Likelihood of a house offer being accepted

[Mummagumma]

There is a house I would very much like to live in. The estate agent who showed us around said another viewing has been booked for Saturday - I am scared they will want it too.

It has been on the market for 8 months, with one price reduction of about 7%. There was a sale arranged which fell through.

Problem is, we do not have an offer on ours; it has not been on the market for long. The vendor doesn't have a chain, as she is moving in with her son, but she would like to get on with it. She has had other offers which have been turned down.

Do you think it is likely that if we offered full asking price, with the stipulation that it is removed from sale and further viewings are canceled, she would accept, even though we do not have a buyer for ours? We are prepared to take offers and reduce the price to sell quickly. Would you accept in that situation?

[jeee]

No - it could take months for you to sell your house, even if you are very flexible on the price. But there's no harm in trying.

[Fiddledee]

No point putting an offer in if you haven't sold your house. You should focus on selling your own home, can you sell yours at a discount and still afford this new house at the full asking price?

If the house has been on the market for 8 months its highly unlikely that the person looking at it on Saturday will want to buy it.

Just let the agent know you are interested and sell your home asap.

[PatriciaHolm]

Nope, I wouldn't. I would thank you, but keep mine on the market until you were under offer. It would be madness to do otherwise.

[Mummagumma]

I know all this really - I am just being loopy as I think this house is so right for our family. I was just really hoping against hope. DP is fortunately far more sensible about these things!

[Aitch]

what do you lose, though, by asking? if she refuses, and in a few months you have sold and she hasn't, you can make a lesser offer anyway. people who have brought up families in a house are often swayed by the thought of someone else loving their home, iykwim?

anyway, maybe i don't understand the english way, but if you work out the potential harm vs the potential good and you are happy to go ahead, i would ask her nicely if she could accept your terms.

[Fiddledee]

what you lose is offering asking price now and not being able to offer less in the future. madness

[Fiddledee]

don't look at houses until you sell yours saves you alot of heartache

[Aitch]

yes, i see that. however, she wants the house and is prepared to pay that money for it right now. if the woman says no then actually the ball game will change regarding offers in the future. they can quite easily say they got less than they wanted for their property and that x is what they can afford, adn then walk away if they don't get the price they want. same as usual. i don't get all the 'madness' stuff tbh, it sounds a bit silly.

[scurryfunge]

I would make an offer (not full asking price) and make it clear that you are not in a strong position re your house. You cannot make any demands about taking it off the market as that would be taking the piss because you cannot honour your offer at the moment.

She can always say no.

[Mummagumma]

I haven't bought before (DP owned this place when we met) so not really 100% on the protocol. We are prepared to knock down the price on the flat to sell quick - it would then be the cheapest one bed flat on the market in our area (except the ex-LAs), plus it's share of freehold. Surely someone will but it quickly!?

God, I covet this house. Fingers crossed it doesn't sell.

[scurryfunge]

Start getting to work on your own estate agents. Make sure they are being active about selling your property. Have an open house weekend if necessary. Review your photos and see if they need re-taking for maximum impact. Offer an incentive for buyers, etc.

[Mummagumma]

Is this a really inappropriate thing to do: she is on with three agents. Would it be out of order to slip a note through the door asking whether she has a preference who we bought through, to keep her costs down as much as poss, or just because she has a preferred agent. We saw it on Rightmove; it's not that we have been introduced through an agent.

This is only if we manage to get something in place for our own flat etc.

[scurryfunge]

She would be paying out to all who advertised anyway so I don't think it matters who. There will be an agent attached to the rightmove advert. Rightmove is not an agent.

[MooMooFarm]

Mumma as some others have said, your offer doesn't mean anything until you have sold your house. I would concentrate 100% on getting a buyer for yours. Once you're there, you'll be in the lovely position of actually being able to do a bit of bargaining yourself.

[Mummagumma]

No, I know RM isn't an agent - I mean we saw it listed by all three agents there. I didn't realise you had to pay all agents when there is a sale if you have a multiple agency basis. God, they really have got it all stitched up haven't they...

[LadySanders]

we've had several offers on our house from people who haven't sold yet, i must say i find it a bizarre thing to do.

of course you can tell the agent that you want the house and that you're going to get your on the market asap at a realistic price, and fingers crossed you will sell yours very quickly and be able to get it. i sympathise with anyone buying/selling at the moment as our chain has broken down 3 times, we've been on/off market since last May and have 'lost' 2 dream houses already...

[artyjools]

No, the vendor doesn't have to pay all the agents who are trying to sell the property under a multiple agent contract. She will only have to pay the agent who introduced the buyer to the house. If you were taken around the house by one agent, you should really stick with that agent. If you try to use another, then you might create a situation for the vendor whereby two agents are claiming the sale, and she might have to pay two lots of fees.

[PatriciaHolm]

You need to stick to the agent that showed you round. If you offer through another, both sets of agents could claim their fees from the seller which you really don't want.

[Mummagumma]

Ah ok, that's alright then. We've spoken to all the agents and the one conducting our viewing is the nicest of the three. Not that it matters at the moment cos we've yet to sell the damn flat!

[scurryfunge]

Sorry, I confused you with misinformation.

I always thought estate agents split the fees between whoever advertised.

[lalalonglegs]

All you can do is wait until next week and see what the other viewer does: if they make an offer and have already sold their house then, even if you had offered, it would blow yours out of the water. So sit tight, see if there is any interest from these people (and just because you love it doesn't mean that they will) and then you can start working out your next move. Personally, if it were me, I would go down my estate agency and offer #500 bonus to the agent who can get me an offer within 10 days and take it from there (has worked for a couple of people I know in the past).

[Honneybunny]

hoping for an update on this mummagumma.

We were in pretty much the same situation: dreamhouse on the market since September last year. We have been back for second and third viewings, but did not have our house on market. We quickly did this, and have now been on for almost two weeks. Have one interested viewer, who have said they will give us an offer as soon as they have one on their house.

And in came someone else, placed a very cheeky bid on our dreamhouse. It got accepted, even though all parties know we are very interested and our house on paper should sell soon.
We are now sort of hoping that their sale will fall through , so we can still have the house. But I know that this is quite unlikely. Am gutted!

Hope things will work out better for you.

[mamatomany]

If she's on with three agents she's pretty desperate, do not offer the full asking price, you'd be a right numpty in this market, to discount yours heavily and yet pay what she's asking. That would be madness.