to get their own home on the market, sells it quickly and then comes and makes an offer. Having more viewings also helps the EA look like they’re doing a good job. The EA has actually done you a favour here, some would put the offer forward knowing it wouldn’t proceed and then use it to push actual proceedable offers higher.

Thestoppedfan · 15/08/2022 08:04

I hate how the market is at the minute it makes everyone rush around- it’s perfect for the estate agents but not for the customers. We weren’t allowed to book viewings until we had SSTC it really put the pressure on for us to find somewhere quickly.

eurochick · 15/08/2022 08:23

This seems to be common now. It didn't used to be the norm. We viewed and offered on a house without being on the market last year. We are now living in it. We just got our house on the market quickly and it sold quickly.

XVGN · 15/08/2022 08:27

I'm not surprised that the EA let them view. It inflates the level of interest and panics the "real" buyers into acting and/or offering stupid amounts over asking.

Never underestimate an EA.

PurBal · 15/08/2022 08:30

Legally they have to put forward your offer. You can report to property ombudsman if they refuse. They will of course tell the seller your circumstances.

gamerchick · 15/08/2022 08:38

Highho · 14/08/2022 17:58

Thanks for your messages all. This is the first time we've moved so it's all new but it just seemed like a bit of a slap in the face 😂

When you're going through the getting the house viewing ready repeatedly. You'll get it then I think.

MrsToadflax · 15/08/2022 09:39

We are starting to look at moving and this really worries me. We have three young children and live rurally where rental properties for our size family are very scarce. I've been vaguely looking in the area for a couple of years and nothing suitable has come up. If we sold and moved into rented, it could be years before we found a house to buy. Our house will sell quickly as evidenced by other houses on our street, so an EA forcing us into the rental market to even be allowed to look at houses is really off-putting.

SatinHeart · 15/08/2022 09:46

Ticksallboxes · 14/08/2022 23:46

There was a long thread about this a few months ago which was eye-opening.

The advice was that you should sell your own home, put the money in the bank and rent before you make an offer.

Posters were saying it seems like a complete upheaval initially, but it saved so much time, money and stress in the long term that it was really worth it in the end.

I didn't see the other thread, but I know people that have been caught out doing this in a fast moving market - they sold, banked the cash but prices carried on going up and they got priced out of potential purchases. If they'd hung on to their property, it's sale price would have carried on rising too.

But in response to the OP, yes they have to put forward your offer but unless they are struggling to sell, no-one's going to actually accept it and take their house off the market until you have sold your house and are proceedable. If you show your hand too early, all the EA will do is ring round the other interested parties and use your offer to try and start a bidding war.

MicksMate · 15/08/2022 10:20

@MrsToadflax the property market has loads of quirks and local variations though. Don't panic. We have viewed a couple of houses recently without being on the market, and the market round here is crazy.

Talk to a couple of local agents about your plans, ask their advice, maybe get them to value your house to show you are serious, ring them occasionally to check if anything is coming up. One we talked to offered to make up a marketing pack with photos etc ready in advance, so we could get onto the market super-quick when the right house comes up. They will have ways to try and meet all potential customers' needs including yours. It's not the norm to move into rented, it's still very much the exception, and remember they will be vying to sell your house too.

haveyourcakeandeatit · 15/08/2022 10:33

Yes totally, your not in a proceedable position, in the past I've refused viewings from people who aren't even on the market yet.

SuperlativeOxymoron · 15/08/2022 11:38

We were told by a few agents that they wouldn't take us to view until our house was on the market and then when were and we offered we were told that although our offer would be put forward, the vendor wouldn't accept until our property was under offer.

Standard nowadays

BlueMongoose · 15/08/2022 12:44

If you want to make an offer, make one, though of course your circumstances will be taken into account. The EA is legally obliged to pass it on.
It amazes me how some EAs try to put buyers off. As a seller, I'd be livid. The EAs for my current house (the third ones as it turned out) tried to put us off driving to see it (though we were cash buyers and it had been on the market 2 years). Their reasoning, which was considerate to us in a way, was that the sellers were difficult due to matrimonial problems (divorce actually), the situation was just dragging on, and it probably wasnt worth us driving 100 miles each way to see it. We decided to take the risk, and it worked out. Eventually. After getting on for 8 months.😜The EAs were dead right about 'difficult'.🙄

Flip

1 2 3

Swipe left for the next trending thread