Seem to be in a bidding war and DH is on a course

[penguinsnpandas]

Saw a property we all love. Been on market for around a year, a month ago they dropped price 5 percent. Put in an offer today at 10 percent under asking price and they had another offer arrive same time at 5 peecent under both nothing to sell. 5 percent under was max limit DH said. But what should I do. Headwise I think we are now at fair value, heart wise I love it. We have cash to increase. DH will forgive me but argh. I am leaving it to see if others raise their offer but my guess is they will. Any advice. Not too many alternatives.

[wowfudge]

It's called a bidding war because instead of simply negotiating with the seller, you're also competing against another buyer.

[penguinsnpandas]

Bidding war is just a phrase. It's regularly used at least round here, just means more than one person bidding at same time.

Half of me does want to go in at full asking price, half of me wants to leave it until weekend. DH wants to leave until weekend though I will be gutted if we lose it though will also bug me if I've paid over odds. DH is giving the proof of finance tonight, at least first part of it. I've going to sleep on it, even if there's another offer I think they will come back to us.

[intuition]

Did your husband bid by email?

[penguinsnpandas]

It's C17th and thatched so not that many comparable. The villages vary quite a lot on price depending on commutability and good schools.

[penguinsnpandas]

No definitely not DH - he always leaves bidding to me Now DS or DD maybe.

[lifechangesforever]

Don't do it. We got told there was another bid as well, we said OK that's fine and walked away.. the next day the rang back and told us the bid had been removed and our offer accepted. I don't believe for a second that there was another bid.

[WiseDad]

Estate agents do this all the time. We have had it a couple of times. Once, on a house we actually bought the agent said another offer arrived £ten k over ours. We said if someone wants to offer a higher price then they can buy it instead of us and we will stop instructions etc. Next day it turns out the other bidder had “reconsidered” and they would like to proceed with us.

Mind you we lost out on one once after we had instructed solicitors as the vendor himself had taken to calling prior viewers. Not sure how he had the numbers. We walked as the vendor would have been a nightmare to deal with. House sold for £10k on what we had offered, or 1% more in the vendor’s pocket.

The difference for the agent is the ability to drive up prices across all other properties so it isn’t the £100 on that place but the many £100s on all the other houses they will sell at higher prices as a consequence.

[penguinsnpandas]

Thanks that's interesting. I don't believe there's another bid as it appears to have already disappeared and what are the chances someone e-mails an offer through as I am on the phone making an offer.

I bought a flat years ago asked EA if Mum could see it said fine, she travelled 4 hours they then said the couple have had an argument taken it off the market so your Mum can't see it. Next day they had resolved their argument and flat back on.

Having kids I am experienced in spotting memory loss re facts - it maybe EA e-mailed an offer through.

[howabout]

EAs do do this. The other logical reason in this case is that they want a pita seller off their books and they think they have more hope of leaning on the buyer to increase the price having spent too much time fruitlessly trying to get the seller to be flexible - if the seller won't sell below a certain level and can afford to wait then they risk having a property hanging around taking the shine off all their properties and not getting any commission for their trouble.

[Mildura]

The difference for the agent is the ability to drive up prices across all other properties so it isn’t the £100 on that place but the many £100s on all the other houses they will sell at higher prices as a consequence.

I don't buy that for a second. if the EA tactics you describe result in losing a sale because they invented another buyer they could lose thousands, which would wipe out any gains.

[penguinsnpandas]

Just gone back and told them our current offer is a final offer. I think I did need to be firmer on that.

Are you an EA Mildura?

[another20]

Fingers crossed for you.

Not much point speculating - there may be someone there, they may up their offer, they may withdraw their offer etc. if they know you are involved as they don't want to be in a bidding war either.

Just go with what you can afford and what you believe is reasonable.

If you communicate with EA by email - they will be unable to lie - but no doubt they will respond to your email with a phone call - this happened to me.....

You can also say that the offer is on the table for 48hrs and will be withdrawn if you want to try to force a decision - but it looks like you have possibly stubborn unrealistic sellers who are miffed that they have had to drop sales price by 5% and their retaliation is not to drop anymore.......so in this case it is a waiting game until they come to their senses might be another year - or you eventually meet in the middle or pay what they want.

[MeMeMeow85]

Some sellers just aren’t realistic, so I think you’ve done the right thing by sticking to your guns on the offer.

I viewed a house that is a probate sale (on the market since April 2017). It is significantly overpriced, as it is a total gut and renovate project. But rather than change the price, the family keeps changing agents!! They’re currently on the 5th EA with no sale forthcoming!! A bit crazy, especially as the property is empty and must be getting more and more delapidated over time.

Good luck OP!

[penguinsnpandas]

Thanks very much. I did actually e mail and they did respond by e mail. I thought about time limit but they said answer by end of week anyway.

I guess as the guy doesn't live there and won't get cash immediately as its his Mums it doesn't bother him to hold out but imagine EA will be getting fed up too.

[Mildura]

Are you an EA Mildura?

I am indeed, for my sins!

[wowfudge]

I imagine selling houses is rather like selling double glazing: some EAs will be honest and straightforward, some will use pressure selling and all sorts of tactics to get a sale, just like double glazing salespeople.

[Mildura]

It's probably no different to most industries, some are very good, some are truly awful, and everything else in between.

Taking your double glazing comparison, a major difference is that you don't sign up to buy a house there and then on the spot, in the same way you might do with new windows. There is normally a period of a few months before a purchase is concluded, giving any buyer who has been subject to pressure selling tactics plenty of time and opportunity to back out. As such pressure selling houses cannot work in the same way as double glazing.

Do not get me wrong, I am more aware than most that there are some truly terrible EAs out there, but I believe they are in the minority. In my not inconsiderable experience of 20 years the majority are genuine and are not out to fleece every person they come across.

[wowfudge]

I see your points @Mildura and we've dealt with EAs we thought did a good job as well as some hopeless ones.

[penguinsnpandas]

Mildura Do you know if a thatched property would normally take longer to sell than say your typical Victorian terrace? Or does it just depend on price and condition.

As its in a village and all the houses are different its a little tricky to be certain what price it should be. Looking at other sales and indexing past ones its not necessarily overvalued at full asking price but I'm hesitant as it was on at 5% more for 4 months and has been at this price for 1.5 months. Not sure what happened in the 4-5 months inbetween whether sale fell through or just taken off market. EA saying they don't know but odd - maybe changed agents.

No word back on final offer so presumably he's holding out for more. Haven't heard anything about other offer since yesterday morning so presumably they've not increased / withdrawn / never existed. My kids are desperate for this house, my son has even invited his best friend round. My daughter is asking me if I could pay the difference and not DH. And DH has just said about works he wants to do on it but won't budge on price.

[KindOfMagic]

Exactly the same has happened to me. We offered on a property that had been on the market for 18 months. We'd viewed twice and vendor seemed great. All of a sudden there were two additional offers on the table that were higher than ours. We decided to retract our offer at that point as a better property came on the market that day (offer now accepted!), and we didn't think we would be accepted if there were higher offers in the mix. Checked Rightmove yesterday and property is still advertised, not showing as under offer or sold STC. Very strange that both additional offers have fallen through already (and this EA usually updates Rightmove the second they have an offer accepted so I don't think it's a delay). The EA in question charge a fixed fee (and our offer was only 3% below asking) so I have no idea what they stood to gain by fabricating the offers, but this is the second time this has happened to us in as many months of searching with two different EAs. Of course it could be a coincidence but I find it really odd! They must lose so many sales.

[penguinsnpandas]

I phoned about another house via this estate agent and was told I could view but there were already two offers 10% above asking price and would I be still interested. Said no. 2 weeks later still on market and never went off. So similar Kind Hard to know what's going on and very odd. I've never had this happen to me before (well been outbid but properties not on market for long and sales went through so genuine). I guess some properties are on the market ages as seller has unrealistic expectations.

[Mildura]

Just because it has a thatched roof would not necessarily follow that the property takes longer to sell, but it probably appeals to a smaller market. Price and condition are definitely the more important factors.

When there are so few comparable sales to use as reference points it can make establishing a price difficult, it really comes back to a property only being worth what someone is prepared to pay for it.

On the information you have provided it seems that the seller is at least realistic enough to reduce the price, presumably as they had no serious interest at the original higher figure.

Whilst there are certainly regional variations, things are slower currently than they have been in previous years, so sit back and wait for a response on the offer. You can always go back with more at a later date, if you feel this really is the house for you.

[penguinsnpandas]

Thanks very much Mildura We kind of agreed to sit tight and we might raise later if we need to. I wouldn't normally say final unless I really meant it but wanted to stop appearing weak and see if that works. Though no result so far. If he would come down a little it would help. I would presume they would tell us if other offer had increased.

[Hadalifeonce]

I think it's always worth remembering, that the EA works for the vendor, not the buyer. So will never be working in your best interest.

[penguinsnpandas]

All heard so far is we should hear by 5pm tomorrow.