Page 2 | EA invented a bidding war?

Redfacedxo · 2020-11-16T23:59:11+00:00

Saw a house we liked and it's ticked all of the boxes it does need some updating. We have offered 10k below asking price 365k for 375k. We put the offer in straight after viewing the EA called us back and said the house is very popular and it's possible it could go to a bidding war would we want up our offer. We said no and while we were interested we aren't that interested in overpaying if it comes to it we will go to asking (we didn't share that with the EA) We thought we had lost it so thought we will probably hold off now and look next year. To our complete surprise EA later phones back and says the vendor is talking to her husband about the offer and they will get back to us tomorrow has the EA invented a supposed bidding war?

moronseverywhere1 · 17/11/2020 14:01

@Mildura as stated I think it's stats, our EA proudly showed us a laminated card of their stats declaring how close they got to asking price and how long a house was on the market for. It's not all about commission. No EA wants a reputation (whether they have it or not) for overvaluing and not seeing through.

Smallgoon · 17/11/2020 14:05

@Mildura

It really makes no sense.

Typically the firm of agents charges roughly 1% - 1.5% of the selling price.

The individual might get 5% - 10% of the fee.

For an extra £10,000 that's £100 - £150 to the firm, and £5 - £15 to the individual.

It really isn't worth inventing an offer from a fictitious buyer and all the agro that brings for such relatively small sums of money.

It does make sense if the vendor is pushing for an increase in which case the EA invents a fake scenario... If the vendor ends up with £5-10k above the initial offer, then it is worth it. Let's not underestimate how greedy some vendors can be.

Mildura · 17/11/2020 14:07

No EA wants a reputation for inventing offers either - given that this pratcice is outlawed and any breaches should be enforced by trading standards.

It's far easier to manipulate the stats if that's what they want to show than invent a non-existant buyer.

By inventing an offer that doesn't exist it risks losing the genuine offer, and that can't be very good for the statistics.

RhymesWithOrange · 17/11/2020 14:08

We bought our house for the asking price. The agent later showed me a list of 15-20 people, most developers, who were willing to pay more. The sellers liked us because we were a family with young DC and my DH was a keen gardener/vegetable grower. They left a load of gardening equipment and a string of onions for us.

Mildura · 17/11/2020 14:11

It does make sense if the vendor is pushing for an increase in which case the EA invents a fake scenario... If the vendor ends up with £5-10k above the initial offer, then it is worth it. Let's not underestimate how greedy some vendors can be

Can be a very risky game though, if by chosing this tactic you lose the genuine offer it's not worth it for anyone.

moronseverywhere1 · 17/11/2020 14:27

I'm not sure how risky it really is, they're trying to get more money which is better for the owner, stats and commission, all in all the more money coming in the better and depending on personality they will try different methods to do so, some will be more risk averse than others and there will be a lot of factors deciding how pushy they want to be but hinting at a bidding war (which is all this EA has done, there's not been any other offers actually mentioned) would not surprise many people I don't think, it creates a bit of urgency in the potential buyer to get them to commit and perhaps even a higher offer, which is a bonus.

Original poster

Redfacedxo · 17/11/2020 19:38

They rang us today saying they are still thinking about our offer but doing a few more viewings what's everyone's view? I'm not sure how to play it

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PowerslidePanda · 17/11/2020 19:59

Personally, I'd put a time limit on your offer. Accept (and stop marketing) within 24/48 hours, or you'll withdraw. You made them a serious offer in the hopes of securing a house - not to give them leverage to get more money from someone else! But you'd have to be prepared to walk away....

BluebellsGreenbells · 17/11/2020 21:13

I’d call back and say that your offer is valid for 24 hours and if accepted the house of off the market.

I’d reiterate your position and leave it to them.

Original poster

Redfacedxo · 17/11/2020 21:23

Thank you we are looking at others they haven't even offered a counter offer. I've bought 2 houses and it wasn't done like this.

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Original poster

Redfacedxo · 17/11/2020 21:29

I think if we don't get it or see another one we are going to wait til after Christmas we are okay paying the stamp duty charges if it means not getting into bidding wars.

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Original poster

Redfacedxo · 18/11/2020 09:39

Update Sent an email to the EA and told him that we will give them 24 hours as we want to get a move on. He called us and said can we go for a second viewing at 4.30 pm there's two previous viewings at 1pm so hoping for them to offer. They would really like asking price 375 I would offer asking but DH wants to hold out.

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Smallgoon · 18/11/2020 10:14

@Mildura

It does make sense if the vendor is pushing for an increase in which case the EA invents a fake scenario... If the vendor ends up with £5-10k above the initial offer, then it is worth it. Let's not underestimate how greedy some vendors can be

Can be a very risky game though, if by chosing this tactic you lose the genuine offer it's not worth it for anyone.

Of course it's risky, but do EAs want to deal with difficult, stubborn vendors who believe they can receive a higher offer? As others have stated, EAs are keen to tie up the deal so I guess will cave to the vendors demands - it is the vendors they're working for after all.

Mildura · 18/11/2020 11:38

Perhaps they should manage the expectations of the vendor better?

Most agents these days are members of the property ombudsman scheme. As part of this scheme agents must agree to a code of practice. One of the rules that estate agents must follow includes not making up, or inventing details, about any other offer.

The exact wording is:

By law you must not misrepresent or invent the existence, or any details, of any other offer made or the status of any other person who has made an offer

PicsInRed · 18/11/2020 13:17

I think on the occasions that the silent watching made up bidder miraculously springs through from the back and buys the property, it's a probate or divorce sale, and the vendors are using an estate agent a proxy, live market, independent valuer. In other words, it's like going to a job interview where they also have an internal person in mind. You're the market benchmark and almost certainly would never have got it unless you knocked it out of the park with a crazy offering.

Most of the time, "a lot of interest" means clicks and views, not offers.

PowerslidePanda · 26/11/2020 22:50

@Redfacedxo - What happened in the end - did you get the house? I'm actually now in the position you were - vendor is "thinking" about our offer (i.e. stalling to see if they get others)!

@PicsInRed - I hadn't considered that possibility, but yes - makes sense!

BeijingBikini · 27/11/2020 10:34

I am convinced we'd been played for mugs last year too. Flat has been on the market for 2 months for 300k, we bid 290k, estate agent says there's another couple who have also made an offer and 290k isn't going to cut it. Seemed a bit suspect that it had sat on the market for ages and the moment we view it, someone else is interested. We were young and foolish so bid 302.5k. Next day found out we'd "won" the bidding war - instantly my heart sank as I realised we'd completely overpaid and upped our bid about 12.5k higher than what we thought it was worth. When we eventually pulled out, guess what, this "other couple" was nowhere to be seen and the flat's been sat on the market 6 months now.

thekaratekid · 27/11/2020 11:17

We dealt with a with a very dodgy agent on a house we offered on. The house in question had been on the market for a year and was end of chain. We viewed and made a sensible offer, agent then tells us there is already another offer on the property...made the same day. We said ok, well...let us know. Our offer was accepted and property taken off the market and marked as SSTC etc. Great, we get weaving with mortgages and solicitors etc.

About 14 days later the agent rings us at 7:30pm at night and tells us the "other couple" had come back and offered again...this time more. The agent was gabbling on about how he had to legally pass on all offers to the vendor. We strongly smelt a rat. There had been other issues with this agent, he had been constantly harassing our broker and demanding all sorts of documentation.

I rung up the main office and spoke to the manager and told them outright how suspicious this all was and had they deliberately illicited this offer from the other "couple"? The manager got very shirty and defensive with me. We ended the conversation on quite a bad note. He rings back almost immediately and talks to my DP...miraculously the other "offer" had just been rejected by the vendor.

The sale ended up falling through about 2 weeks later under more weird circumstances. Throughout the whole process we felt we had been played for fools and this "other couple" was just a tactic to make us offer more.

The agent is one of the biggest in the local area. We subsequently avoided viewing any houses listed through them after that...which was difficult.

Original poster

Redfacedxo · 28/11/2020 12:31

We offered asking and they still held out so bidding war they wanted it wasn't worth more than asking. So back to the drawing board even thinking of buying a new build as no bidding wars!!

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PowerslidePanda · 28/11/2020 12:50

Oh, that's a shame. Think you did the right thinking by standing firm though.

Estate agent has told us they've not had any other offers yet, but they wouldn't expect an offer like ours (5% under asking) to be accepted until the property had been marketed for 7-10 days, so they're basically asking us to wait it out. DH wants to do that - I want to put a time limit on it. Why would they accept our offer if we're happy to sit back and wait to see if someone else improves upon it?

Original poster

Redfacedxo · 29/11/2020 22:17

@PowerslidePanda

Oh, that's a shame. Think you did the right thinking by standing firm though.

Estate agent has told us they've not had any other offers yet, but they wouldn't expect an offer like ours (5% under asking) to be accepted until the property had been marketed for 7-10 days, so they're basically asking us to wait it out. DH wants to do that - I want to put a time limit on it. Why would they accept our offer if we're happy to sit back and wait to see if someone else improves upon it?

House prices are massively inflated at the minute and it would be buying at the top of the market so I don't want to get into any bidding wars unless it was the dream home which although it was nice it wasn't worth financially struggling over . I'm debating whether to stop looking until economic uncertainty becomes clearer.

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PowerslidePanda · 29/11/2020 22:46

I know what you mean. Everyone says that if it's a long term home then paying above the odds for it shouldn't matter, but nobody knows what the future holds - you might intend to stay there for a long time but then circumstances mean you need to move sooner and can't recoup what you spent. On the other hand, while I agree that prices aren't going to continue shooting up, I'm also worried they may not come back down (fewer people selling, so more demand for the houses that are available - prices continue to rise) and so waiting could mean getting priced out of the market.