Made an offer, now have to wait???

[Wirra436]

Hi All,

Need some advice.
so I had a first happen to me last week.

I inspected a house in Perth, agent met me there, and after viewing I made an offer on the property.
so the agent got me to fill out a contract and sign it, 21 days finance from acceptence, subject to b&P 7 days from acceptence, 4 weeks settlement from acceptence etc etc.

Immediatley after sorting that paperwork out, she told me that another lady had an offer on the house too, but her recent circumstances have led that her finances might not be sorted by 15th Oct and she would have to not go ahead.

I was taken a bit back, when she told me to wait until 15th oct.

Why would the agent even have a open home and have others put offers in too, if there was an offer already on the table?

Maybe im missing something but it doesnt sound right to me?
So what shall I do? wait? tell her to forget it?

 

[D.T.]

Put an expiry on the offer.

 

[thatbum]

Sounds a bit dodgy. So the house is currently under offer then?

I'd cancel your offer and tell the agent to call you (making no promises) if the other one pulls through.

 

[wylie]

A good agent will continue to market a property and take a backup contract, and this sounds like what has happened, but I've never heard of a purchaser signing without knowing their contract is a backup contract.

If this happened to me, and I didn't know when signing that there was already a contract, I would withdraw my contract. It means you cannot offer on anything else whilst she is holding your signature on a contract, which could be countersigned at any time and you are locked in.

 

[Jamie M]

Why would the agent even have a open home and have others put offers in too, if there was an offer already on the table?

Sounds like they're using you as a backup in case the initial offer falls over - which is terrible and I'd think highly unethical. Particularly because it wasn't disclosed to you until after you completed the offer paper work.

Cheers

Jamie

 

[Wirra436]

well when I inspected the property there was no "under offer" and the property was still available to be inspected.

I put my offer in and at no time throughout the inspection did the agent hint to me there was already a contract/offer in place.

Im kicking myself cause I usually always ask if there are other offers being considered etc, but this 1 time I didnt

If I did know, I wouldnt havent even bothered and just told the agent to contact me if the place becomes available.

@ DT how can I put an expiry clause in once ive signed my part of the contract?

Yeah, Ive never seen this happen before. so im really like "wtf "

 

[thatbum]

Write to the agent now saying that you are withdrawing your written offer.

...Then if it was me I'd probably comment on why it wasn't disclosed that it was under offer before you'd drawn up the offer.

Then at the end of the matter (whether you get the property or not) I'd probably report the agent to Consumer Protection WA - the regulatory body for agents in WA.

 

[redwing]

You've not yet paid a deposit then?

The Offer is on the table and has not been accepted (and no sunset clause)?

 

[Wirra436]

You've not yet paid a deposit then?

The Offer is on the table and has not been accepted (and no sunset clause)?

No Deposit paid.

No Sunset Clause was put down damn !!

 

[thatbum]

No Sunset Clause was put down damn !!

It makes nearly no difference... You can just withdraw your offer in writing separately.

 

[redwing]

It makes nearly no difference... You can just withdraw your offer in writing separately.

I'd do what Thatbum suggested

On a side-note, my wife saw me typing last time and thought I was being rude by calling him "thatbum".

And ask the agent what other properties they, or other agents at the agency have on the books that are similar

REA's priorities are to put bread on the table

 

[knightm]

I'd do what Thatbum suggested

On a side-note, my wife saw me typing last time and thought I was being rude by calling him "thatbum".

And ask the agent what other properties they, or other agents at the agency have on the books that are similar

REA's priorities are to put bread on the table

Yep, withdraw it.

REA's do lots of different things to get deals to stick. Your job is to submit offers decisively. In this case that means all future offers should be strictly time limited.

Yesterday I was the underbidder for a client at an auction for a small development site. We knew there was only 1 other party considering an offer, but I overheard them at the auction, they were emotionally attached and capable of paying anything, but not very urgent about their timeframes. Auction condition contracts in place until midnight.

We submitted a firm offer (lowball) to expire at midnight. It was rejected (it was a lowball after all) but at least it didn't give the agent an opportunity to use us as leverage at all. The owner will sweat for a while now. If they reduce their expectations they will be back asking us for our offer again. If not, we move on.

 

[Wirra436]

Yep, withdraw it.

REA's do lots of different things to get deals to stick. Your job is to submit offers decisively. In this case that means all future offers should be strictly time limited.

Yesterday I was the underbidder for a client at an auction for a small development site. We knew there was only 1 other party considering an offer, but I overheard them at the auction, they were emotionally attached and capable of paying anything, but not very urgent about their timeframes. Auction condition contracts in place until midnight.

We submitted a firm offer (lowball) to expire at midnight. It was rejected (it was a lowball after all) but at least it didn't give the agent an opportunity to use us as leverage at all. The owner will sweat for a while now. If they reduce their expectations they will be back asking us for our offer again. If not, we move on.

Agreed, Lesson learnt on putting offer's in on Property.

I am learning all the time in this Business, just sometimes the process can be painful when it does not need to be.

Cheers to all for the feedback

Wirra

 

[fresh investor]

Note to self:
When making offer remember to add time limit and ask about other offers.

Cheers guys.

 

[spludgey]

Put an expiry on the offer.

Exactly, I like to put ~72 hours. Most of the time you'll hear back, whereas before I employed this strategy, the agent/vendor would sit on my offers.

 

[MIW]

Put an expiry on the offer.

Yes, I always do that, even when placing the first offer, I always quote the expiry date, and that is usually couple of days, that's all, not few weeks!

 

[knightm]

It depends on market conditions. I have also seen occasions where an offer without an expiry left for a month or two eventually accepted by a vendor created a great outcome.

In the heat of competition though its usually best to even up the perceived urgency levels.

 

[Rhinsor]

I put an offer on a place in Perth a few weeks ago said I wanted an answer in a couple hours. Offer got accepted within the hour, really depends on how quick they want to sell.

 

[zimby]

well when I inspected the property there was no "under offer" and the property was still available to be inspected.

I put my offer in and at no time throughout the inspection did the agent hint to me there was already a contract/offer in place.

Im kicking myself cause I usually always ask if there are other offers being considered etc, but this 1 time I didnt

If I did know, I wouldnt havent even bothered and just told the agent to contact me if the place becomes available.

@ DT how can I put an expiry clause in once ive signed my part of the contract?

Yeah, Ive never seen this happen before. so im really like "wtf "

This offer is for acceptance by the seller by "XYZ Date"
Always have this on my contracts.
Also have this one too, allows me to Terminate without using Finance.

This Contract is subject to and conditional upon the Buyers being completely satisfied with the results of all investigations, inspections, inquiries and searches on the Property (due diligence) within 14 days from the Contract Date (due diligence date). If the Buyers are not completely satisfied in all respects with the results of its due diligence inquiries then the Buyers may terminate this Contract by giving written notice to the Seller or their Solicitors and then this Contract shall be at an end and all deposit monies paid shall be refunded to the Buyers in full. This clause is for the benefit of the Buyers.

 

[Chris B]

Also have this one too, allows me to Terminate without using Finance.

This Contract is subject to and conditional upon the Buyers being completely satisfied with the results of all investigations, inspections, inquiries and searches on the Property (due diligence) within 14 days from the Contract Date (due diligence date). If the Buyers are not completely satisfied in all respects with the results of its due diligence inquiries then the Buyers may terminate this Contract by giving written notice to the Seller or their Solicitors and then this Contract shall be at an end and all deposit monies paid shall be refunded to the Buyers in full. This clause is for the benefit of the Buyers.

How have vendors/agents reacted to this clause? I can imagine many people would reject your offer based on this...unless there was no other interest.

I would tell you to do your due diligence before signing the contract, as the vendor needs some assurance that you are genuine and 14 days cooling off is excessive.