When to expect a response from an EA after making an offer on a house ?

[MikeHar]

Hi,

I made an offer on a property on the 30th April (ie over 2 weeks ago). It was a cash offer of 95% of the asking. I've heard nothing from the EA since, is this normal ?
There have been two open viewings since I made my offer and even if they weren't going to accept my offer I would have expected some sort of acknowledgement by now. When I made the offer they said they would log it on their system and I viewed it again the following weekend and the person showing it confirmed the highest offer they had was mine so its not the case that my offer somehow got forgotten or mislaid. I can infer from the lack of contact that at least they have not had any higher offers. Still its a bit odd, is it normal for an EA to completely ignore an offer if the vendor rejects it ? The house originally went on the market on 19th April, so it has had 4 open viewings now and there's none scheduled for this weekend that I can see yet.

Thanks,

Mike.

 

[Bronte]

Why don't you call the EA.

 

[cliqueentour]

very strange. They are pulling a fast one I reckon.

 

[Bronte]

very strange. They are pulling a fast one I reckon.

Don't be ridiculous. You've zero to base this on.

 

[Leo]

There's nothing at all unusual about this. A quick conversation with the EA will let you know where they are at. If you believe your offer is strong, and unlikely to be topped in the near term, you could try imposing a time-limit after which point you will withdraw. Of course that runs a significant risk if losing the house or having to back down and keep waiting.

There are a number of perfectly normal circumstances that could be at play here. The agent and vendors may be very confident they will receive a higher offer. Agents generally advice listing houses 10+% lower than the price they expect to achieve, some suggest going as far as 20% lower to stimulate a bidding war!

The vendors may not be in a rush to close, they have to move somewhere and may need to delay this sale so as not to end up homeless for a time. They could be awaiting confirmation of handover dates of a new-build or of refurb work of their new home. They may not even have found their new home yet. When looking to trade up or down, many agents will not accept any offers from movers who do not have their existing home on the market unless they have sufficient funds lined up to complete the sale.

Best course of action is to have a conversation with the EA, ask them where they are in the process and when they expect to close. In the meantime, continue to look at other properties (looking at others the same agent has on view will let them know you are looking at alternatives). Who knows, someone may come along and blow your offer out of the water, or you may even find a more desirable property.

 

[elcato]

I would look upon the fact that they have not got back to you as a good thing. It means no one is upping your offer. Did you put your offer in writing/email ?

 

[Palerider]

Put everything in writing with agents, my experience has not been positive except where I had a written trail.

 

[cliqueentour]

Don't be ridiculous. You've zero to base this on.

My reply was deleted for no reason. I explained how I have three instances where I have caught out three estate agents, two of whom were some of the biggest estate agent franchises in the country lying. Why was this deleted? I didn't infer that the estate agent the OP was asking about was he/she being dishonest, I was instead replying to Bronte's point.

 

[MikeHar]

There's nothing at all unusual about this .

Really ? I would have thought professionalism, not to mention common courtesy would dictate that an offer deserves an acknowledgement. It has now been 3 weeks and 3 open viewings yet not a peep from the EA. I understand the vendor may want to hold out for more but I'm failing to see what prevents them from letting me know where I stand.
I made a lowball offer (asking -100k) on another house the week before offering on this one, it had been sitting with no offers since Feb so I figured there was no harm in trying my luck. They had one viewing after my offer and then called me the following week to say that my offer was below the vendor's expectations and that they'd let me know if there were any other offers or I could contact them if I wanted to increase my own offer. Simple, direct, professional response.
I fail to see what EA gains by just ignoring me, other than creating the impression that they are cowboys.

 

[PaddyBloggit]

I fail to see what EA gains by just ignoring me, other than creating the impression that they are cowboys.

Did you ring them lately to ask them where you stand?

 

[Leo]

Really ? I would have thought professionalism, not to mention common courtesy would dictate that an offer deserves an acknowledgement.

You mean they just ignored you as you said it to them?

I fail to see what EA gains by just ignoring me

What have they to gain spending time phoning you if they don't have any meaningful update? The agent works for the vendor, if you need a high-touch experience you should engage a purchasing agent, otherwise accept that you will have to do some chasing yourself, especially so when offering below asking.

 

[MrEarl]

Don't be ridiculous. You've zero to base this on.

... other than potential first hand bad experiences with estate agents, something I'm sure many of us have had.

Estate Agents are a group that you'll struggle to fly the flag for in fairness

....Best course of action is to have a conversation with the EA, ask them where they are in the process and when they expect to close. In the meantime, continue to look at other properties (looking at others the same agent has on view will let them know you are looking at alternatives). Who knows, someone may come along and blow your offer out of the water, or you may even find a more desirable property.

All true.

The original poster could try telling the Estate Agent that they want this house, but are also now looking at another and considering bidding - see if they can put a little pressure on the Estate Agent to move things along.

As the original poster is a cash buyer, they are in a strong position and would be attractive to a vendor. Perhaps remind the Estate Agent of this during the conversation, particularly in the context that while they would rather this house, they know that the party selling the other (mystery) house wants a quick sale etc.