Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Property/DIY

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

Original poster

How long to leave asking price offer on the table

102 replies

Mayjay18 · 13/04/2023 22:50

Hello! Just looking for some advice.
last Thursday we offered asking price on a house that we had fallen in love with. Seemed a reasonable price, if not slightly high, but we loved it so thought it would secure the deal.
We’ve sold our house to a cash buyer and are ready to go. Estate agents rang the vendor and they said they wanted to wait for the other viewings. Fair enough. One viewer cancelled and the other didn’t want to offer. I’m not sure if they had other viewings booked in, but the estate agent rang me on Tuesday and said the vendors wanted the night to think about our offer and they would ring on Wednesday. I rang the estate agent last night and they said they’d rang the seller 3 times, left a voicemail and text and have heard nothing. I rang again today and same thing. How long do we leave this offer on the table?! I loooove this house, but this is stressing me out big time! It’s been a week now since we offered asking price and we’re getting nowhere. We don’t live in an area where houses are selling above their valuation.

OP posts:
CellophaneFlower · 15/04/2023 20:29

Mayjay18 · 15/04/2023 20:14

Cellophaneflower we went to view the other house, it was lovely inside but the area was too built up for us unfortunately :(
the EA from the house we offered on never contacted us like she said she would, so I’m guessing it’s probably not good news :(

I wouldn't say you're out just yet. No news is potentially good news 🤞

Lostinwales77 · 15/04/2023 20:32

Wow, these vendors don't know they're born in this current market!
It makes me think there is something dodgy going on that you don't want to get involved in

Original poster
Mayjay18 · 15/04/2023 20:52

Do you think so? I don’t want to get my hopes up, but maybe you’re right…no news could possibly be good.
They’re closed tomorrow so at least I can have a day where I’m not clutching my phone waiting for a call haha!!
I’ve just been on rightmove for over an hour and haven’t seen a single bean I like the look of, feeling very disheartened at the moment :( fingers crossed for Monday though! I’ll keep you updated :)

OP posts:
iwasthewalrus · 15/04/2023 21:08

I imagine the EA is planning to call the FTB on Monday and ask if they are interested, keeping you hanging until then.

If I were you I’d call the EA on Monday and say you had other viewings over the weekend and there is a property you’re interested in. You would prefer the house you’ve offered on, so if they want to accept you’ll call off your search now. But equally you’re keen to get moving as you’ve sold your property and don’t intend to offer on two properties simultaneously so you need to know by COP whether they intend to accept or not. Stress that your buyer is a cash buyer and that their funds have been checked by your EA (if they haven’t, get that done on Monday) and say you have a well regarded solicitor already to go and mortgage agreement in principle so you’re in a very strong position to proceed…

Good Luck!

honeyandfizz · 16/04/2023 06:27

You need nerves of steel for house buying and selling. I can see the draw of no chain but then FTB can sometimes be more nervous about buying and with a lower deposit so sit tight and it aint over until it's over....good luck!

Leftoverssandwich · 16/04/2023 07:45

OP, we are currently buying. We made an asking price offer on a house that had been on the market for months with nothing but a ‘low offer’ made. We were also probably fools but we loved the house and could afford it. We were chain-free buyers. They had been looking for offers over so were disappointed with our offer. I would have bitten our hands off!

It still took the owners three days to accept the offer, and since then the sale has crawled along with an ineffective sales progressor and no sense of urgency from the sellers whatsoever. We are now six months in and they are not yet ready to discuss exchange dates.

It hasn’t been a nightmare but there do seem to be people who are not remotely embarrassed to be very leisurely about all this and agents that don’t help the process along. Good luck tomorrow!

Roselilly36 · 16/04/2023 08:30

strawberry2017 · 14/04/2023 16:17

People like this make me suspicious that they are going to try and start a bidding war to get more money.

100% agree, I would be withdrawing my offer immediately, not interested in bidding wars. We only ever offer on condition that marketing & viewings are cancelled.

Original poster
Mayjay18 · 16/04/2023 09:23

@Leftoverssandwich this sounds like exactly what’s happening with us. It took them a week to drop the keys off after the property had landed on rightmove! I just really want the house!!! The EA assured us that it would go through quickly if they did accept our offer but I’m feeling sceptical!

OP posts:
Roselilly36 · 16/04/2023 11:48

We offered asking price, and even upped it slightly for a second home we really wanted, cash sale, they did not accept the offer, we left it on the table, 18mths on still hasn’t sold, we bought a different property on the coast, probably worked out for the best tbh. It’s disappointing at the time, but something else always comes up. Good luck.

Original poster
Mayjay18 · 16/04/2023 12:33

@Roselilly36 at least it’s not just me…I was starting to take it personally haha! But I guess everything happens for a reason right?!

OP posts:
CellophaneFlower · 16/04/2023 12:36

Roselilly36 · 16/04/2023 11:48

We offered asking price, and even upped it slightly for a second home we really wanted, cash sale, they did not accept the offer, we left it on the table, 18mths on still hasn’t sold, we bought a different property on the coast, probably worked out for the best tbh. It’s disappointing at the time, but something else always comes up. Good luck.

That's really odd and I expect it's not typical now. I'm guessing this was when the market was hot and most vendors were getting above asking. They must be kicking themselves now.

StreamingCervix · 16/04/2023 12:45

Just thinking out loud, but what’s your impression of the EA? Are they well respected/trusted in the area? Something a previous poster said on the thread is ringing a bell about a property they offered on being sold to a developer instead, and now being back on the market.

It’s not unheard of that agents do favours for mates and developers with certain properties. Are you absolutely certain that the vendor has directly received your asking price offer?

I would be considering contacting the vendor directly, stating that you made an asking price on x date and that you have heard nothing since.

Original poster
Mayjay18 · 16/04/2023 16:28

@StreamingCervix the EA is the biggest estate agent in the country…(not sure if we’re allowed to name them on here) so you would think they would be quite reliable. At first I was convinced it was them telling the vendor to reject the offer but now I’m not even sure what’s going on!

OP posts:
KievLoverTwo · 17/04/2023 04:35

Wishing you luck.

Mortgage companies are stretching mortgage terms so people can still afford to buy. We are FTBs. We are about to get a 465k mortgage with a 5% deposit, which we can afford repayments on because they stretched the term to 33 years and we have been hagglying with brokers to get it from 5.4% with 1k fees to 4.99% with £250 cashback.

It's a completely different market to what most people know.

Our friends who we are buying from are looking at a 99 year mortgage.

No, I have no idea what that is all about either.

Give us an update later please?

Original poster
Mayjay18 · 17/04/2023 06:33

@KievLoverTwo it’s just gone crazy hasn’t it?! We were looking at £400k properties too when we first started house hunting and with the interest rates being 5.9% when we started the search the monthly repayments were extortionate spread over 20 years. We’ve bought our budget down now so we’ll be paying a bit less….feels a lot more stressful than when I bought my current home.

my husband has said if they don’t have an answer today we should offer them 5k more than asking price and if they still don’t accept then we’ll be walking away. Not sure how I feel about offering more money, but he says if that’s what it takes to get the house, then he’s happy to do it. Ahhh can’t wait for it to all be sorted!

I’ll keep you updated

OP posts:
KievLoverTwo · 17/04/2023 06:41

Mayjay18 · 17/04/2023 06:33

@KievLoverTwo it’s just gone crazy hasn’t it?! We were looking at £400k properties too when we first started house hunting and with the interest rates being 5.9% when we started the search the monthly repayments were extortionate spread over 20 years. We’ve bought our budget down now so we’ll be paying a bit less….feels a lot more stressful than when I bought my current home.

my husband has said if they don’t have an answer today we should offer them 5k more than asking price and if they still don’t accept then we’ll be walking away. Not sure how I feel about offering more money, but he says if that’s what it takes to get the house, then he’s happy to do it. Ahhh can’t wait for it to all be sorted!

I’ll keep you updated

I know what you mean. Kinda feels like rewarding them for bad behaviour.

I suppose 4 to 5 percent used to be the norm and those who lived it for years will say 'suck it up', but houses weren't extortionate then!

The current market feels like only the pretty damn wealthy can afford to buy now, and rentals are getting silly expensive and will only get worse when tens of thousands are sold in 2028 because they cannot achieve an EPC E.

It's rubbish for those who have to scrape by or get started, truly.

I think your husband is being generous. I would be bloody minded and play hardball with them, I don't like playing nice with disrespectful folk.

SheilaFentiman · 17/04/2023 07:30

I think the FTB hasn’t come back to them yet, hopefully they will today (and won’t offer!) and you’ll be all clear!

I don’t think they are being disrespectful - houses are our biggest asset and they want to make the right decision.

fingers crossed for you.

honeyandfizz · 17/04/2023 07:45

Don't offer any more money right now it will give them the upper hand and make you look desperate, wait and see what their response is first.

AntikytheraMech · 17/04/2023 08:47

How about saying that your offer will decrease by 1,000 pounds every day it's delayed. That will focus their attention.

CellophaneFlower · 17/04/2023 09:18

AntikytheraMech · 17/04/2023 08:47

How about saying that your offer will decrease by 1,000 pounds every day it's delayed. That will focus their attention.

And probably lose OP the house she really wants.

Leftoverssandwich · 17/04/2023 09:57

I think just leave it on the table while keeping an eye on other houses that might come on the market. No one likes a pushy buyer - they get criticised on here all the time!

Honeyroar · 17/04/2023 10:24

If you both really like the house and haven’t seen anything that compares then your husband might be right. But I’d leave it a bit longer if you can (you can always make that offer if the estate agent says the FTBers have offered full asking). I think being too keen opens you up to being pushed more, and being too nagging opens you up to being discarded.

DancingQueen2019 · 17/04/2023 11:52

If you really love the property I'd leave the offer on the table even if the FTB is accepted - you never know if the FTB pulls out, you could still get the property you love. There is nothing to stop you viewing other properties in the meantime.

Freakishly this is exactly the scenario DP & I are in at the moment. We were the first to view a property, offered over the asking price as loved it so much, hoped to secure it but more viewings went on, and they had an offer from FTB. Even though we have sold (to also FTB) so chain is minimal, they have gone with the FTB. I completely understand the reasons why (I work in conveyancing!) but still when you set yourself up in your head in this property and it falls through at the last minute due to one other offer, it is very hard!

Im waiting patiently for hopefully the FTB to pull out so we can swoop in :) Or we find another property and hope our buyer sticks around!

clpsmum · 17/04/2023 12:01

I've been made an offer on my property today I've told them I'd let them know by end of day. That's fair a week is not. I'd be very very reluctant to buy from them if I were you xx

clpsmum · 17/04/2023 12:03

Mayjay18 · 14/04/2023 13:35

Thank you everyone, all really helpful. The house is empty and they’ve been renting it out for the last 10 years to a family friend who has recently relocated. I think I did make a mistake offering asking price straight off the bat, but I just thought it would secure the sale. I’ve got my fingers crossed for this other house, although the location isn’t as ideal as the house we want. :(

Tbh if you like the other house I'd reduce your initial offer as they've messed you around so much

Swipe left for the next trending thread