Estate agent tactics or just bad luck?

JB88

Hi

I'm a second time buyer but this is my first time dealing with estate agents as I inherited my first property. We've recently just lost the bidding on a property and I was wondering if anybody has any opinion on what happened.

On Thursday last week we viewed a property that needs a lot of work and was listed at 275k. We liked it but due to the amount of work decided to offer 10% below so on Friday put in an offer of 248k. This was immediately rejected so we asked to be kept in the loop if anything happened over the weekend. The agent said they would contact us on Tuesday but didn't so on Wednesday we phoned them and were told an acceptable offer had been made on the property over the weekend and the seller was looking for 'around 265k'. It had been accepted conditionally but was still on the market until the buyers had sold.

We have sold our property to a buyer in rented, with no chain, we have our mortgage agreed and our solicitors in place so on Wednesday we offered 262k thinking this would be a competitive offer.

This was rejected the same day. So we then bit the bullet and Thursday morning put in a final offer of 265k. Three hours later the agent contacted us back saying 'the other buyers rang me straight after you to confirm they have now sold their property and the seller has agreed to go with them as they offered an acceptable amount first'. They made it clear all offers are now off the table. Apparently the other buyers are now in the same position as us as their buyers also have no chain.

I have since put a note through the vendors door last night saying 'sorry you were unable to accept any of our three offers, we were hoping our strong position would have made us a good buyer but cannot afford to go higher. Please let us know if circumstances change' and included my phone number but have not received a reply.

So what is everyone's opinion on this? I know property demand in our area is high at the moment but could we really have been that unlucky? Thanks for your advice, JB

Yorkie1

It sounds as though it was just bad luck. If the EA was playing games, they'd have invited you to up your offer rather than knocking you back.

bluebaron

All offers must be passed to the vendor and you should have it in writing hat they have been passed on. You ave probably missed the boat but worth getting the letters in hand anyway.

zzzLazyDaisy

OP, for these purposes, you are in fact a first time buyer (as in you have never actually been through the buying process before). So this whole thing is a learning curve and you have my sympathy as buying a house can be a stressful business.

You have to remember that buying a house isn't the same as buying a used car from a dealer - the seller may have a lot of blood sweat and tears tied up with that house. As you know the stamp duty threshold is £250k. So a seller with a house valued around, say, £260k may well be willing to drop below the threshold. But at £275k they are normally seeking a higher offer. It is entirely possible that starting so low and then increasing your offers so quickly, they saw you as a 'game-player' and went with the original buyer who probably made a more acceptable offer to start with.

Of course I am guessing, but it is quite an art to pitch your offer so you have room for negotiation, without p*ing off your seller before you've even started.

Or of course, as Yorkie says, it could just have been bad luck.

Dx

TeamLowe

It sounds like the vendor was just trying to be fair, the other bidders gave an acceptable bid in a good position which you haven't upped.

you'd be pretty miffed if you was told 'sorry, your offer is no longer accepted as these other folks offering exactly the same money and similar terms so they've decided to go with them'

JB88

Guess I got my answer - property already shows as sold on Rightmove. It had been on since April but certain houses are just flying off the shelves at the moment. Must be the good weather.:(

suebfg

I think sometimes estate agents do play games. Sometimes I think they do have preferred buyers. We seem to have lost out on a couple of properties with one estate agent in particular and I think it is because they see us as tricky buyers. We have seen a lot of properties with them, they know we are in rented and can afford to wait for the right property.