is this right!! estate agent rip off

barnaby-bear

chrisandy111 wrote: »

hi,i have had an offer accepted of 211,000 on a house it was offers over 175000 i was advised it was sealed bids so put in my max offer as i really want it,the estate agent spoke to us twive that day to confrm the bid,the next day we were told we were successful but it hadnt gone to sealed bids as there wernt enough,i was unhappy but told by the estate agent not to haggle over price i want to put in a lower bid but dont want to loose the property help!! advice

Which means yours was the only bid.....

chrisandy111

barnaby-bear wrote: »

You don't. The EA is paid by the vendor their legal obligation is to the vendor to get the best price. The "interpreted" the market/interest shown pre-bids as competitive and told you so, if they'd lied and said there were 2 acres when only 1 or alike that would be false advertising though.

i have read the code of conduct though and they are obliged to fairly represent the buyer as well

ILW

The OP by putting in a high bid has now set in the mind of the seller what the property is worth. They may drop a bit but if they know you were prepared to pay that amount it is unlikely they will drop unless it is a forced sale.

pawpurrs

This is a very tricky situation, the vendor and the EA both know that you really want the place, and were happy to pay the price offered. The EA may well have not acted wrongly, I have had sales where there have been a number of interested parties, so the vendor has requested that it go to sealed bids (so as to be fairer to all parties, and to prevent having to go in to a bidding war) So all interested parties are then informed that this is going to happen, and to ensure their bids are delivered to the office by 12 noon on xx date, stating clearly their bid, their postion, evidence of chain, finance etc) at 12 noon on xx date all envelopes are then opened. Some wont bid over asking price, some wildly so, all depends on how much they want it.
Sometimes you get 6 bids, and sometimes only the one, some people are put off by the sealed bids process as they dont understand it. Sometimes bids come in too late too!
The EA has actually been honest and above board here by telling you that in actual fact there was only one bid in this circumstance. If they were trying to be underhand they actually needent have said anything, you would be none the wiser, they dont have to disclose that to you.
In fact really they shouldnt have disclosed this, as now you want to renogiate, not the best senario for their client the vendor.
Think carefully about what you want to do.

chrisandy111

pawpurrs wrote: »

This is a very tricky situation, the vendor and the EA both know that you really want the place, and were happy to pay the price offered. The EA may well have not acted wrongly, I have had sales where there have been a number of interested parties, so the vendor has requested that it go to sealed bids (so as to be fairer to all parties, and to prevent having to go in to a bidding war) So all interested parties are then informed that this is going to happen, and to ensure their bids are delivered to the office by 12 noon on xx date, stating clearly their bid, their postion, evidence of chain, finance etc) at 12 noon on xx date all envelopes are then opened. Some wont bid over asking price, some wildly so, all depends on how much they want it.
Sometimes you get 6 bids, and sometimes only the one, some people are put off by the sealed bids process as they dont understand it. Sometimes bids come in too late too!
The EA has actually been honest and above board here by telling you that in actual fact there was only one bid in this circumstance. If they were trying to be underhand they actually needent have said anything, you would be none the wiser, they dont have to disclose that to you.
In fact really they shouldnt have disclosed this, as now you want to renogiate, not the best senario for their client the vendor.
Think carefully about what you want to do.

thanks for this considered reply i am in a quandrey as i when unhappy last night emailed the estate agent stating this and reduced my bid to 200,000 aghh might loose it !

BenL

If you are not adverse to spending money you could carry on with the process and when the mortgage survey/valuation comes through have a think then.

Is the house worth anywhere near £211K?

I have read on here recently that offers over £175K means offers about £165K.

pawpurrs

Good luck, for whats its worth, in your shoes, I would feel exactly the same.

QTPie

BenL wrote: »

Is the house worth anywhere near £211K?

I have read on here recently that offers over £175K means offers about £165K.

It did seem like a VERY generous bid...

Good luck and let us know what happens

QT

chickmug

chrisandy111 wrote: »

i have read the code of conduct though and they are obliged to fairly represent the buyer as well

Can I ask which code of conduct and which part/page, etc?
Thanks

chrisandy111

QTPie wrote: »

It did seem like a VERY generous bid...

Good luck and let us know what happens

QT

i think we got carried away as you can and i think our final offer and value would be 200.000