is this right!! estate agent rip off

pawpurrs

Any news OP? Did they accept your reduced offer?

chrisandy111

pawpurrs wrote: »

Any news OP? Did they accept your reduced offer?

after my venting email to them(polite of course)they emailed me back with a short reply saying they wouls put the revised offer to the vendor no mention of my complaint !! so still waiting

Davesnave

The vendor isn't obliged to accept the highest bid either. If you've revised your bid, I would imagine the agent is also free to contact the other party (ies) and invite them to re-offer too, while the sellers may decide to go with a lower bid because they no longer want to deal with you. The whole thing can turn into a minefield.

I can sympathise, but the bottom line is that you were happy to pay that amount when you thought someone else had to be 'beaten.' Now you realise that, perhaps, you got carried away. C'est la vie. Millions of us have lost money in this market and, if you are only £10k down, you're luckier than I've been!

lynzpower

barnaby-bear wrote: »

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

Yes and its STILL a sealed bids situation.

Ive worked in estae agents ( im actually staggered sealed bids are still going on in this market but there you are, Id never go for a SB in my life)

We had one house where we had 10 people all offering Asking price on the first day ( mental Jan 07) Then therefore we asked vendor did he want sealed bids, he did.

We then put it to all the buyers, that the bids would be read at the team meeting 9am following monday & would view till then. All invited to place bids.

Amazingly there were only 2 bids ( people run a mile from SBs, I dont blame them) and one was UNDER THE AP by about 10k ( even though the guy had offered AP before) and the other one was 55k over :eek: The guy was a cash buyer :eek:

So, we read the bids, the 55k guy was over, he won the house.Not important whether other people are bidding, in a sealed bids situation YOU the buyer chooase what YOU think you want to pay and what house is worth TO YOU. No one forces you to enter sealed bids, and no one forces you to name that price. YOU have chosen to offer that of your own free will, and altohugh you suspect you are going up against others youve NO IDEA what they may or may not offer.

that said, I personally would pull out, all the times when my buyers ( I had about 4) went to sealed bids, 3 of them pulled out within the last few days, really common that the sealed bids process fails as people get whipped into a bidding frenzy, and then have aword with themselves and realise they are going totally bloody mad.

pawpurrs

Exactly my expereince Lynz and basically what I said.
I remember sellling a house to an old school friend, and there were several asking price offers, so she said offer 30k more, couldnt believe it!
Nothing special about the house, it was a doer upper, and they were looking to do it up and move on. Bitter sweet because the house belonged to a friend who had died in a motorcycle accident, and had gone to probate, the ex wife got all the money, as they werent yet divorced and she was a right cow, the girlfriend and kids got made homeless! :rolleyes:

Davesnave

lynzpower wrote: »

I personally would pull out, all the times when my buyers ( I had about 4) went to sealed bids, 3 of them pulled out within the last few days, really common that the sealed bids process fails as people get whipped into a bidding frenzy, and then have aword with themselves and realise they are going totally bloody mad.

Mmm, when I had to take part in a sealed bid situation, the EA only gave us 24 hours, so not much time there for reflection! Anyway, I got the house for an extra £256. (Back in the Dark Ages.)

I would just add that if I were the seller, (and I'd met the OPs a couple of times & thought they were OK people) I'd be prepared to sympathise and be flexible over 5% of what looks like a good price. However, not everyone is capable of objectivity or understands negotiation, as I know to my cost!

Greatgimp

I would go face to face with the vendor, then he can tell his estate agent what you've both agreed on. The estate agent then works to that mutual figure. Don't let the agent take control of your money!

jungli_jim

Mate,
Your an EA's dream.....

If i was in that situation i'ld tell the vendor and EA that the offer submitted by sealed bid no longer stands. Personally i'ld look at other places with other EA's....but, if you want it that much offer 150K that takes into account the way prices are falling and what it would be worth in 7 months if prices continue to fall at 2% (Land Registry figs Feb 09).

Headlines in the news and papers are about the economy and state of the nation...do you honestly think it's going to be any better by the end of this year?

chrisandy111

pawpurrs wrote: »

Any news OP? Did they accept your reduced offer?

hey just to let you know the Ea got back and they accepted 200,000 yeahh

QTPie

chrisandy111 wrote: »

hey just to let you know the Ea got back and they accepted 200,000 yeahh

Well done. Hope that you are very happy there

QT