estate agent playing games? FTB advice pls

newleafandallthat

Hi lovely MSE people

We're FTB's - tho we think (!) relatively clued up ones - thanks to this site and forums.
We've found a house we like and put in a reasonable offer on Monday morning - £102K when the house was up for £115K. We knew we could not offer less as the vendors paid £101K for it in 2005 and have done lots of work to the property.

We were told that on the same day there had already been a higher offer on the house (despite it having been on the market since October 08) and could we offer more. I rang back later that afternoon and offered £106K, saying it was our final offer. We then have heard nothing from the vendor all week until 17:00 hours today - on the dot - when the Halifax estate agency rang and said that there had been another higher offer on the property. Did we want to up our offer? I said that it was bad timing to ring me on a Friday evening and wanted the weekend to think about it. EA then rang me less than 2 minutes later to say that she had discussed with vendor and he was happy to wait until Monday morning. Mmm, suspicious I thought...

Previously, EA has asked loads of questions about our position, including date we would want to complete. So I have assumed our offer would be taken seriously. I would maybe not be so cynical apart from a) the timing of her call! and b) we know that the vendor also works for HBOS.

What I want to know is - is there any way I can find out whether this is all genuine or simply a ruse to push up our offer? We could go to £107500 and possibly a little higher. And we think the house is worth it in the current market. However, we obviously want to get as low a mortgage as we can! And we don't want to get into any games or a bidding war. Is there a code of practice that EAs must adhere to? Can I possibly find out about other offers on the house?

Thanks in advance for your advice!

guppy

Estate agents aren't regulated except by the laws that apply to anyone else. Some voluntarily sign up to self-regulation schemes, is the agent concerned a member of the National Association of Estate Agents or the Ombudsman for Estate Agents scheme?

Have a look at this article for more:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2004/apr/28/1

Anyway...whether they are in a scheme or not, that doesn't really help in deciding whether someone is stringing you along here.

Normally I would think it unlikely the estate agent was playing games, what's in it for them, 2% of a few grand isn't anything to get excited about. On the other hand, if the vendor is connected...

If you can live with possibly losing the house, I'd call their bluff and stick to your original offer. Chances are the other mystery buyer might not be able to follow through anyway in the current climate. Good luck.

Smashing

There's always 'another offer.' :rotfl:

I'd put money on her spinning you a yarn.

newleafandallthat

Thanks both of you. We decided to stick with our original offer and leave it all in the lap of the gods. And the buyer has decided to go with the higher offer. On the positive side, it does show that EA was genuine. I did say to her this morning that having only the weekend to consider wasn't that helpful as we weren't able to view our plan B house or speak to a mortgage broker to re-consider our budget.

Oh well, back to the drawing board...

ognum

If you really want a house sometimes you need to be prepared to think quickly and decide whether you want to up your offer. When you are a seller you will understand the need to get things settled, accept and offer and move on. If I am told the buyers need a weekend to decide whether to up their offer I (just my opinion) would feel they are not that keen and may drop out latter if a problem comes up. I would rather go for the very keen buyer even if the offer is slightly less.

Cliveski2009

Don't worry - keep going until you get an offer accepted which represents better value. You are in a really strong position so can seek out a good discount.

chucknorris

you could really tie yourself up in knots over thinking this, that and the other. The last house we bought Winkworth's came back with 'there is another interested party and we want you both to submit final offers' I thought it was about 1/25 we were being messed about. But so what, what really matters is what we think the house is worth and what we pay for it. We upped our offer £3,045 (but the point is we would have thought it was value £10,000 more). Don't lose sight of the value of the deal.

ognum

Cliveski2009 wrote: »

Don't worry - keep going until you get an offer accepted which represents better value. You are in a really strong position so can seek out a good discount.

This is a generalization because it really depends on where you are selling or buying.
Where I live, at the moment, seller definately have the upper hand and have multiple offers with many people buying with little or no mortgage required.
This obviously does not mean every property is desirable but a hint of desirability sends in the buyers with one property that I know of having 50+ viewings in a week and selling 20% over asking.

Blacksheep1979

Drop back down to your original offer of 102k and see what they say then.

newleafandallthat

It's interesting hearing your thoughts - conflicting though they might be! We've only been looking for 3 weeks and I think maybe a month down the line, we would have felt more confident making a snappier decision. As FTBs in this difficult climate, though, it's easy to get cold feet.

We've currently offering on another house, but we can't afford the asking price as it needs new central heating and a kitchen before we move in (we've a 15 month old and another in the planning!).

Just been told by a very stroppy EA that it's a waste of time putting forward our latest offer as she knows the vendor will refuse it, before she hung up the phone on me! Just waking up to the idea that this may all be a long, cold and painful process...

DVardysShadow

newleafandallthat wrote: »

... Just been told by a very stroppy EA that it's a waste of time putting forward our latest offer as she knows the vendor will refuse it, before she hung up the phone on me! Just waking up to the idea that this may all be a long, cold and painful process...

Drop a note through the vendor's door. saying that you made an offer but the EA hung up on you. Let the vendor decide.