Trying to buy a repossessed house

Michiel

Hi
I am interested in a repossessed house. I viewed it and made an offer above the asking price with one of the two EA who have it for sale. The EA forwarded my offer to the bank. I was called and told that there was an other offer on the house which was lower than mine, but the buyer had a higher deposit. The question was if I could raise my deposit or offer more for the house to ensure a sale. Since I was the highest bidder I didn't raise my offer. Today I was called again and told that the mortgagees have accepted the same offer as mine, because the other party would pay the house in cash. I increased my offer and am now waiting for an answer again.
This afternoon I called the other EA who has the house for sale. I now have a viewing with them tomorrow morning at 11.
In the mean time, I bought the local newspaper and found the public notice in which they stated that there was an offer for less than the asking price (I made my offer about a week before the newspaper was printed).
Am I being scammed here by the EA? Your opinions please!

Regards

Doozergirl

I guess you will only know when you speak to the other EA. It's not usual to do it this way - I suspect there could be a bun fight between the two agents over the commission payable and agent 2 may not be that keen to do business with you.

I believe that if the notice goes in then the offer made is at an acceptable level to the mortgagee. It's really hard when there is competiton over a house and yes a mortgage company can accept a low offer if they feel it is more likely to complete - how much of a price difference are we talking here and what % is your deposit? I'm presuming you already have a mortgage offer in principal if they were looking seriously at your offer on the house?

EAs are very much obliged to do things by the book with regards to repossessions but I guess you never know. Looking back a while now I know I was fobbed off by an agent in the past but I didn't push it. I wasn't 100% sure about it and I took it as a divine sign that it wasn't worth pursuing! :rotfl:

JerKar

Hi Michiel,

We found ourselves in exactly the same position about 6 months back. Essentially we were up against another buyer, and we both offered the asking price. However as the other seller had already begun proceedings before we were aware of the flat being on the market, they had a head start. It was down to who could complete first, within 4 weeks. Although we tried to throw a spanner in the works by offering 3K, then 6K above the asking price, the first buyer was able to complete at the original price, despite us offering more.

The Estate Agents in this scenario are invariably supposed to sell to the highest seller, or at least recoup as much money as possible on behalf on the lender. But as Doozergirl suggests, it doesn't always work out this way.

All I can say is, if you are keen on the property and its at a price that you are willing to spend and afford (even if its over the asking price, this tends to be the norm with repo's), you should make sure you are in a position to act FAST! Have your mortgage agreed, solicitors ready to be instructed, surveyors positioned and work actively with your Estate Agent to get the deal done quickly, before anyone else is able to get a look in!

Best of Luck!

JerKar.