How long should I wait?!

[hopefulhousehunter]

In a nutshell:

Called developer on Thursday morning to make very cheeky offer on partially completed property.

Developer did not laugh and hang up Will crunch some numbers and get back to me.

hhh firmly crosses fingers and waits.

Still waiting over weekend.

Now drumming crossed fingers and feeling impatient.

I've put the ball firmly in his court and don't want to seem desperate/overly keen so am reluctant to call him again. But how long should I wait? How long does it take to re-calculate the cost of completing a build and selling etc? The property's been on the market for a long time, and AFAIK this is his only offer. So perhaps he's not feeling in a hurry to deal with it. But I am!! Should I give him a nudge? And if so, how to do it without compromising my 'poker face'?!

Help!

[Adeona]

He might have had a second offer in parallel and is probably weighing out the options. I would give him a call today, I don't thinky you will sound desperate, housing is a fast moving business and you don't want to miss a good opportunityl. You could say you have 1 or 2 other interesting options and you need to know fairly quickly if he's interested so you can move on. Good luck

[hopefulhousehunter]

Honestly, I'd be shocked and VERY miffed if there was another offer on the go just now - as I say it's been on the market for AGES and there has been very little activity on it. That's one of the main reasons I'm hoping he might accept a cheeky offer.

I like your idea about saying I have other options though, perhaps I could use that as an excuse to call.

Thanks Adeona!

[Adeona]

LOL is it really that bad??? why are you so interested then? Are you thinking of doing it up? Have you wondered why no one else made him an offer since it's gone on the market? perhaps the area is not a good one? it's always good to be aware of the history of a place before buying. We nearly put an offer on a house we liked which was in a lovely spot right across a huge field. Luckily we enquired and found out the council had plans to build new housing developments on that field.

[hopefulhousehunter]

Haha, it's not terrible - just overpriced I think! Got lots of info on the place from a friend who's built a house in the plot opposite, so we've got a good inside track from her.

[jammybean]

He's hoping you're going to come back with a counter offer. I agree on making them aware there are other properties you're interested in. And of course be prepared to walk away.

I made an offer on Monday on a barn that has been on the market for over a year. I've been watching as the developer has knocked 175 off the initial asking. They recently have started remarketing at 550. Offered 500. Which is reasonable they however are holding out for more. The developer will get back to us in 2 weeks if they don't get a better offer. In the meantime holding out the poker face whilst feeling a bit sick. Arghhhh!

[hopefulhousehunter]

Thanks jammy - I may have to bluff a bit then on the 'other properties' as there are aren't many coming up in our (quite limited) search area at the moment, which is one of the reasons I'm quite keen to pursue this one.

And I am indeed prepared to walk away - I have a clear idea of what deal we would need to do here and if it's not going to happen, then I think I'll know this one isn't for us. It's a bit of a long-shot as if we were to get the property for the price I've suggested we'd have an amazing bargain. Possibly too good to be true...

Call me back Mr Developer, I need to know how/if this is going to go down?!

[hopefulhousehunter]

bumping for the post-school run crowd...any other words of wisdom, people?!

[hopefulhousehunter]

Eek, I gave in and phoned just now -brief conversation, he's planning to call me back by the end of the week.

Somebody reassure me I haven't just blown it with my impatience?!

I really hope I came across business-like and keen to move things along - not desperate and inexperienced!?

Good grief, I've never tormented myself this much over a relationship, never mind a property

[jammybean]

That can only be a good thing if he said he'll call back. Although if its been on the market for a while you'd think he'd be biting your arm off at a decent offer. I still think its largely a buyers market unless you're in London and vendors can't be overly picky.

I would wait and hear back from him. If you do have to chase again don't call till at least Monday. Then you have two options, you've seen something else that you'd like to move on so you need to know one way or another. Or if you really want it, sound him out on what price he's trying to achieve and meet in the middle.

[hopefulhousehunter]

Thanks jammy, that's reassuring. I at least feel a bit less on edge, waiting for him to call back. I'll play it cool from now on and keep crossing my fingers!

[jammybean]

Hopeful Any news?

Keeping my fingers crossed for you.

[flatbread]

Hmm, you shouldn't have called. He knows now that you are keen.

When he calls back with a counter offer don't accept it on the spot. Wait a week before calling back.

It is a game of poker in a slow market and you have just revealed your hand, I am afraid (so says the person who made a too-high offer within minutes of seeing her 'dream' house).

[hopefulhousehunter]

Still waiting here! It's now almost 2 weeks since I made the follow up call, when he told me he hoped to get back to me by the end of the week

flatbread, you may be right - perhaps he's now holding off, waiting to see if I'll call him back again. If so, I hate games like this. Tbh even if I did phone him back, I'll be sticking to my limit and holding out for big discounts, so he can think I'm desperate all he wants, but I'm not going to be paying big bucks for his half-finished house!

However, I'm using the time to get some good mortgage advice, do the sums and get our own house ship-shape so we're ready to get on the market quick (yes, that's right, we're looking before we're on the market. I know, but we have a small search area and no desire to sell before we at least have a rough idea what we hope to buy.)

However, time is indeed ticking and I'm impatient to know - one way or another. Can he have forgotten? That we may be willing to pay him several thousands for a plot he's looking to offload?? Would a person be likely to let this slip their mind??

Any advice how long I should let this run before chasing?

[hopefulhousehunter]

Oh and it might be worth knowing that there has been some activity at the property - a friend who lives opposite has reported back to me that she's spied workmen there, moving things about/measuring up etc.

So it appears I've prompted him into some kind of action, and I can only assume he's taking the idea seriously or he wouldn't be wasting time re-estimating the build.

[HappyGirlNow]

Maybe he's just completing the house to sell it as planned?

Sorry, but perhaps he isn't taking your offer seriously since your home isn't even on the market much less sold..

[hopefulhousehunter]

Perhaps, happy, and if that's the case then I'm willing to accept that. But irrespective of our current property status, I made an enquiry and he said he would get back to me. Surely it's common courtesy - and good business - to do so?

I suspect he's one of those men people who need a good deal of nudging and reminding to get things done. And this property is probably much more in my thoughts than his...

[hopefulhousehunter]

Latest: still no call back.

But I have discovered he's having boards put down for flooring

[financialwizard]

Serious question. How do you know how much you can afford to offer without even having yours valued yet?

[jammybean]

Does he know your position hopeful? I'm inclined to agree with happy if so.

Our offer was accepted over 2 weeks after it was made. They got the agent to call back to see if there was any more we could offer. In the meantime we sat tight and held our nerve. They then called back to accept. It is plausible he is still considering it.

[hopefulhousehunter]

Financialwizard we had our house valued a few months ago to give us an idea of our budget so we know roughly what to expect.

Jammy I did mention our position to him when we viewed the property so if he remembers that, then he knows.

We've got estate agents coming early next week to get us ready for market if need be, so we are certainly preparing to sell if it looks like this deal could be going somewhere. I know this is not technically the 'correct' way of doing things, but we're cautious about venturing onto the market without some idea of having another home to move to.

[hopefulhousehunter]

And I just want to add - thanks for your replies folks, good or bad! I need the reality check, and also to get the thoughts out of my head and share them with someone else, otherwise I'm going round in circles!

[jaynebxl]

I would phone back. And I would say I'm just calling since I seem to have missed you calling me back. If it is all going to be business like then you don't want to be messed around and he can't just leave you hanging.

[BimbaBirba]

Seems to me to be very similar to the very early stages of a relationship. You wouldn't phone a guy twice when you knew that he had your number but hasn't called you back the first time, would you?
Basically I fear the developer is not really interested in your offer, either because it's too low or because you're not procedable.
Sorry to be brutally honest.
Good luck!

[hopefulhousehunter]

Sooo, for anyone who might be still watching this thread...

I've just spoken with the developer. He says:

He's also talking to another couple in a similar position to us - also not sold but offering a higher figure. (fictional or not? I don't know - he did tell me previously that he'd shown a couple of other folks round the property)

He's cracking on a bit with the house and doing a bit more work to it in the meantime.

My figures are on the low side (I knew this - I'm chancing my arm, of course)

He still sounded keen to keep negotiating - suggested comparative figures for other properties he's got and an equity share idea which someone else discussed with him last year.

So basically, we'll have to decide whether or not to take the plunge and go on the market. Best case: we sell quickly, for a good price and can come up to his level on price. Worst case: we don't sell quickly enough and are beaten to the punch by this 'other couple' OR we sell, but still can't meet the figure he's looking for. I don't know if we should be brave and just go for it, or if this is really too much of a long-shot?! Eek. This property stuff is a real head-masher

[Jaynebxl]

Our estate agent reassured us when we were wondering whether to put our house on the market by saying we could always see what interest there was then say that we would accept an offer subject to our purchase, ie subject to us finding something to buy. That way we would be upfront about the fact that we might not move as quickly as some people would like. That helped me feel brave enough to put ours on the market but as it turned out, in between getting the EA round and actually getting our house on the market we had an offer accepted on a lovely house so it never came to that.