Are multiple offers allowed?

[Property Meister]

Was wondering if someone could please comment.

are you allowed to make multiple offers on different properties at the same time,

obviously any written offer if it is accepted is legally binding,

but I thought the intention of a verbal offer was just to see if your offer has any chance on being accepted.

On this basis, is there anything OR is it commonly practiced, that one makes verbal offers on 2 properties, just in case one of the gets rejected???

I spoke to an agent and I informed him that I have made a verbal on another property, and he asked me, what will I do if both get accepted?

Just wondering what the reality is?

 

[Bill.L]

Property Meister,

We did exactly this a few years ago while buying in QLD. I told the agents we were doing it but only buying the first that accepted.

Basically the offer was subject to us not buying anything else first. We had pretty quick responses from the vendors.

bye

 

[Property Meister]

Property Meister,

We did exactly this a few years ago while buying in QLD. I told the agents we were doing it but only buying the first that accepted.

Basically the offer was subject to us not buying anything else first. We had pretty quick responses from the vendors.

bye

Great!!! Well done!

I was just asking as because the agent sounded genuinely shocked when I told him that I had made a verbal on another property, he asked "what will you do if the other one is accepted?"
so I got really worried and thought maybe this was completely illegal or asking for trouble, eg what would happen if both were accepted within minutes of each other, eg would it be legally binding or would it cause problems?

 

[Ausprop]

actually... a verbal offer means nothing, you are just negotiating. There is nothing to stop you writing up 10 offers, you can withdraw a written offer verballly at anytime. once the agent communicates acceptance to you (be it verbally or otherwise) then a contract is struck... so you better get on the phone fast and withdraw your other offers. Until acceptance is communicated to you there is no contract.

this can obviously get messy so use coomon sense. I see no harm at all in writing up 3 offers, telling the agents you'll run with the frst acceptance and then withdrawing the others once you have one away.

 

[Property Meister]

actually... a verbal offer means nothing, you are just negotiating. There is nothing to stop you writing up 10 offers, you can withdraw a written offer verballly at anytime. once the agent communicates acceptance to you (be it verbally or otherwise) then a contract is struck... so you better get on the phone fast and withdraw your other offers. Until acceptance is communicated to you there is no contract.

this can obviously get messy so use coomon sense. I see no harm at all in writing up 3 offers, telling the agents you'll run with the frst acceptance and then withdrawing the others once you have one away.

ok, Im a bit confused now,

my understanding, that a verbal offer means absolutely nothing, it just lets the agent/vendor know that you are expressing an interest to negotiate/arrange what to put in the written offer

in other words, if I put in 10 verbal offers, even if they are all accepted, I have to put one in writing before it can be accepted,

thus it works the other way, if I get a verbal acceptance, I need to submit it in writing as the vendor can sell to another party at anytime,.

is this correct? hence, I need to put it in writing,

OR

are you saying that if I put in 2 offers, and if both the agents call me simultaneously and say both have been accepted, then I have a contact with BOTH and legally I have to purchase both?>??

 

[Ausprop]

ok this confuses people so here is a rule....

if it aint written down it means jack.

Real Estate (I believe) is unique in this sense, because in other areas of law contracts can be verbal etc etc

so whatever you offer verbally and whatever the other party offers is all just discussion.

SO....

the next thing is, say you make 2 offers in writing. you can withdraw your written offers verbally at any time, but once the agent rings and tells you that an offer is accepted, then it's done.

now it's impossible to talk to 2 people simultaneously right? so if you get one acceptance - just blurt out to the next agent that the offer is withdrawn!

NOTE: this is WA law, which I am assuming is consistent nationally

 

[skater]

In NSW you can make verbal, or written for that matter, on as many as you like. It is only binding once you sign the Contract (and Cooling off period has ended).

 

[Player]

If you are going down this path, I would also use written withdrawal of any offer you wish to rescind. Phoning the rea gives you not a lot of recourse if things get messy. I would email and fax your withdrawal.

Agree with above also that there is no binding offer unless it is in writing and signed.

 

[wylie]

actually... a verbal offer means nothing, you are just negotiating. There is nothing to stop you writing up 10 offers, you can withdraw a written offer verballly at anytime. once the agent communicates acceptance to you (be it verbally or otherwise) then a contract is struck... so you better get on the phone fast and withdraw your other offers. Until acceptance is communicated to you there is no contract.

I so like the Queensland system where a contract is signed by both parties . No verbal rubbish.

The statement above seems to contradict itself. An agent communicating acceptance of a verbal offer to you means "a contract is struck" but it seems that in other states you can still be gazumped, until the signatures are both on the contract?

But the first bit of the statement says "a verbal offer means nothing".

Doesn't make a lot of sense to me. I do know that in Queensland a verbal offer means diddly squat. We missed a house once when a verbal offer had been made by the purchasers and agreed by the executor of the estate. This was on a Saturday and the contract was to be signed on the Monday.

We offered $15K more ($330K offer, we offered $345K). Our solicitor told us that until the $330K contract was signed by both parties our offer could be presented and signed.

The principal of the agency (my mother worked there at the time, so we had to fill in extra forms due to our being related) refused to even present our contract because the purchasers at $330K were solicitors and had told her they would sue her if they were gazumped.

Our solicitor assured us this was not able to be done, but the principal didn't even present our offer as she was not prepared to risk it.... so we missed out.

 

[Ausprop]

The statement above seems to contradict itself. An agent communicating acceptance of a verbal offer to you means "a contract is struck" but it seems that in other states you can still be gazumped, until the signatures are both on the contract?

just to clarify - the agent can verbally communicate that the seller has accepted the offer in writing, at which point it's binding.

so the agent can't communicate acceptance of a verbal conversation, no.

I think it helps to never mix the words 'verbal' and 'offer'. If it is verbal it is not an offer.

 

[chrispy]

I have signed Contracts in both Victoria and Queensland, paid deposits on both, to then be told that the vendor has not signed the contract as they have accepted a higher offer. In both instances the vendor had verbally advised the agent that they would be accepting the offer.

So, until the Contract is signed by both parties it is not a contract.

In both instances, there was not a thing I could do, I obtained my deposit back both times, in one instance the cheque had been banked and I had to wait a week.

Chris

 

[Property Meister]

okie!

so for the ones in the know is submitting 2 verbal 'offers' are they any of the following:

- immoral
- rude
- uncommon
- not common practice
- frowned upon
- illegal
- not liked by estate agents
- unheard of
- disrespectful
- not he right thing to do

I don't want to use the "well i have another offer so you had better accept it soon, you have 24 hours!" type of approach,

 

[Ausprop]

it's fine - you are just having a conversation. Agents will act offended and say this and that as obviously they don't want you going off and buyign another house.

 

[wylie]

so for the ones in the know is submitting 2 verbal 'offers' are they any of the following:

- immoral
- rude
- uncommon
- not common practice
- frowned upon
- illegal
- not liked by estate agents
- unheard of
- disrespectful
- not he right thing to do

I would think it is not rude, immoral, uncommon, unheard of or disrespectful. The agent may not like it, but is that a good reason not to do it .

Until it is signed by BOTH parties, my understanding is that it is not a contact. If you are at all unsure, call the law society and ask them the question. See what they say.

I do know that for me (in Queensland) I have only ever bought by signing a contract, so for me, I would not sign two contracts, in case both are countersigned. Then I would be in big trouble, unless I could buy both. But verbal is a different animal altogether, I reckon.

 

[Aaron Sice]

okie!

I don't want to use the "well i have another offer so you had better accept it soon, you have 24 hours!" type of approach,

why not? some agents use this tactic against you, so why not retort back with it?

 

[Player]

Pressssure

why not? some agents use this tactic against you, so why not retort back with it?

Agree.

As long as YOU are crystal clear on the numbers and what your criteria are for both (or more than two concurrent) offers/deals, 24 hours is a gift when it comes to an offer. I rarely give the other side more than a few hours and, rarely overnight; especially for a standard resi IP.

Let me caveat this and say that I don't believe you must rush and make errors in your haste nor try to intimidate the other party, however once the lingering has occured with the "negotiation courtship" and each party has had a chance to get an idea of needs (price, terms, etc), when it comes to crunch time, the sooner you have an answer and the less time the rea has to go and use fear on other potential purchasers to beat your offer, the better for you.

Best you have a Yes or a No than a maybe that goes on and on. If it's a "No".......next

 

[Property Meister]

why not? some agents use this tactic against you, so why not retort back with it?

i certainly have not eliminated this technique but I don't want to use it quite just yet in case it comes and bites me on the backside...

eg saying the offer is valid for 24 hours ,and then 3 days later, trying to open up negotiations again!

 

[Bill.L]

Property Meister,

There is nothing wrong with being honest in your communications with the REA.

When we were buying in QLD 7 years ago, we were there for 5 days looking at as many different properties (houses) as possible. Our time was limited. We could not afford to hang around and twiddle our thumbs while waiting for an answer from a vendor.

We were there to buy, and told the whole story to the agents.

Between 2 of us we bought 3 houses on that trip (should have bought everything we saw). Probably looked at 60 houses, and made offers on at least a dozen (verbal and below asking price on every occasion) There was always some negotiation happening before a written offer submitted, with deposit.

No REA stated we could not do what we were doing, as it was obvious to them that we were real buyers and not tyre kickers, the story of what we were doing convinced them of that.

bye

PS With 2 of the properties we were negotiating on, the vendor was in Europe, yet it still only took a few hours to get a reply from them. No agreement on price on those 2, but still a fair bit of back and forth dialogue.

 

[Property Meister]

oki

thanks everyone

Justa STRICTLY hypothetical,

suppose you make 2 written offers, and you get a call from the agent saying, someone else had made a higher offer and hence you didn't get the offer, in the meantime, the other property that you made an offer is acccepted, so all is good,

however, can the agent from the first rejected property call you back and say, congratulations, the higher offer has just pulled out and the vendor accepted yours!

I mean the offer is written, its still valid, and it was only verbally rejected, so legally are you bound to buy both of them???

 

[Bill.L]

Hi PM,

When you make a written offer, you would make the contact "subject to" a variety of things, basically anything you like. Whether the vendor will agree with those things is a different matter.

Why go straight to the written offer first without the verbal negotiations??

bye