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Original poster

Do estate agents Lie about other offers?

23 replies

Beach1983 · 29/04/2022 12:51

We made a (cheeky) offer 10k under asking price, was declined as expected. Took a couple of days to think about it we would offer more and estate agent calls yesterday saying some other people coming for a second viewing and potentially making an offer, and if we are still interested vendor may accept asking price offer (the other viewer was also considering Making a asking price offer.)

I agreed to a second viewing today to make a final decision and he said they’ve now had an offer 10k over asking - just all seems a bit convenient!

do estate agents lie about other offers? Also I thought the exact amount that was offered is confidential - so he shouldn’t be telling me what the other people offered anyway should he?

OP posts:

Beees · 29/04/2022 12:55

I don't think they lie, what would be the point? They want the house sold so if you now didn't make any offer they would be pretty stuck. It might seem coincidentsl but it's much more likely to be true.

Also whilst they are not meant to tell you how much other offers are some agents definitely do. We have had a few disclose offer amounts when viewing or discussing if the vendor would be interested in a a certain offer.

Threetulips · 29/04/2022 12:55

Yes they do. Is the estate agent showing you round today? If so ask the questions and if you like it offer what you think it’s worth. If there’s no other offer you’ll soon find out about it.

mid they’ve accepted the offer your viewing would be cancelled

HumptyDumpty2022 · 29/04/2022 13:00

It’s against PropertyMark membership to lie about offers and most good agents won’t. It is a breach to disclose the other offers so again most agents don’t do this. But there is no firm regulation so it’s just good practice and you’ll get dodgy agents doing what they like.

Offer what you can afford and don’t play games is my advice.

HumptyDumpty2022 · 29/04/2022 13:01

Threetulips · 29/04/2022 12:55

Yes they do. Is the estate agent showing you round today? If so ask the questions and if you like it offer what you think it’s worth. If there’s no other offer you’ll soon find out about it.

mid they’ve accepted the offer your viewing would be cancelled

The viewing wouldn’t necessarily be cancelled if the vendor asks for it not to be. P

BlanketsBanned · 29/04/2022 13:03

Yes they do, ours lied to us about an offer put in on a flat we had offered on , they didnt know the offer was from a colleague who told us. They were just trying to start a bidding war so we both pulled out.

Daenerys77 · 29/04/2022 13:30

Is there anything that estate agents don't lie about?

HumptyDumpty2022 · 29/04/2022 13:32

Let’s not tar all EA with the same bad brush, they’re not all bad.

catblanket · 29/04/2022 13:34

We sold a house remotely that had cameras inside for security. At first we weren’t going to watch the viewings, but eventually we did watch a couple because we couldn’t contain our curiosity.

The estate agent lied through her teeth repeatedly. It was actually quite shocking. It totally destroyed what little faith I had left in estate agents and I would never believe a single word they say again.

Mildura · 29/04/2022 13:37

It is a breach to disclose the other offers so again most agents don’t do this

Just a small correction, the advice is that if an agent is going to disclose offers the figures must be made available to all parties interested in bidding. The EA should not favour one party over another by giving them additional information that could provide an advantage.

Applesapple · 29/04/2022 13:39

they definitely lie. I viewed a flat and the estate agent said there’s at least one offer at asking. But I knew the seller was a friend of a friend who said that they had no offers and couple of weeks later it was reduced.

It’s just too hard to prove, and EAs have so much power over between sellers and buyers that buyers are often too anxious to annoy them. In the area I’m looking there are mainly 3 estate agents working. If you annoyed them, they won’t recommend you as reliable buyers. It’s just rubbish.

Hallyup89 · 29/04/2022 13:53

Of course they lie.

They want the highest price possible for the property as their payment will be based on a percentage of it.

Stick to your guns if you feel they're trying it on.

Fishwishy · 29/04/2022 14:00

You can stop after the 4th word in your title op the answer is yes! If I was wished good morning by an estate agent I would check the time.

Mildura · 29/04/2022 14:05

They want the highest price possible for the property as their payment will be based on a percentage of it

Really?

Typical fees for selling these days are around 1%, so for an additional £10,000 the firm of estate agents would get £100, and the individual maybe 10% of that.

Given the high risk of such a tactic backfiring, and the rather insignificant financial benefit, does it really seem likely this is commonplace?

Original poster

Beach1983 · 29/04/2022 14:33

Mildura oh yes I agree lying over such a small amount would be pointless but if the other viewer didn’t exist and the vendor wanted a certain price for the property it’s an easy way to push the price up to where they want. It could be totally genuine though!

OP posts:

HumptyDumpty2022 · 29/04/2022 18:13

Mildura · 29/04/2022 13:37

It is a breach to disclose the other offers so again most agents don’t do this

That is not true at all. I’m MNAEA and MARLA qualified, worked in agency for 20 years and have never heard this rule.

Thesefeetaremadeforwalking · 29/04/2022 18:23

They aren't supposed to lie, but IMO they do...

Lurkerlot · 29/04/2022 18:35

I once put an offer in at £15k under, it wasn’t worth what they were asking. Estate agent turned it down. House was in neighbouring (not as nice and slightly smaller houses) street, so I knew what they went for. I told EA, keep my number, this is the best offer vendor will receive. 2 months later it was still on the market, I phoned the agent again and repeated my offer, again turned down, told agent to keep my number. A month after that, the listing was reduced by £20k “for quick sale”. It sold at that price. Agent never called me back.

Mildura · 29/04/2022 18:55

HumptyDumpty2022 · 29/04/2022 18:13

That is not true at all. I’m MNAEA and MARLA qualified, worked in agency for 20 years and have never heard this rule.

Show quote history

You must be fair and not misleading when disclosing the amount of any offers made to other buyers. Before disclosing the amount of an offer, you must advise the seller of such intention and get the seller’s agreement; and you must warn all buyers who make offers that it is your practice to do so. If you do disclose any offer to one buyer, then all offers must be immediately disclosed to all buyers with a current interest in negotiations for the property

www.tpos.co.uk/images/codes-of-practice/TPOE27-8_Code_of_Practice_for_Residential_Estate_Agents_A4_FINAL.pdf

HumptyDumpty2022 · 29/04/2022 20:23

It’s unprofessional to disclose the sum of others offers and none of the agents I’ve worked for did this. ProperyMark discourage the practice in line with the estate agent act 1979. If an agent I was working with our buying/selling through disclosed the value of offers I would be unimpressed. That’s real practice not a Google search.

Mildura · 29/04/2022 21:22

What would be unprofessional would be to disclose the level of offer to one party, but not to provide similar information to a competing prospective purchaser, as the Trading Standards guidance highlights.

Either all offers should be disclosed, or none at all.

I have rarely found that being open and transparent with all of those involved in a bidding process has led to anyone feeling unimpressed, during my time in agency of nearly 30years.

That's real practice too 🙄

Original poster

Beach1983 · 29/04/2022 21:42

Mildura it certainly stops a lot of messing around if the agent tells you where you stand with offers (as long as they are being truthful obviously!) I prefer to know where I stand!

OP posts:

Jmaho · 29/04/2022 22:28

In my opinion some do lie yes. But basing this on when we bought a house about 8 years ago. The local estate agents who have a bad reputation would turn up to a viewing and straight away they'd come out with stuff like we've already had several offers over asking price etc. We viewed lots of houses with the same agent. We went for a second viewing on one house and the vendors actually showed us around and we said something like I know you've had lots of offers and we could offer asking price but couldn't go any higher
They naively told us they hadn't had any offers and were wanting to reduce the asking price but agents wouldn't let them!

HumptyDumpty2022 · 29/04/2022 22:44

Mildura · 29/04/2022 21:22

Either all offers should be disclosed, or none at all.

I have rarely found that being open and transparent with all of those involved in a bidding process has led to anyone feeling unimpressed, during my time in agency of nearly 30years.

That's real practice too 🙄

Well I’m glad I haven’t worked with any of the agents you’re talking about. Your open transparency sounds awfully like opening a bidding war and a fight to the top.I prefer to stick to the PropertyMark guidance. As
this thread shows agents have a terrible name and sharing offer details with all parties won’t help that.

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