Are written offers better than verbal ones?
- Thread starter alpina
- Start date
Can't vote as I don't know
Have never made a written offer. Have never had problems with verbal ones.
I've never had a problem having an offer taken seriously, think alot depends on how you relate to agents. Some people on the forum seem to think that agents always are out to screw them (and every one ) but I've found that if you're up front with the agents about what you're doing , and come across as having some degree of integrity you don't need to make written ones.
See Change
Have never made a written offer. Have never had problems with verbal ones.
I've never had a problem having an offer taken seriously, think alot depends on how you relate to agents. Some people on the forum seem to think that agents always are out to screw them (and every one ) but I've found that if you're up front with the agents about what you're doing , and come across as having some degree of integrity you don't need to make written ones.
See Change
I prefer written offers as the price isn't the only thing thats negotiable or desirable for the vendor. Your price may be low but the length of settlement, cash contract, whats in whats out can have significant outcomes for both you and the vendor. Also you may offer them more with other annomilies added in, eg early access, long/short contract, vendor financing etc. Putting it in writing with a juicy cheque encourages the vendor to the table.
I agree with Rambada in that written offers provide a level of flexibility and creativity not necessarily possible with an offer conveyed verbally to the RE agent.
Not to rubbish RE agents in general but a written offer allows the vendor to physically hold your offer and consider it over time. It is not reliant on the delivery by the agent for success and less dependent on the "approval" of the RE agent. Lastly, by providing contact details, the vendor can verify the authenticity of the offer as well as asking any questions directly should they desire.
Regards,
Kenny
Not to rubbish RE agents in general but a written offer allows the vendor to physically hold your offer and consider it over time. It is not reliant on the delivery by the agent for success and less dependent on the "approval" of the RE agent. Lastly, by providing contact details, the vendor can verify the authenticity of the offer as well as asking any questions directly should they desire.
Regards,
Kenny
I preferr written offers.
They give slightly more assurance that the offer will be passed on the vendor, it allows you to spell out conditions so there can be no disputes later & IMHO words on paper are treated with greater weight & respect than spoken words, so you get a better hearing from the vendor.
Attaching a deposit cheque (nominal amount) & making the offer valid only for a few days also add a level of urgency & commitment to offers that makes it much harder for a vendor to say no.
Cheers,
Aceyducey
They give slightly more assurance that the offer will be passed on the vendor, it allows you to spell out conditions so there can be no disputes later & IMHO words on paper are treated with greater weight & respect than spoken words, so you get a better hearing from the vendor.
Attaching a deposit cheque (nominal amount) & making the offer valid only for a few days also add a level of urgency & commitment to offers that makes it much harder for a vendor to say no.
Cheers,
Aceyducey
The definition of "Written offer" being used in this thread is simply an offer written down on paper, right? As opposed to a contract that has been submitted to the agent/vendor?
The only reason I brought this up is because I have had discussion with agents who don't consider an offer on paper to be a "Written offer" unless it is a contract. I wrote a letter once with all sale terms and conditions to an agent and he asked me to submit a "written offer" if I wanted to put in an offer on the property. I told him I already had, and his response was that it needed to be a contract, and that the letter was considered a "verbal offer".
Thought that was interesting.
Regards,
Boyler Room
The only reason I brought this up is because I have had discussion with agents who don't consider an offer on paper to be a "Written offer" unless it is a contract. I wrote a letter once with all sale terms and conditions to an agent and he asked me to submit a "written offer" if I wanted to put in an offer on the property. I told him I already had, and his response was that it needed to be a contract, and that the letter was considered a "verbal offer".
Thought that was interesting.
Regards,
Boyler Room
Interesting point Boyler re difference between written offer and contract. I find around 30% agents prefer you to come into the office and sign a contract, rather than fax or write out a written offer on your own template.
Verball offers don't mean squatt!!
I had negotiatied on a house and thought I had the place. I heard nothing from the agent, I emailed her and got a sh!tty response, saying that she sold it to another client.
After calling her and saying that I was annoyed and upset that she hadn't let me know the other person was interested. She turn around and basically said I wasn't serious enough about buying the house and thought that I couldn't/ wouldn't pay any more than the last ammount I mentioned, for the place...as it happens I could have and probably would have paid more to secure the place. Too bad for her, she burnt her bridges with her bitchy attitude towards me ( I haven't seen her name on the company website for sometime so they have axed er positon
).
However if I had of had the offer in writing the vendor would possibly have signed it off, if not the agent is legally bound to notify you if any other offers are presented. The cow of an agent was just playing me off against another - unknown bidder.
If you have something on paper you can quite easily got to court as it is tangible evidence if things go bad or people reneg (spell?) - if you go to the court with a WORD OF MOUTH claim I think you will pretty much get told "too bad".
Thats my thoughts anyway....
keg75
p.s. i did negotiate on another house with another agent after the first instance - and due to the distance involved we negotiated by email to arrive at a price which was then written up - this happened very quickly and because I had more of an idea of the location I didn't lowball them too much, as I had on the first house. I was lucky in the fact that the agent hadn't advertised on the open market for that house, at that time either. The vendor put in on the market on thursday I made an offer on saturday, and had a signed off O&A doc on the next thursday - the agent made a bit more profit too, because of no adverts etc. unfortunately or fortunately for me I was about to sign off on an offer for another house at a higher amount so the agent knew that I had more money than the asking so that was a little sucky - but a $50+ pw cash property can't be baulked at... cya
I had negotiatied on a house and thought I had the place. I heard nothing from the agent, I emailed her and got a sh!tty response, saying that she sold it to another client.
After calling her and saying that I was annoyed and upset that she hadn't let me know the other person was interested. She turn around and basically said I wasn't serious enough about buying the house and thought that I couldn't/ wouldn't pay any more than the last ammount I mentioned, for the place...as it happens I could have and probably would have paid more to secure the place. Too bad for her, she burnt her bridges with her bitchy attitude towards me ( I haven't seen her name on the company website for sometime so they have axed er positon
). However if I had of had the offer in writing the vendor would possibly have signed it off, if not the agent is legally bound to notify you if any other offers are presented. The cow of an agent was just playing me off against another - unknown bidder.
If you have something on paper you can quite easily got to court as it is tangible evidence if things go bad or people reneg (spell?) - if you go to the court with a WORD OF MOUTH claim I think you will pretty much get told "too bad".
Thats my thoughts anyway....
keg75
p.s. i did negotiate on another house with another agent after the first instance - and due to the distance involved we negotiated by email to arrive at a price which was then written up - this happened very quickly and because I had more of an idea of the location I didn't lowball them too much, as I had on the first house. I was lucky in the fact that the agent hadn't advertised on the open market for that house, at that time either. The vendor put in on the market on thursday I made an offer on saturday, and had a signed off O&A doc on the next thursday - the agent made a bit more profit too, because of no adverts etc. unfortunately or fortunately for me I was about to sign off on an offer for another house at a higher amount so the agent knew that I had more money than the asking so that was a little sucky - but a $50+ pw cash property can't be baulked at... cya
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I have used both depending on the situation.
A couple of years ago we put an offer in writing to a vendor with a twenty four hour time limit and it worked well. We got the offering price accepted with our terms. The realestate agent told us that she had never before had an offer in writing. I might add that we have not needed to use this tactic since but it can be very useful sometimes.
Simon
A couple of years ago we put an offer in writing to a vendor with a twenty four hour time limit and it worked well. We got the offering price accepted with our terms. The realestate agent told us that she had never before had an offer in writing. I might add that we have not needed to use this tactic since but it can be very useful sometimes.
Simon
Does anyone have a basic template that they would use and simply fill in the blanks? If so, would you mind linking it to the forum for those who haven't utilised this form of process. Also, in addition to Geoff's comment that in some states agents are legally obligated to put the offer forth to the vendors; how exactly would the purchasers know if the agents in actual fact have obliged to these legal obligations? (a little more to the pot to think about...)
Learner
Learner
I'm curious as to the overwhelming vote in favour of written offers.
Is that because people have actually had the opportunity to compare one method with the other, or is it just because that's what people have been told to do by various guru's ?
Keg, your example has nothing to do with verbal offers vs written offers. As a negotiating tactic you told the agent that you were only prepared to go to xxx amount of dollars to buy the house. That is your right to do so , but if someone else comes up with a better offer , until the contract is signed you have no rights to the property whether your offer was written or Verbal. If you've indicated to the Agent that xxx was you maximum offer , why do they have an obligation to get back to you ?
So far I never closed the door on a property I'm interested in by saying that's the maximum price I'm prepared to pay . If I want to put " pressure " on the Vendor I will say that interested in or have made offers on other properties ( usually true ). So far I've picked up two properties, one at a lower price to a competing offer and one at the same price , simply because I try not to stuff people around.
I can imagine at some stage I may use written offers if I think it's appropiate, just havn't found the need so far.
BTW , I still havn't voted as I no basis for comparison....
If you were going to go for a "written offer ", to maximise the impact , as BR suggested ( and Dolf De Roos suggests ) , a signed contract with an attached deposit cheque seems the way to give you most emotional
leverage
See Change
Is that because people have actually had the opportunity to compare one method with the other, or is it just because that's what people have been told to do by various guru's ?
Keg, your example has nothing to do with verbal offers vs written offers. As a negotiating tactic you told the agent that you were only prepared to go to xxx amount of dollars to buy the house. That is your right to do so , but if someone else comes up with a better offer , until the contract is signed you have no rights to the property whether your offer was written or Verbal. If you've indicated to the Agent that xxx was you maximum offer , why do they have an obligation to get back to you ?
So far I never closed the door on a property I'm interested in by saying that's the maximum price I'm prepared to pay . If I want to put " pressure " on the Vendor I will say that interested in or have made offers on other properties ( usually true ). So far I've picked up two properties, one at a lower price to a competing offer and one at the same price , simply because I try not to stuff people around.
I can imagine at some stage I may use written offers if I think it's appropiate, just havn't found the need so far.
BTW , I still havn't voted as I no basis for comparison....
If you were going to go for a "written offer ", to maximise the impact , as BR suggested ( and Dolf De Roos suggests ) , a signed contract with an attached deposit cheque seems the way to give you most emotional
leverage
See Change
I had negotiated to a point where If i had have had a written offer infornt of the guy he would have likely signed it. I agree it relates to negotiating but a sign offer with a $$$$ amount on it with your signature can be very persuading at times.
Is it a legal issue to have a signed offer and acceptane document before anything can be transfered etc? some people hae said that they have made an offer verbally, what happens to the O&A form? Sorry I may sound dumb but i'm a little tired....
cya keg75
Is it a legal issue to have a signed offer and acceptane document before anything can be transfered etc? some people hae said that they have made an offer verbally, what happens to the O&A form? Sorry I may sound dumb but i'm a little tired....
cya keg75
See_Change,
I've always been more comfortable providing written offers because you can make sure everything is clearly understood - or at least have something to point at if there's a misunderstanding.
We've experimented with verbal offers over the years, but generally have found them not as effective in stimulating vendor action.
Cheers,
Aceyducey
I've always been more comfortable providing written offers because you can make sure everything is clearly understood - or at least have something to point at if there's a misunderstanding.
We've experimented with verbal offers over the years, but generally have found them not as effective in stimulating vendor action.
Cheers,
Aceyducey
I think it really depends on the individual situation. For example, some agents are happy to ring up there and then in front of you to submit a verbal offer to the vendor. Others, however, prefer something in writing as it's more credible and "real" to the vendor.
In Qld, any offer has to be written regardless on the contract, as most agents won't accept verbal ones.
I use a standard written "Offer To Purchase Real Estate" which I either fax or present in person to the agent. Always gets a quick reply as I put a time limit of 24-48 hrs on it as well. After all, who knows what other property is just around the corner that's better?
In Qld, any offer has to be written regardless on the contract, as most agents won't accept verbal ones.
I use a standard written "Offer To Purchase Real Estate" which I either fax or present in person to the agent. Always gets a quick reply as I put a time limit of 24-48 hrs on it as well. After all, who knows what other property is just around the corner that's better?
Jacque said:
Have bought 15 IP's in Q'land in last two years.
Am yet to make a written offer yet.
See Change
I think the amount of the offer is the real point. If you make an offer much lower than the asking price it doesn't really matter whether it's written or verbal. I don't find either method better than the other.
A written offer doesn't make it serious or make a vendor all gushy and ready to sell. A coherent and sensible offer is what gets you across the line to a contract IMO.
A written offer doesn't make it serious or make a vendor all gushy and ready to sell. A coherent and sensible offer is what gets you across the line to a contract IMO.
see_change said:
Well, that may have been your experience Seech
but mine was different. Then again, you bought far more many properties than I AND no doubt your more suave and sophisticated approach made agents bend over backwards for you... maybe having something to do with the fact that you were bulk buying whereas my purchase was a lonely only in Brisbane
Horses for courses anyway...
