Offer Groundhog Day...rant

[Greenfairydust]

I made an offer on a property I viewed early on Saturday. Offer made straight away in person to estate agent. House had been on the market for some time, needs quite a bit of work so offered 5% under asking. Chain free so the seller is not purchasing anything.

Since then nothing. No rejection, no suggestion to increase my offer.

Chased estate agent and nothing back.

This is the third time that I have had this happen with houses.

I know this one was done at the weekend but the buyer was informed straight away on Saturday so I was expecting a response this morning.

I have the same thing happen to the two previous houses I offered on:

Buyers took 2/3 days to reject (not even a counter offer suggested) then I made a higher offer and again I had to chase just to hear after 2 days that they are going to ''think about it''. At which point I withdrew my offer having had enough of having my time wasted.

I really don't get why this keeps happening to me. I am chain free with all finances in place.

When I was a seller I would have quickly rejected an offer and I knew full well roughly how much I would want to sell my property for.

So what on earth are these people doing that takes so long?

I am really starting to think this is something to with me. Are we really still at a point where people can't think that a woman can buy a house on her own?

Are people having the same issues at the moment with sellers taking forever to even reject an offer?

Estate agents round here shut a 12 on Saturdays.
I think you are taking previous experience and being very skeptical about this offer.
The estate agents haven't been open for very many hours since you put your offer in. Sit tight, and just wait. Chasing isn't going to make a difference if a conversation needs to be had by the vendors - but it might put them off you if you are as forthright as you come across in your message.

I had a bit of a weird one recently where the estate agents/ vendors wouldnt accept my offer until I’d instructed a solicitor. Which I do get, but I wasn’t going to instruct a solicitor until I’d found a house to buy. I always thought they should accept the offer first then you do the other bits quickly. Maybe I’m wrong.

You made your offer on the weekend which isn't the best time. I guess you'll hear back today or tomorrow.

We recently offered on something and radio silence. Turned out they were carrying in doing viewings for another week then seeing what offers came out of that. Round here estate agents work in a set process, different to where we moved from!

Why did you withdraw your other offer? It wasn't unreasonable for the vendor to take a few days to think about it. It's a big decision and they may have other offers to consider as well as their onward purchase. I don't think a failure to respond to you immeadiately means sellers are messing you around.

I viewed and offered on a house immediately not so long ago. The vendor took days to decide and rejected my offer in favour of a cash buyer. The purchase fell through and I reissued my offer. After again waiting for days the EA advised the vendor wanted a ridiculous amount more (£100k!) which I refused. I just kept my offer on the table while I carried on viewing elsewhere, I didn't see the point in withdrawing it as I'm aware situations can change. Two weeks later my original offer was accepted and I'm now sitting in that house. These things take time.

FWIW I'm a woman and bought on my own, I'm not sure what that has to do with anything.

@instantpotnoodle
We recently offered on something and radio silence. Turned out they were carrying in doing viewings for another week then seeing what offers came out of that. ''

I heard from the agent after chasing that they had another second viewing on Thursday that they still want to go ahead.

So the same thing is happening here...

But to me the basic courtesy would be to update me rather than expect me to wait with no contact until Friday.

@Eastie77Returns Why did you withdraw your other offer?

Because this one was at the very top of my budget but still needed work and I could feel they were just going to push for more money again. Also the sellers had not even found anywhere they wanted to buy so I could see this one drag on for months and potentially them gazumping me at the last minute. I had that done to me with a previous offer (seller took days to accept and seem to reluctantly take my offer only to accept higher offer just as I was about to do the survey) so any sign of an unreasonable buyer and I am off.

@CatOnTheChair ''but it might put them off you if you are as forthright as you come across in your message''

To me it is basic manners to keep people in the loop. As per my update it turns out they decided to allow another viewing at the end of the week (to potentially get a higher offer I assume) and if I had not contacted the agent I would have heard nothing until Friday which to me is not acceptable. They can decide to do more viewings but equally I will do the same this week and see other properties. The key is to communicate. It takes 2 minutes for the agent to send email saying ''offer is being considered but they are allowing a viewing that had been already booked for later this week''. Job done.

The estate agent works for the seller, not for you.

@VeniVidiWeeWee ''The estate agent works for the seller, not for you.''

And part of the estate agent's work is to communicate effectively with buyers who put in offers.

People need to raise their standards it seems....

If you want to sell your home, you and your agent(s) need to be professional.