Refusal to disclose rival offers

andyb1044

Hello,
I have seen a flat I want to buy and made an offer. The agen has come back to me to say no to the offer and that another potential buyer has made a higher offer which is still not enough. She will not tell me the exact amount of the higher offer. This seems odd to me. I would be grateful for any advice.

Thanks.

BabyBoots

EAs do not normally tell you exactly what the other offer is (if you knew, you would be likely to offer a tiny bit above this. They hope you'll offer a lot above this.) They will drop hints though, try to engage them in conversation - easier in person than over the phone, but doable. E.g. has the other offer been accepted? What is the position of the otehr offer (chain free etc) What is teh vendor's preference for chain free/ are they in a hurry to move/prepared to go into rented? What level does the vendor hope to achieve? Why have they set this level etc etc

A friendly conversation in this regard should give you more information in helping to decide if you wish to make a higher offer, and if so, for how much.

Running_Horse

Have you asked what the vendor is expecting?

googler

andyb1044 wrote: »

Hello,
I have seen a flat I want to buy and made an offer. The agen has come back to me to say no to the offer and that another potential buyer has made a higher offer which is still not enough. She will not tell me the exact amount of the higher offer. This seems odd to me. I would be grateful for any advice.

Figure out what you think the property is worth to you, or what you can afford, and make this in writing to the EA as your 'best and final offer'. Also specify that your offer is open for acceptance within a set timeframe, and that, if it's not accepted within this timeframe, it should be assumed to be withdrawn.

Do not be drawn into increasing your offer merely because the EA says 'someone has offered more', or 'you'll need to go a bit higher to get this one' or variations thereof. Set your limit and stick to it.

If they don't accept your offer within your timeframe, go find another property. There's plenty out there.

Jowo_2

Ebay operates like this, so too does property auctions, so too do sealed bids for buyers under the scottish property system - there's nothing odd about not knowing what a rival is offering in this situation. It is is done precisely to disincentivise people from making tiny increments...

Remember that the estate agent represents the buyer - the buyer is paying for their services which include maximising what they sell their property for.

gingin_2

It's not been like that where I am ( Cambridge). The agents have been pretty transparent and bidding has tended to go go up in £5k increments,more if someone has felt like it. It's been like that with three properties we have gone for, all with different agents.

Running_Horse

I think it's fair to say Cambridge is pretty unique, and will remain so until they start building new estates on the outskirts. The city centre will always have too many people with too much money chasing too few properties. Strange for such a high crime city:
http://www.upmystreet.com/local/crime-in-cambridge.html

Most areas are not like Central London. Don't be suckered into overpaying for a crummy flat.

andyb1044

Thanks for the swift responses! Good advice - had thought about setting a limit and sticking to it - really don't want to get pulled into a bidding war!

DVardysShadow

andyb1044 wrote: »

... will not tell me the exact amount of the higher offer. This seems odd to me.

But if the Agent did tell you, would you believe it?

Mr_Thrifty

Too right you don't want to get into a bidding war... particularly against someone who probably doesn't even exist.

seraphina

And don't believe the rubbish being spouted about Cambridge being different to everywhere else, still a boom, etc - we're looking to buy in Cambridge too and have had offers rejected on places that seemed to sell overnight. Guess what? None of them have made it to the Land registry yet, and most of them are hanging around as SSTC or back on the market....