Made an offer. It's been 3 days! How long should I wait? I would think YES, NO or COUNTER would be fairly quick... next day? Any comments, suggestions? So far theres be one excuse or another.

(There's a seller RE agent, none for buyer.)

was it verbal or docs attached in an email?

Ir was made to the sellers agent and rebny form was submitted.

the only reason i can think of is either

a) there is a better offer in negotiations and/or accepted awaiting conttract execution or

b) the offer is too low and the seller broker is not handling correctly

or, I guess

c) for some crazy reason the seller didnt receive the offer...are they away? did email go to junk mail?

I assume (c) is not the reason, but have u left vm's with the agent at their office or on cell? Otherwise, Im thinking its either a or b, but seller broker not handling the whole thing in the right manner.

Noah, what do you think of prospective buyers calling sellers DIRECTLY to confirm if their offer was well received?

Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe it's law in NYC (or just CA?) where all offers no matter how low-ballish must be presented, but I can def see some brokers holding out for a larger offer/commish, not to say all the broker bashing is deserved as their are some who give out great info, such as your site, thanks.

Just have your broker leave a message and continue your search. It is for them to come with a counter unless they have better offers already.

seller's broker -- who would get a direct sale (double commission) should let you know exactly what this issue is and timing. Good luck!

I guess you can somehow contact the seller to confirm it was conveyed, but for all we know the seller advised their broker not to convey offers below $x. I heard this a few times back when I worked for sellers, but would still send it over to them to protect myself. Ive also had a buyer contact a seller thinking I didnt convey an offer...only to have the seller get agitated and the seller broker contact me asking if my client really did that...of course the offer was submitted, but it was too low and not where it needed to be to get a deal done.

I do think its law that a broker must convey all written offers to their client who hired them to exclusively market the property. But in this case, there is no need for broker to hold out on anything as the OP seems to be acting on their own. Seems like the broker either didnt get the message, is not handling it correctly, or for some reason, received the message but thinks the offer wont work. Poor service if you ask me. The seller broker should acknowledge receipt and that it was conveyed, at the very least.

Three days with no response is not a good sign.

It has been my experience that unrepresented buyers are far more susceptible to getting screwed. My suggestion would be to have broker representation when making your next bid. In an era where there are brokers offering buy-side rebates, I don't see the point of going it alone.

Pick up the phone in the AM, call the broker and ask what's happening.
Here's where a good buyer's broker is helpfully in facilitating a deal.
Let's say you're a lowball. The broker and seller laugh the offer and you get no feed back.
Broker to Broker, at least you'll get....thanks for the low ball...but by buy.
You might benefit from Broker pillow talk where clues are divulged as to bottom pricing which might not be divulged to you directly. WTF, you're seeing 6% of that total sale relinquished anyway...why do all that photocopying yourself.

This long and no one has pointed out to you this is the job of your buyers broker you decided to not hire!
Finding the actual apartment is the easy part.

From Cali too, huh? Yea, the rules and customs are a bit different here.

PS. I am an owner of rental properties, and am usually more anti-broker, but this is just to obvious.

@manhattanfox, they most likely would not get a double commission. Sellers have wised up to this long ago.... Amazing how many people have no clue though.

If they were serious, they would have engaged by now at the least to get you to raise your offer. They are either not interested or are negotiating with a more preferred bidder (someone who is paying all cash or is more likely to pass their board if it's a coop) and using you as leverage and/or backup.

do they have an open house this weekend? they might be waiting for the results of that and to shop your offer a bit..just rescind it and move on

i had the same issue with a few corcoran brokers. they were just MIA when offers were submitted. i didn't have representation, but know that the apartments sold slightly above my offer.

if they bothered to talk to me, they could've had a deal with me or the other buyer would've came up. welcome to "I'm too busy to bother with offers. Extra couple $K to the seller is only a couple of $ for me. Who cares".

And that's where buy-side representation can help. I e-mailed and called a listing broker one time to see an apartment and never got a response. At that point I figured there was nothing to lose, so I had a broker reach out instead. Surprise surprise -- he was able to get an appointment for me to see the place the next day.

I ended up buying it a few months later after the first buyer was turned down by the board. Never would have happened on my own, and it had nothing to do with one's negotiating acumen (or lack thereof). The listing broker freely admitted she had more than enough interest in the listing and didn't feel like responding to any more potential buyers.

You think I can explain why brokers act irrationally?

I'm reporting my experience. I'm not claiming it makes sense. The OP's story is not the first time we've heard of a bid going unacknowledged -- it's pretty clear that a lot of things that happen don't make sense.

still not sure why he can't just call SELLER DIRECTLY to confirm received?

you can get their name/address/c-cksize on propshark and other sleuthing ways...yeh it'll def piss off seller's broker, but who knows if he's asleep on the wheel on this

Flarf: what is a buy-side rebate?

If the seller's agent is not passing on the deal, that is because the seller is on the same page as the agent. Don't even bother contacting the seller. Only inexperienced buyers will.

RE agent's goal is to sell the property at any given price. If 30% lowball is going to get the place sold, the agent would rather have the seller accept the deal and run with their 4.8% (from 6%) commission.

Good morning,

There's no tried and true timeline for responses to Offers. You can't know what the Seller's situation is and how long it may take them to respond. Your best course of action is as follows:

1. Maintain communication every two-three days with the Realtor. "Just checking in." You want to sound interested but not desperate. Be sure the Realtor knows you are still looking at other properties.

2. If an unreasonable period of time has elapsed then it's time to get up and walk away from the negotiating table. Advise the Realtor you're moving on. And then do exactly that. If the Seller is truly interested in your Offer, you should hear something pretty quickly after you advise the Realtor.

Other notes:
-You cannot contact the Seller directly.
-ALL Offers must be presented by real estate agents in New York State.

Trevor Curran
NMLS #40140
Mobile: 516-582-9181
Office: 516-829-2900
Fax: 516-829-2944
PowerHouse Solutions, Inc.
185 Great Neck Rd, Suite 240
Great Neck NY 11021
Licensed Mortgage Banker %u2013 NYS Dept. of Financial Services
NMLS#3528