Help please - FTB and Sealed Bids!!

Little_Miss_Penny_Less

So general concensus is give it a go at a price we're comfortable with (but using eBay principles - now this is a part I'm familiar with! ), put all the benefits of selling to us in the letter - FTB, no chain, quick sale, mortgage agreed in principle, solicitor arranged etc etc, and try to get hold of the solicitors name to send it direct to them... BUT don't get hopes up because the shady developers and EA's are likely to be in cahoots?

If I do find out the solicitor, can I send it to them early? Or should I still wait till last day? Do you think there is any room for negotiation directly with the solicitor? The house is also FULL of junk at the moment so we were considering offering the executor that we would arrange clearance (if there's no immediate family there's unlikely to be any sentimental value etc...)

Thank you all for your advice and knowledge - if this one slips past us I think we're going to have to be less choosy! It's been a steep learning curve with the properties we have so far been interested in - no. 1 was to be sold at auction, no.2 started a bidding war, no.3 a reposession and no.4 is now going for sealed bids! It's all fun and games! :rotfl:

Doozergirl

The nature of cheaper properties is that most of the time you don't get them because of the competition; in my experience Sarah Beeny wannabes prepared to pay over the odds rather than 'sneaky' developers. If you don't get this for whatever reason, and a future property is going to auction, it is absolutely worth putting an offer in beforehand as they may accept it.

Little_Miss_Penny_Less

Hi Doozergirl,

So would you say on this one it would be worth offering to the solicitor direct if we can find out who it is? I reckon the EA's are up to no good - the sealed bid part was only mentioned after much harrassing from us for more details - it did seem like they were stalling for some reason... Could they be outright lying about the sealed bids? :eek:

Doozergirl

I think you need to take what others say with a pinch of salt and not try and read into the situation too much. I can't see the point of an agent lying about sealed bids - why would they invite you to make an offer if they were intent on selling to their mates? The person you spoke to probably didn't know much about the property; I can't count the agents where I have to speak to the sales manager in order to get a coherent sentence out of someone.

It is sealed bids so they probably won't entertain offers before the closing date. I was referring to auction properties with my comment, where it is generally okay to put an offer forward beforehand, which could be in your benefit if you don't have funds readily available for the auction or are nervous.

Mikeyorks

Little_Miss_Penny_Less wrote:

Hi Doozergirl,

So would you say on this one it would be worth offering to the solicitor direct if we can find out who it is? I reckon the EA's are up to no good - the sealed bid part was only mentioned after much harrassing from us for more details - it did seem like they were stalling for some reason... Could they be outright lying about the sealed bids? :eek:

Sealed bids are often used (cheaper than auction) where a property attracts a lot of interest and / or it's one where the 'market value' is difficult to determine owing to a 'unique' feature. And one of those can be that the property needs a lot of work so there is no direct read across to similar properties in the vicinity.

Was involved in a sealed bid 12 months ago - for a property attracting a lot of interest. The bids had to go to the EA - but he had to send them unopened to the Vendor (who was the Executor - similar situation to yours). The Vendor used the highest bid to determine the 'market value' and then sold the property (we assume for that price or a small premium) to someone who had not bid, and was waiting in the wings. Vendor then advised the EA that as he had not sold the property, it was a private deal - no fee would be paid! EA later told us he had no choice but to accept that, and only recovered his advertising costs

Felt a bit sorry for the EA as he had been helpful, advised what to put in the offer (why we were the best placed to proceed quickly) and what, in his opinion, would be a £winning bid.

The advice, from others, which you have summarised earlier - is relevant to go in your bid. But I feel the advice to cut out the EA and go direct to the Solicitor is questionable. In doing so you are not complying with the T&Cs ('sealed bids to the EA'?) - and run the risk of having your bid torn up. Only go that route if you can identify the Solicitor will be the arbiter - and they confirm they will accept the bid direct

shockingmoment

Doozergirl wrote:

:eek: Not all EAs are liars

Read all the horror stories on this site alone re EAs.

Why did he ask for sealed bids then tell you whats come in? He must have opened them which to me is unscrupulous.

Either he's a liar or he's 'encouraging' you to bid more - which is also deception - and this equates to lying!

Solicitor will want easiest sale - this equates to cash, no mortgage, no survey, no re-negotiate, no mortgage retentions etc etc.

I really would like to believe you, but until proven otherwise - don't trust them. Don't forget - they are acting for the vendor.

charlie007

i was in this position a few months ago and offered 10,000 over the asking price because we both loved the house and we didn't get it. don't put all your eggs in one basket, keep looking at what else is available.