Estate Agent At It?

[pajd]

House on market for 4 months. I viewed at the weekend. Was told an offer for 127k was in. Then today im told someone else has bid 130k.

Does this sound dodgy? Surely people increase offers £500 - £1000 at a time?

[Malthus]

House on market for 4 months. I viewed at the weekend. Was told an offer for 127k was in. Then today im told someone else has bid 130k.

Does this sound dodgy? Surely people increase offers £500 - £1000 at a time?

More likely a mate of the vendor trying it on imho , easy way to make a few quid in a sellers market laughable in the current market.

[pajd]

More likely a mate of the vendor trying it on imho , easy way to make a few quid in a sellers market laughable in the current market.

Yes it does sound a rather large amount to up a bid by.

Im not sure what my next step should be

[pajd]

My advice - for what its worth.

Don't get in touch with the EA. Let him phone you again. This is so 2007. Wait a week and see if it goes sale agreed. Only the desperate bid up in a dead market.

If it goes 'sale agreed' can another offer go in? Or is that it?

[Malthus]

Yes it does sound a rather large amount to up a bid by.

Im not sure what my next step should be

Bid what you think it's worth explaining the benefits of your offer eg cash buyer , no chain etc , leave the bid with them and see what happens.

Assuming your offer is lower than £127k and they come back to you in a couple of weeks to say the vendor may be interested you will be in a very strong position, if they don't come back there are plenty of other houses on the market

[The Masked Tulip]

It is amazing isn't it - you watch a house for months with no interest and as soon as you show interest it turns out that at least one other person has put an offer in.

I have had this happen to me so many times that I have gone from finding it funny to it being a pain. Pure FUD IMPO.

Doccyboy's advice is sound. I would not contact the EA again, wait for them to contact you and show a lack of interest, say you are lookin at others. Say you were interested but when they tried to get you in a bidding war you decided to go and view other properties.

[pajd]

I forgot to mention this new bid has been made by a 'cash buyer'

Is this another ploy from the old days?

[pajd]

Yes another offer can go in -- but buyers are thin on the ground -- it can go back on sale again if the buyer can't get a mortgage.

This is an old tactic by EAs designed to panic you into buying.

In that case they can stick it. If it goes 'sale agreed' i'll get a friend to call and ask what the lastest offer is. If its 127k then i may be interested but i know what i'll go up to and it wont be much higher than 127k.

By the way the vendor plans to take the american style fridge freezer and £2,000 oven with them.

[The Masked Tulip]

In that case they can stick it. If it goes 'sale agreed' i'll get a friend to call and ask what the lastest offer is. If its 127k then i may be interested but i know what i'll go up to and it wont be much higher than 127k.

By the way the vendor plans to take the american style fridge freezer and £2,000 oven with them.

If your friend rings the EA will most likely suss it is connected with you if no one else has shown interest in that house for months.

Also, you then give them the legit to argue that someone else is actually interested in the house and before you know you could be the cause of ramping the price against yourself.

Anyhow, no EA is going to give your friend an honest reply to how much has been offered on the house - they will just take a figure out of the air.

I was in an EA office a few years back when I overheard a conversation between a woman wanting to buy a house and the EA. The EA claimed that two other people were interested and had bid above the asking price.

The woman wanting to buy begged the EA to accept her offer which she openly admitted was more than she could afford and about 20K more than asking price.

The EA then picked up the phone and 'dialed' the seller to ask if the seller would take another offer. She spoke to the seller who had a very unusual foreign name - the name of a friend of mine who had her house on the market.

The EA then conducted a fictious conversation with my friend whilst the woman buyer sat in tears pleading that her offer would be accepted. The EA then said to the would-be buyer that they needed to up her offer more at which point the would-be buyer had to back out.

I spoke to my friend later on and she had received no such phone call. In fact, she had had no one put any offer in on her house. My friend was well p*ssed off as it appeared that the EA was merely ramping the would-be buyer in an attempt to gain better commission.

You could argue that she was trying to get a better price for my friend but as my friend had had few viewings and no offers all this EA did was turn away a potential buyer - my friend would have sold for 10% less than asking.

Be warned.

[pajd]

The things these EA get up to. :angry: Well in this case i hope they fall flat on their face with it.

Edited January 17, 2011 by pajd

[S S]

There should be legal standards of behaviour for these con artists/EAs - and a register of bids with names and addresses that you can check.

There is.

[NuBrit]

Are you guys maybe jumping the gun here? The house may have been on the market for 4 months, but who's to say that the price wasn't recently reduced, hence the interest?

[morillo]

Don't get me started on EAs, as Father Ted used to say "a great bunch of lads"

They are a law on to themselves. There is one EA in particular that I have dealt with in the past few weeks from a well-known south-east antrim agency. I'm sure if the vendors knew of this person's attitude and non-existent professionalism, they would be very quick in removing their services.

[maxdiver]

This is my story:

I'm from NI but I've been living in Scotland for the last 5 years.

I've been on this site (one name or another) for 5 1/2 years and watched the madness and the chaos from afar.

Recently, I like a lot of you have been looking at places - most being vastly overpriced.

However, just before Christmas I saw a few properties in Derry (or Londonderry if you like) that were at "realistic" prices. Sort of between 60-70% off peak prices.

Anyway, I saw a place for sale for o/o about £50-60k. 2 Bed flat in a block. nice interior and good size. Rents for about £500/month

At the peak it could have sold for £150k+.

Repossession and are 2 few others for sale in the same place at the same price.

I put an offer in last Friday and had to wait 7 days for a public notice to be put in and the seller (bank) agree to the sale.

I am able to buy this place with cash - no mortgage required - which I thought would help me.

Anyway - today was the day that I would find out if I "won" it or not.

I call the EA and ask what the story is at about 2pm.

I'm informed that there is another bidder and I was asked if I wanted to up my offer.

I give it a think and when they call back (30 mins. later) I inform them that I am going to offer what I had offered before.

I get a further call later in the day - around 4.20pm telling me that the other bidder has bid more and do I want to increase me offer - I again repeat my offer and tell them that they can take it or leave it. The EA (who is very personably and I doubt that she is up to the shinnanegans) says that this is the first time that it has happened.

The other bid and mine are going to the company and the flat is still up for sale until contracts are exchanged.

I'm a bit pissed as I thought that after the 7 days of public notice - I'd either get it or not get it.

Instead, the seller thinks that they can squeeze more money from me or the other bidder.

I'm happy to lose it - there are another 2 for sale at the same price in the place - no offers on them.

There are other places to buy and prices will probably just continue to fall.

There will be more repossessions coming up for sale in the next few months - and especially if rates rise - cash will be king.

It's a but frustrating - but no damage done.

What do you guys think?

Phantom-bidder?

Bull$hit from EA / Bank

or a genuine bidder?

[Malthus]

This is my story:

I'm from NI but I've been living in Scotland for the last 5 years.

I've been on this site (one name or another) for 5 1/2 years and watched the madness and the chaos from afar.

Recently, I like a lot of you have been looking at places - most being vastly overpriced.

However, just before Christmas I saw a few properties in Derry (or Londonderry if you like) that were at "realistic" prices. Sort of between 60-70% off peak prices.

Anyway, I saw a place for sale for o/o about £50-60k. 2 Bed flat in a block. nice interior and good size. Rents for about £500/month

At the peak it could have sold for £150k+.

Repossession and are 2 few others for sale in the same place at the same price.

I put an offer in last Friday and had to wait 7 days for a public notice to be put in and the seller (bank) agree to the sale.

I am able to buy this place with cash - no mortgage required - which I thought would help me.

Anyway - today was the day that I would find out if I "won" it or not.

I call the EA and ask what the story is at about 2pm.

I'm informed that there is another bidder and I was asked if I wanted to up my offer.

I give it a think and when they call back (30 mins. later) I inform them that I am going to offer what I had offered before.

I get a further call later in the day - around 4.20pm telling me that the other bidder has bid more and do I want to increase me offer - I again repeat my offer and tell them that they can take it or leave it. The EA (who is very personably and I doubt that she is up to the shinnanegans) says that this is the first time that it has happened.

The other bid and mine are going to the company and the flat is still up for sale until contracts are exchanged.

I'm a bit pissed as I thought that after the 7 days of public notice - I'd either get it or not get it.

Instead, the seller thinks that they can squeeze more money from me or the other bidder.

I'm happy to lose it - there are another 2 for sale at the same price in the place - no offers on them.

There are other places to buy and prices will probably just continue to fall.

There will be more repossessions coming up for sale in the next few months - and especially if rates rise - cash will be king.

It's a but frustrating - but no damage done.

What do you guys think?

Phantom-bidder?

Bull$hit from EA / Bank

or a genuine bidder?

My money would be on a genuine bidder thinking they can get a bargin at the last minute.

If they are all the same it may be worth putting your best offer on all three and see what happens.

[Democorruptcy]

I'm informed that there is another bidder and I was asked if I wanted to up my offer.

That would be the point where I told them I am no longer interested in the property and hung up the phone before they could say another word. If they contacted me again I would want a reduction on the price I had offered.

Aye.... I suppose I'll always be renting.

[salamander]

My advice:

Tell them that you would like to make an offer of £125K, just in case the other "offers" fall through, and that is all you are prepared to pay.

You should also state that your offer is good for only (x) weeks, given the declining state of the property market and whatever other reasons you can think of.

Then sit back and wait. If the offers are genuine then you lose the property but avoid a bidding war. If its ********, chances are the EA will come back

[Democorruptcy]

.

Edited January 17, 2011 by Redhat Sly

[nigooner]

This is my story:

I'm from NI but I've been living in Scotland for the last 5 years.

I've been on this site (one name or another) for 5 1/2 years and watched the madness and the chaos from afar.

Recently, I like a lot of you have been looking at places - most being vastly overpriced.

However, just before Christmas I saw a few properties in Derry (or Londonderry if you like) that were at "realistic" prices. Sort of between 60-70% off peak prices.

Anyway, I saw a place for sale for o/o about £50-60k. 2 Bed flat in a block. nice interior and good size. Rents for about £500/month

At the peak it could have sold for £150k+.

Repossession and are 2 few others for sale in the same place at the same price.

I put an offer in last Friday and had to wait 7 days for a public notice to be put in and the seller (bank) agree to the sale.

I am able to buy this place with cash - no mortgage required - which I thought would help me.

Anyway - today was the day that I would find out if I "won" it or not.

I call the EA and ask what the story is at about 2pm.

I'm informed that there is another bidder and I was asked if I wanted to up my offer.

I give it a think and when they call back (30 mins. later) I inform them that I am going to offer what I had offered before.

I get a further call later in the day - around 4.20pm telling me that the other bidder has bid more and do I want to increase me offer - I again repeat my offer and tell them that they can take it or leave it. The EA (who is very personably and I doubt that she is up to the shinnanegans) says that this is the first time that it has happened.

The other bid and mine are going to the company and the flat is still up for sale until contracts are exchanged.

I'm a bit pissed as I thought that after the 7 days of public notice - I'd either get it or not get it.

Instead, the seller thinks that they can squeeze more money from me or the other bidder.

I'm happy to lose it - there are another 2 for sale at the same price in the place - no offers on them.

There are other places to buy and prices will probably just continue to fall.

There will be more repossessions coming up for sale in the next few months - and especially if rates rise - cash will be king.

It's a but frustrating - but no damage done.

What do you guys think?

Phantom-bidder?

Bull$hit from EA / Bank

or a genuine bidder?

i think its a legal requirement that the management company for the bank/mortgage company who repossessed the house give a public notice when an offer is received- thats why you see it on property news the odd time, something like:

"we are now in receipt of an offer of £X,000 for the above property...all offers should be in by 'set date' "

i think its a box ticking exercise that shows the management company have tried to 'achieve the maximum price' for the property.

if they accept an offer, it remains on the market until contracts are signed. If it falls through, then you will find the price will be reduced and the game starts all over again!

even though you are a cash buyer, its very much a case of "computer says no" if they have received a higher bid. cash purchases don't seem to matter when dealing with repos.

[Reraise]

It depends on the house, good houses will attract competition at certain prices if they represent good value. At the same time, I wouldn't trust an EA as far as I could throw them.

Based on my experience, EAs will try to squeeze as much money out of a buyer as possible. I put on offer of £Xk on my house and the EA phoned me back to say "sorry, too low" There were no other offers. I talked to family and nearly offered an extra 5k. In the end I called round to the vendors who nearly bit my arm off for the original offer. They were never going to reject it.

I was also involved in another bidding war which went up 20k between me and another bidder, in the end I pulled out and the other guy bought and completed. It does happen in depressed markets, as long as the price looks like good value to more than one buyer.

Good luck OP, don't get too hung up over one house, there will be plenty of opportunities to buy in the coming months and years.

[tinbin]

Estate agents take me to the fair they really do. For them it will always be about achieving the highest price, at what ever cost ... its programmed into them and unfortunately old habits die hard. Sometimes their cavalier attitude actually serves no purpose and they end up shooting themselves in the foot. This for the most part has only been the case over the past few years with the market being in decline because previously all they had to do was 'introduce the phantom bidder' and sheer panic set in and bids went up and up ... and unfortunately up!

I wouldn't credit them with any sales skills for this as it is usually sheer human nature that possesses us to lose all sight of reason and to start adding the '£s' on to something when we want it badly enough and we think that someone else does as well.

IMHO we all need to take a step back and have a look at what for me is a bit like a game of poker. The EA is the old hand from yesteryear who cleaned up time and time again in the past only to return to the table and find that the cards they have no longer sweep the board, in fact they now hold cards of little value ... as soon as the cards are dealt they dive 'all in' and try all the old fashioned dirty tricks. In other words ... they are trying to BLUFF!!

Its a buyers market at the minute and it is buyers who hold all the major playing cards. Just choose carefully when you want to show your hand and then go 'All in' and send them packing back to lick their wounds.

This is the same for the rental market ... I'll give you my own example. I sold my house in December and had to facilitate a very quick completion date I had 2 weeks to find a rental property. I contacted 2 local estate agents who dealt with rentals as well.

In one office this young, cocky, arrogant wee 'so & so' tried his hand with all the dirty tricks under the sun with one property we wanted for a 6 month contract ... as in ' there's other ppl interested so you need to be quick, 6 months contracts are short so you will have to pay more for it if you really want it ... etc etc etc (i wont credit him by quoting any more of his garbage)'

Anyhow we were stuck between a rock and a hard place given that we had to find a property to rent and fast so I reluctantly put in an application but only for 6 months and refused to pay any more for it than the advertised price. Long and short is the wee 'so & so' gave us the run around for a week trying desperately to get us to pay more. It got to the point were I couldn't wait any longer and I went into another rental office in the area and told them my situation and thankfully they sorted me out.

How pleasant do you think my conversation was with the 'cocky wee so & so' when he eventually came crawling back with his ... 'I've had a word with the landlord and managed to do you a favour, I've got it sorted it for you' ... I actually let him finish his dribble before enjoying telling him where he could stick his rental property!

The property is still on property news for rent!!

Don't believe a word that comes out of their mouths. They are clinging on for their lives at the minute and they will have to change or they will get left behind.

[morillo]

The thing that I cannot figure out with EAs is their lack of basic understanding of economics.

Houses aren't selling, cash flow is bound to be stretched to the max, redundancies will surely follow?

Is it not better to shift 10 properties at 10k below asking price than 1 or 2 at asking price or a few k above?

They should be pushing vendors to accept realistic prices rather than chasing ghosts.

[NuBrit]

They should be pushing vendors to accept realistic prices rather than chasing ghosts.

Have you ever talked to the average homeowner about what they think their house is worth?

[NuBrit]

Based on my experience, EAs will try to squeeze as much money out of a buyer as possible.

Heaven forbid an EA that does his job (i.e. trying to achieve the best selling price for their client).

[Malthus]

One EA I was speaking to blamed the surveyors. They were valuing too low now and so the banks wouldn't lend enough to satisfy the vendors.

They truly cannot see that licking your finger and sticking it up in the air is not a professional way to value houses.

The problem with EA's imho is that too many buyers assume they are an "honest broker" between buyer and seller when in fact their role is to achieve the highest price / commission possible.

Neither the EA or the vendor is your friend when buying and both in the boom and bust EA's estimate of market price have been miles off.

So bid low and enjoy the game