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Original poster

Waiting to hear back about offer .... eeek

31 replies

bathsh3ba · 18/10/2018 10:24

House is on market at £325,000, it needs some work doing as some rotting wood in window panes, very old flooring etc. Another house in much better nick on at £340k has just reduced its price, so have gone in with a relatively cheeky offer of £295k and will see what happens. There has been another second viewing so they may hold out to see if that person offers. Eeek....

OP posts:

Alexalee · 18/10/2018 10:33

Sounds fair

Original poster

bathsh3ba · 18/10/2018 14:56

Apparently there have been 2 offers today higher than ours and the seller wants 'closer to the asking price' but they haven't said how close or what the other offers are. Is it usual for this level of secrecy? We can go higher but not to asking price and I don't want to get involved in a bidding war....

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Mildura · 18/10/2018 15:00

Is it usual for this level of secrecy?
Depends how you look at it.
The seller may not have told you their bottom line, but then you haven't told them you max bid either.
I don't want to get involved in a bidding war....
Walk away and try to buy something else.

user1484830599 · 18/10/2018 15:01

I would just walk away. If there are 2 other buyers the agents will be dying to spark a bidding war.

SassitudeandSparkle · 18/10/2018 15:05

Yes that's normal. If you don't feel comfortable I would keep looking for other properties, if the asking price is above your ceiling anyway there is a strong possibility that you'll be outbid. Good luck with the search.

Mildura · 18/10/2018 15:09

If there are 2 other buyers the agents seller will be dying to spark a bidding war

Original poster

bathsh3ba · 18/10/2018 15:17

We can afford asking price but don't think the house is worth it... I'm slightly suspicious about how 2 offers have come out the woodwork the same day as ours after no offers for 8 weeks too. I think we'll put in our max offer and just say that's our max, take it or leave it.

OP posts:

Alexalee · 18/10/2018 15:35

Agents always seem to find other bids when you put an offer in on a property that has languished unsold for ages.... always intrigues me

Mildura · 18/10/2018 15:46

When someone puts an offer on a property any half-decent agent will call other viewers who may have expressed interest previously, but have not as yet put forward an offer. The agent will advise other viewers that an offer has now been put forward and ask whether they wanted to put forward their own offer to the vendor for consideration. This is often why 2 offers may be put forward in quick succession on a property that has been on the market a while.

Remember the agent works for the seller, and the agents job is to achieve the best price possible for the property.

Ramsey1989 · 18/10/2018 15:49

@bathsh3ba

Generally speaking the agents are allowed to disclose that there has been another offer made, but they are not allowed to tell each of the parties involved the actual amount the other has offered.

I learnt about this the hard way; as one agent was trying to get a bidding war out of us and another buyer, so he would come back to me and say they have offered £XX amount so it's higher than your offer and expect us to offer higher (this went back and fourth 3-4 times before we gave up) but they shouldn't have done that.

So like others have said if you don't want to get in a bidding war, I would walk away as not all agents are fair and to the book.

Mildura · 18/10/2018 15:57

they are not allowed to tell each of the parties involved the actual amount the other has offered
They can if they want to. There's absolutely no rule to prevent the offer figures being revealed.

Mildura · 18/10/2018 15:59

but they shouldn't have done that
Why not?
That's exactly what the owner of the property is paying them to do.

deathisforever · 18/10/2018 16:04

The day we offered on our first house a bid mysteriously appeared and they asked us to give our maximum offer.. we said no thank you and walked away. The next morning they called back and said that the buyer (who was actually a builders because previous owners were part exchanging) had accepted our offer over the 'higher' one.

Ramsey1989 · 18/10/2018 16:11

@Mildura

Having read the UK EA Code of Practice; it does not state you cannot disclose exact offers to other buyers, so yes you are right.

You can however give an offer with the caveat that you specifically do not wish for this to be shared with other potential buyers.

Personally if I was a buyer offering on a house I would not wish for my offer to be disclosed to others; as yes this sparks off a bidding war, and the price could get a lot higher than intended.

From a sellers point of view I can see why this might be advantageous as you want as much as you want for the house you are selling but from recent experience I have been messed about by EA, including one which basically used us as bait to get a couple going for a third viewing to offer that day - the EA in that circumstance delayed letting the owners know of our offer until three days later when the offer came in from that couple.

Original poster

bathsh3ba · 18/10/2018 16:29

After discussing with my parents who are co-purchasers with me, we have gone back with a higher offer but made it clear we're not going to asking. I'm suspicious the offers are genuine but I suppose they could be.

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Mildura · 18/10/2018 16:30

@Ramsey1989
I'm always slightly bemused when some people talk of bidding wars, it's almost as if because someone else has offered they feel compelled to make a counter offer.

Surely as a prospective buyer you are the only one able to control whether or not you make an offer, and at what level?

The issue of exact offer figures being revealed can work both ways. As a buyer, surely you'd want to know what the other figures were? That way you could decide whether to put in an offer just a little bit more than the one(s) currently on the table.

From the EAs point of view it makes virtually no difference to their commission if the sale price if £10k one way or another, as long as the property sells.

Mildura · 18/10/2018 16:32

I'm suspicious the offers are genuine but I suppose they could be
It is a clear breach of The Estate Agents Act of 1979 for an EA to invent offers.

Why would an EA risk losing a genuine buyer by inventing fictitious offers that may scare them off? Makes no sense.

Original poster

bathsh3ba · 18/10/2018 16:34

@Mildura, all I can say is I know of a sale locally that fell through for that exact reason. So it may be unethical but it happens.

Anyway, we've made a second offer so we'll see how it goes!

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Flibbertyjibbit · 18/10/2018 16:41

Good luck with your second offer.

PurpleFlowersInMyHair · 18/10/2018 19:02

If I’ve bid, I expect to be told what the other offers are. This is completely standard in England, but I know Scotland is different with its system of sealed bids.

Original poster

bathsh3ba · 18/10/2018 19:19

We've now been told the other offer is very close to asking price ... so our offer was turned down again. I don't think we will go higher so bye bye house!

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serbska · 18/10/2018 19:52

Oh well that is a shame but at least they told you quickly and didn't leave you hanging.

LondonMischief · 18/10/2018 22:01

I would go with the house in better nick you mentioned. It was on for £340 and has been reduced so they may accept the £325 you can afford.

Alexalee · 18/10/2018 22:03

I agree with londonmischief

Original poster

bathsh3ba · 18/10/2018 22:12

I would but it's got some other features that are dealbreakers for me. Think I'll just have to wait for another house to come up.

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