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Property/DIY

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Original poster

Is estate agent using sisters offer to drum up interest

10 replies

Goldielockes · 07/08/2023 20:05

My sister has put an offer in on a house up north. It was originally on the market for 240k and is in a really nice area. It was reduced to 215k. It is chain free as the owner has sadly passed away a few years ago and the family are now selling. It needs updated but is in good condition. It would need a new kitchen abd bathroom. Other houses in the area that have more modern kitchens and bathrooms are on the market for around 210k.

She put an offer in at 193k. She has a mortgage in place as she lost a other property when the sellers pulled out. She has her current house sold. The EA asked if she could stretch to 195k-200k. She said she could meet them at 195k she said she would speak to the vendors call her back. She hasn't called back as yet.

She has now looked on rightmove and the property has been reduced to 200k. Is this the EA trying to drum up more offers to try start a bidding war?

OP posts:

kweeble · 07/08/2023 20:25

The owners haven’t yet accepted her offer - she needs to call them up and give them a deadline or she will withdraw and look elsewhere.
She’s in a good position as a buyer but have the owners anywhere to go? Maybe they feel they need to hold out for £200k so they can afford to move. Nothing is certain until exchange.

Original poster

Goldielockes · 07/08/2023 21:02

The property is empty. Think it is just going to be shared out as inheritance.

I'll tell her to ring estate agent tomorrow. But strange they reduced the price online after speaking to my sister.

OP posts:

OnceUponARhyme · 07/08/2023 21:49

Sellers did this to me several years ago. I was proceedable, made a fair offer and after speaking to me they dropped the price online to £10k below my offer. I wasn’t willing to be messed around and withdrew my offer immediately. It was obviously in an attempt to start a bidding war as they called me every day for a week to try to talk me round… and the house didn’t sell for another 3 years!

Original poster

Goldielockes · 07/08/2023 22:09

Wow I bet they were gutted they didn't except.

It's hard to know what to do. My sister really wants the house but she doesn't want to be used to get other people's offers up.

Who knows though, they might not get any viewings given how the market is. Or they may get people offering even less.

OP posts:

Twiglets1 · 08/08/2023 07:08

Yes it sounds as though the Sellers really want to achieve 200k as a minimum so are giving it a last ditch attempt by reducing the price again. There's not much your sister can do if she really wants the house, apart from wait to see if they do get any 200k offers in which case the EA will come back to her and it would be up to her whether she felt prepared to go higher or not. She could walk away now but it could take her a long time to find a house she likes as much and that would be rather cutting off her nose to spite her face.

Tbh I would have gone up to 200k in the first place to secure the property and made it a condition of my offer that they took it off the market. Psychologically, the Sellers would have been more likely to accept 200k than 195k, seeing as they started at 240k. There must be something very appealing about that particular house if your sister really wants it at 195k, knowing that there are others she could get nearby all done up for around 210k. And for the EA to originally justify their higher than average valuation for the area. Hard to say without seeing the house but maybe it has a better position than most that sell at 210k or is slightly bigger.

If the house attracts no interest at 195k than your sister may still get lucky and secure it at that price so Good Luck to her. Her situation is good with her own house sold, so she has that in her favour.

ChateauMargaux · 08/08/2023 11:16

If there are other houses with better kitchen and bathrooms for £15k more.. I would be looking elsewhere... even up North, you would struggle to redo a kitchen and a bathroom for that price difference. Her preferred house must have something else going for it..

Original poster

Goldielockes · 08/08/2023 14:21

Thanks for your advice. I agree they probably want a bit more money.

My sister booked to view another property with the same estate agent and they were a bit panicked. They said give them another 48 hours to see if a deal can be made on the property she offered on. She just told them she can't go up any more. So let's see what happens.

OP posts:

Original poster

Goldielockes · 08/08/2023 14:24

It's close to her works and she has some friends living a street away so I think that's why she's leaning towards this one. She does like the layout of the house and how they have built on the extension.

OP posts:

UtterlyUnimaginativeUsername · 13/10/2023 20:22

In fairness, why would they not try to create a bidding war? It's their job.

Feathereyebrows · 13/10/2023 21:07

Because you risk pissing people off anyway, bidding wars are a gamblers tactic. We were used like that and walked away each time, too stressful and we had already offered asking each time. If you want more put it on for more.

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