Offer Made - what next

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dpento01

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I made an offer for a house last Tuesday, should I have received any feedback from the estate agent? Don't have any experience in these matters. I made the offer to him over the phone & he then got me to email the offer along with proof of funds which i did. I would doubt that there is any offer higher than mine but am wary of phoning the estate agent to see as I don't want to get into the situation where he tells me there has been a phantom higher offer & I end up bidding against myself. I wouldn't mind but I really want the house, would be ideal size etc. Would he just be leaving it on the market for a period of time to see if there are any higher offers? Should I contact the estate agent?
 
Two days is a bit tight for a response but there is nothing wrong with asking the EA for his clients response to your offer. If no definite response, set a time limit on the offer and tell the EA that you are looking at other houses. If he thinks you really want the house and will wait, he may delay acceptance hoping that another client comes along to top your offer... Of course this assumes that the vendor isn't in any hurry.
 
Did you put an expiry/time limit on your offer?
Doing so would force the EA's hand to reply prior to the expiry. If he/she did not reply then you could move on. Or if they get back to you post-expiry then you've got the upper hand and can reasonably submit another offer, lower if you wish.
 
Any update on this? I'm in the same situation. I made an offer on a house last Wednesday and the EA didn't come back to me until yesterday morning. With a negative answer too. He's gone back to the owners to see if they'll lower their asking price and I'm waiting now to hear back...
 
I am in the same phase of buying house. I always put time limit on my offer. Remember even your offer is accepted there is no obligation for vendor to sell. All we need to do is trying to get on next phase.
I also insist the sign goes to sale agreed immediately once offer is accepted.
There is no other reason to delay response to your offer other than to Wait and see if someone else offer higher.
Therefore time limit is needed and when it pass either increase your offer or move on. But i prefer to put 1 offer and indicate i will not increase the offer. I only give 24 to 48 hpurs limit.
You should call them and no harm looking for other houses. Sometime better deal can come later.
 
Estate agents (EAs) are generally useless liars. If you want to buy a house in Ireland you usually have to chase them around because they simply do not do their job competently. In fact, they are not necessary, at all. Why they still exist is beyond me. But, yes, you need to pester them.
 
macsmuff said:
Estate agents (EAs) are generally useless liars. If you want to buy a house in Ireland you usually have to chase them around because they simply do not do their job competently. In fact, they are not necessary, at all. Why they still exist is beyond me.
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Very sweeping statements:confused: Must say I had great a experience with an estate agent I dealt with recently, telephone calls always returned, emails answered immediately, always on the ball etc. They have a terrible reputation but I personally wouldn't tar them all with the same brush.
 
Please note the use of the word 'generally', this clearly indicates not *all*. I have had many, many dealings with EAs and, generally, they were useless liars, so this is not a 'sweeping statement', rather an opinion resulting from vast experience. You cite one instance of a good interaction, to the best of your knowledge, with an EA. I have also had one good experience, to the best of my knowledge. They have a terrible reputation for good reason.

How can you be sure that your EA did not lie to you?
 
Oh my goodness some of you new posters need to calm down and have some patience. This is the single biggest purchase most of you will make so stop trying to rush things. Stuff like 'all estate agent's are liars' is of no help to anybody. An estate agent does not work for you, they work for the seller. It's a game of patience, of knowing your financial limits and most importantly of sticking to that limit. And always be prepared to walk away.

I sincerely hope this is not a sign of how bad the Dublin market is now that fools are rushing in coz we all know where that landed the whole country in last time.

Please stress test yourselves. If you don't know what that means then don't even think about buying a house. Don't just rely on your broker/bank. You yourself are the ones that need to learn to be financially savvy.
 
If the EA is on the seller's side, what can you do to get them on yours too? I made an offer last Wednesday (12 aug), EA called me on Monday to tell me the offer had been rejected. He told me he'd get the owners' bottom line but hasn't come back to me yet. Very frustrating, and makes me want to walk away. Is this regular practice? What's a realistic timeframe?
 
You cannot get an EA 'on your side'. His job is to get the price the sellers want, it is they call the shots. It is a sellers market. Was it your final offer? Give some figures please.
 
sweetaure;

Of course the EA is on the sellers side ,its the seller he gets paid by !
He had the courtesy to tell you on Monday your offer was rejected, he said he would get sellers bottom line. Could well be the seller hasn,t come back to him.

Do not forget, it is you who wants to buy , your offer ain,t good enough @ present.
You can always walk away and there are no time-frames unless you put your offer in to expire in X Days.
Then the EA has to decide if your offer is good enough.
 
Is it really a sellers market? The asking price is €260k, the EA told me that he had recommended they put it up for €245/250k, and we offered €225k, knowing it'd be rejected. We're wiling to go up to €235/240k. The house was on sale previously and they rejected an offer of €220k, and planned on coming back, but their situation changed and they moved back to England so they've put it up for sale again. The other EA I dealt with (the current EA's father) told me they'd consider €230k, but the son hasn't come back to me with any figure yet. Any advice is greatly appreciated!
 
sweetaure.

Seems to be a bit of a sellers rather than a buyers market at the moment , because of that sellers are loathe to confirm in the hope they will squeeze another few bob.
One word patience !
Or failing patience , phone EA and say k235 but answer needed promptly, that should shake out things.

ps. good luck.
 
Gerry: thanks for your comments.

I get that the EA is on the sellers side, but would also think that it is in their best interest to take care of the buyer too. There's been 2 viewings on the house since it went up for sale at the start of July, and no other offer. Isn't a low offer better than no offer? It's not like there are lots of us fighting for the house! Not saying that they should necessarily have accepted our initial offer of course, but the lack of communication is driving me crazy.
We're still looking anyway, but this house ticks most of the boxes!
 
Yes that's true, we're trying to be interested but not too eager. Hard balance to achieve... Right, I'll hold my horses so, thanks very much for the advice!
 
If an EA is asking for proof of funds, make sure you blank out the figures on any letters you might supply them. Do not let the Estate agent know how much you have to spend. They don't need to know how much of a mortgage you are approved for. Or, if you already have a solicitor engaged to do the conveyancing when it happens, your solicitor can phone them and tell the estate agent that you have enough funds provided to make such offers.
Remember it takes time. The Estate agent is 'working' the owners too. The owners may not intend taking a lower offer, so the estate agent needs to give the owners time to consider offers, or to get the owners to come around to accepting bit less...depending. Also read the other Key Posts/Sticky about dealing with estate agent.
 
Gerry Canning said:
sweetaure.

A good EA can smell a wish to buy, could be he scents extra £££,s from you.
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It is good to let EA scent your interest. It even better if you can make the scent stronger and show you are also have place scent to other EA property.
How much money they get from you buyer, for 30k difference they get about 1.5% = 500 euro. They rather sell the property quick and move. They get good reputation and earn money from ads.

@sweetaure, dont believe all the story EA told you, but still ask as many question as possible. If you offer low just wait and look around.
I offered a house at 230k it 30k lower than asking price. It took them 4 week to tell me other buyer offer 2k more. I translate it as ' hi buyer no other offer since your offer 4 week ago. But it still too low. If you offer 235k. You might get it.'

I also offer for other property for asking price at 245.vExact property few door away, but better naintain. Then other property that tick more boxes show up. I offer 12k under asking price of 255 and got accepted in 2 days. I put condition on my offer that no increase and 2 days time limit. I tell them i wil offer 15k less after 2 day. They come back just before it expires and got sale agree. It may be a bit expensive but i know with this fast response the seller intend to sell not wauting around. I certainly happy i got the house i want,

And dont forget to insist to labelld the ads accordingly. I also tell them i am looking for my deposit back if the ads still showing for sale after reasonable time have given to change it. They change it in 1 day so it seems i got a decent EA

If the EA is half decent, don't deal with them. You can smell that you will have lot of trouble down the line. You may also miss opportunity on other btter property might surface. Dont waste your time and energy. Put your offer and keep looking,
 
Thanks a lot to everyone who commented, your advice is very much appreciated!

I'll post an update as soon as I hear back. In the meantime, we're looking at other houses over the weekend!
 
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