Offer submitted almost a MONTH ago with NOTHING

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Offer submitted almost a MONTH ago with NOTHING

John Park
Investor · Lewisville, TX · Member since 2017 · 21 posts · 48 votes

I submitted an offer for a SF almost a month ago and have heard nothing but 'We'll get back to you soon' from the seller's agent. I am wondering what her definition of 'soon' is...

It is for a conventional sale, not short sale or foreclosure. Basically, I am wondering what I should do at this point, whether I should put a deadline on the offer and risk losing the house if they seller finally decides to look at the offer 'soon' after I have retracted my offer or if I should just keep waiting and waiting not knowing how many offers this unresponsive seller has sitting on the table. I think that my offer is pretty strong, but it is starting to get on my nerves more than anything else as I am not desperate to buy the house, it just fits my criteria and is listed at a reasonable price. It has been on the market for almost 50 days now in a market that moves houses like this in a week or less.

Any feedback and advice would be appreciated!

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Tom GimerBusiness Member
DMV · Member since 2017 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
8y

Next time put an expiration date for your offer and you won't have to deal with this amateur behavior.

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  • Bart H.
    Dallas, TX · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 745 votes
    8y
    Originally posted by @Tom Gimer:

    @Jay Hinrichs Quick search tells me as of '08 TAR forms did not have auto expiration. Not sure about current forms... OP needs to look. 

    Withdraw the offer.

     TAR forms do have an area for an expiration date, I dont know if it was filled in or not.  (it should have been)

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  • Bart H.
    Dallas, TX · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 745 votes
    8y
    Originally posted by @John Park:

    Thanks for the feedback so far everyone! It has definitely been frustrating seeing other potential deals pass by because of this one being in a holding pattern. The seller is a 'community action center' and they have several houses on the market concurrently that all seem to be in the same situation, come to find out. Turns out another house that I viewed on the same day was one of theirs as well and is also still sitting there as 'active' after almost 2 months. I am seriously considering putting a hard deadline on the offer.

     Is this in South Dallas?  Send me a PM.

    0Reply
  • Jennifer Slaughter
    Real Estate Agent · Fort Collins, CO · Member since 2016 · 246 posts · 142 votes
    8y

    @John Park, we always put deadlines on our offers. Depending on the market we give 1-3 days before the offer expires.  The exception to this is when the sellers agent has defined a review, such as "we will review offers on Tuesday at noon", even then we expire our offer 24 hours after review.

    1Reply
  • Matt K.
    Walnut Creek, CA · Member since 2015 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    8y

    I'd get a new agent.... they aren't looking out for you one bit.

    2Reply
  • Shanahan Yang
    Investor · Northridge, CA · Member since 2016 · 10 posts · 13 votes
    8y

    Is this house in Texas?

    In California, if you don't get a response within 3 days of submitting an offer, it's technically dead. But to make sure nothing fishy is going on, you can demand a signed rejection letter from the seller to make sure that the agent in fact did present the offer to the seller.

    1Reply
  • Fred Heller
    Real Estate Agent/Property Management · Houston, TX · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 827 votes
    8y

    Reminds me of that old movie "He's just not that into you." If you haven't heard back in a month, then they're not interested in your offer. Have your agent send an email withdrawing the offer and move on.

    By the way, there's nothing wrong with putting in multiple offers. If an offer is accepted, you just pull the other offers before they accept.

    And I think it's precious that people think adding a deadline to the contract will make any difference whatsoever. I tried that myself for a brief time by adding an expiration date/time to the offer in the special provisions section. In a market like Houston, with multiple offers coming in on most properties, they just laugh at you.

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  • Sam Shueh
    Real Estate Agent · Cupertino, CA · Member since 2016 · 4k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    8y

    Most likely he is hoping to get higher offers using yours to jack up the price.  A more polite way is sweeten the offer slightly and inform him offer expires in 24 hours.

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  • Mike CumbieBusiness Member
    REALTOR® · Brockport, NY · Member since 2015 · 3k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    8y

    @Shanahan Yang

    "In California, if you don't get a response within 3 days of submitting an offer, it's technically dead. But to make sure nothing fishy is going on, you can demand a signed rejection letter from the seller to make sure that the agent in fact did present the offer to the seller."

    The biggest problem with that is you can demand whatever you want, but they can ignore your demand for a letter just like they are ignoring the original offer. A seller always has 4 options when they get an offer.

    1) Accept

    2) Counter

    3) Decline

    4) ignore.

    I have had buyers demand (Not request which would have been accepted) to be there when it was presented, which was declined. Nobody has a right to the audience of the king because they say so. Nobody has a right to demand the seller fill out anything. 

    Just my 2 cents and good luck in your investing!

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  • Tom GimerBusiness Member
    DMV · Member since 2017 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    8y
    Originally posted by @Fred Heller:

    Reminds me of that old movie "He's just not that into you." If you haven't heard back in a month, then they're not interested in your offer. Have your agent send an email withdrawing the offer and move on.

    By the way, there's nothing wrong with putting in multiple offers. If an offer is accepted, you just pull the other offers before they accept.

    And I think it's precious that people think adding a deadline to the contract will make any difference whatsoever. I tried that myself for a brief time by adding an expiration date/time to the offer in the special provisions section. In a market like Houston, with multiple offers coming in on most properties, they just laugh at you.

    The purpose of putting an expiration date in an offer is so you can be assured that it can no longer be accepted. 

    You encourage clients to put in multiple open-ended offers? Keep the E&O paid up.

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  • Fred Heller
    Real Estate Agent/Property Management · Houston, TX · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 827 votes
    8y

    @Tom Gimer    My comment about an expiration date had nothing to do with multiple offers. I was commenting on the belief that having an expiration date would somehow make the seller move faster on accepting an offer. In my market, where most sellers receive multiple offers, they couldn't care less about an expiration date. The only way an expiration would have some impact is if the offer is well above asking price.

    Context is kind of important.

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  • Tom GimerBusiness Member
    DMV · Member since 2017 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    8y

    @Fred Heller I was referring to this comment: "By the way, there's nothing wrong with putting in multiple offers. If an offer is accepted, you just pull the other offers before they accept."

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  • Jeff Richardson
    Lender · Irving, TX · Member since 2012 · 175 posts · 76 votes
    8y

    @John Park I'd check back with the agent and if they need more time, let it sit if it's a good deal and you can still close on it. If you can't close on it due to purchasing another property and being tapped on funds, you can assign it to a fellow investor that has the same criteria.

    0Reply
  • John Franklin
    Specialist · Salado, TX · Member since 2014 · 69 posts · 50 votes
    8y

    I'm guessing Amy was correct, they are waiting to discuss at the next board meeting.  They'll roll out all the offers over coffee and donuts and form a subcommittee to evaluate them.   I'd expect to hear back in 60-90 days.  What a royal pain!

    If you asked for the option period, just start looking for another property and hope you hear back before you find a new one.   As long as you have options on your TX offers, you can float as many as you like (can cost you no more than the option checks).  Just don't let em lapse or it can cost you a lot more.

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