Sideswiped by a "closed bid". How does this work?

JustAnotherSaver

We were all set to view (for a 2nd time) tomorrow & unless we saw major problems, especially after the heavy rain - such as whopping wet patches on the walls & ceilings etc then we were going to put in a bid right after the viewing.

Got a voicemail this afternoon to say our viewing has been cancelled due to the house having been bid on.
I don't know how it all works but this sounded like a load of rubbish to me since why did a bid stop anyone else putting a bid on?

I contact my wife to ask her to contact the EA & i contacted our IFA. I was advised that we should put a bid on it if we wanted it as they were legally obliged to forward any bid made. I was warned this could turn in to a bidding war.
Just as i hung up the wife text back - the EA said a "closed bid" had been made. The seller was made aware other viewings were in place tomorrow, but they were happy with the offer & decided to cancel the viewings.

Now i'm not sure what we're dealing with here. The house is listed under 2EAs. I asked why & the EA said they're acting on behalf of a "corporate company". I put this to the IFA today who said this sounds like a repossession. So i don't know whether the previous people living in the house have accepted an offer or whether some company has accepted it as they just want to get it moved on ASAP (has been reduced about 4 times in 2-3 months).

Back on the phone to the IFA & we were told that if the vendor has accepted the bid & declined other viewings etc then there's little (nothing) we can do.




What makes a closed bid? Is every bid closed?

Is there any point in me playing dumb whatsoever (as the wife contacted the EA by phone, not me, although they left ME the voicemail) in me emailing the EA saying i'm returning their call & just wondered if all bids were being ignored, even if for the asking price? We are first time buyers and were set to offer tomorrow. Or is that totally pointless now?


Gutted is an understatement. Especially when the major reason we were viewing for a 2nd time is that on our first visit the EA/person who showed us around turned up without a full set of keys - so we couldn't see if certain doors (including garage) worked or what was inside them.

eddddy

hi JustAnotherSaver

I suspect the "closed bid" bit is just some waffle. In reality, it could just be that the vendor has had an offer which they are very happy with, and they don't want to faff about any longer.

For example, it may be from a cash buyer who has agreed to exchange immediately (whereas the EA knows you need a survey for a mortgage etc, and they have explained this to their client).

However, if it really is a repo, they would be legally required to disclose the offer amount and to consider higher offers. (But EAs and the mortgage companies don't tend to like this, because further offers lengthen the process and cause more work. So they may be a tiny bit obstructive!)

Or it could be that the EA is a complete rogue, and the other offer has come from a 'favoured buyer' - so they want to lock you out. e.g. a buyer who would be using the EA's Mortgage Broker, the EA's recommended solicitor and/or selling their own property through the same EA.

Perhaps your best hope is to have a friendly chat with the EA, and see how much he/she will reveal.

JustAnotherSaver

Thanks very much for that.

I emailed the EA after work asking if we're able to put in an offer or not (my wife spoke to an employee there whereas i've emailed the owner - you never know, employees have given out wrong info in the past (Santander anyone?!)), be it either under the asking price, bang on, or above. I don't understand this closed bid thing too much, but i don't see why i FTB with obviously no chain & approx 40% deposit (though they don't know that last bit) would be turned down if they offered MORE. Stranger things have happened & i understand that the highest bid doesn't always win, but still.

When speaking to our IFA though, we were told they've had dealings with this EA before & they're not too keen on them. Surprising as they're one of the main ones around here. Reason being this EA has apparently messed some of our IFA's clients around in the past. Obviously this was as much as we could be told i guess, but still.

I'm not holding out much hope in response to my email, but you don't get if you don't ask.

propertyman

Go to the HMLR and obtain the owners details and make your offor direct to them.

http://www.landregistry.gov.uk/public/faqs/how-do-i-find-out-who-owns-a-property-or-piece-of-land

googler

I understand 'closed' in this context to indicated that the deal/purchase has been closed (in other words, completed), not that there's any sealed bids scenario in play.

Essentially, they've received a good enough offer that they don't want to entertain further viewings. You'd viewed already, but hadn't offered, so, to take a stock American phrase;

You snooze, you lose.

DRP

JustAnotherSaver wrote: »

Thanks very much for that.

I emailed the EA after work asking if we're able to put in an offer or not (my wife spoke to an employee there whereas i've emailed the owner - you never know, employees have given out wrong info in the past (Santander anyone?!)), be it either under the asking price, bang on, or above. I don't understand this closed bid thing too much, but i don't see why i FTB with obviously no chain & approx 40% deposit (though they don't know that last bit) would be turned down if they offered MORE. Stranger things have happened & i understand that the highest bid doesn't always win, but still.

When speaking to our IFA though, we were told they've had dealings with this EA before & they're not too keen on them. Surprising as they're one of the main ones around here. Reason being this EA has apparently messed some of our IFA's clients around in the past. Obviously this was as much as we could be told i guess, but still.

I'm not holding out much hope in response to my email, but you don't get if you don't ask.

Have you heard back from the email? Probably best to ring the manager to get the answers you want.

Prothet_of_Doom

Send a recorded delivery letter, offering (subject to contract) 10% more than the asking price. (you can always change your mind after the survey) They HAVE to give a copy of offer to seller.
If they don't they are surely breaking the law ?

PancakeP

I had this with my house. 2 of us went to view property on first day of viewings, 2 days after it came to market. I phoned back next day to ask for 2nd viewing and they said I couldn't as viewings were cancelled as person to view after me had offered same day and had it accepted. I asked EA if I could put my offer in and they said I could, but would need to prove my position was as strong as the first person, which it was. Submitted my offer, then had to wait 4 days as they wanted to give the other person time to increase their offer, which they didn't, so I bought it.
My house had been taken in, in part exchange and the Builder had a very definite date they wanted the sale to complete by, but that wasn't an issue for me and we ended up completing a week early.

ajayre

There is an example offer letter on these forums, which I have used twice now. It states the conditions for the offer, including cancelling viewings. Both times this condition was accepted by the vendor. So I see it as a good way of limiting the risk of another offering being made. However if I didn't get the survey done quickly I would expect viewings to restart...

Andy

StuC75

Possibly for the best too, since if they were to entertain your offer it could result in a series of higher offers being made.

What if you offered but the survey found was overpriced, and lender wouldnt provide what you need..

For whatever reason the vendor has gone with what has been offered..- How would you feel if you were in this scenario. Maybe ask that you be informed if there was any breakdown in the sale..

JustAnotherSaver

Well to update -

The missus called the other EA today. I said for her to be truthful (tell them our involvement with the first EA & how we feel they've messed us about a bit) but see what they say.

EA1 have the house as under offer on their site whereas EA2 don't.

She called EA2 & explained the situation. They said they were STILL taking offers & STILL doing viewings on the house as they knew nothing different. They went on to say that they couldn't entertain us for viewings/offerings as we'd had dealings with EA1.

It all seems very crap. If EA2 are accepting offers then surely we should be able to offer through them, regardless. We're penalised by choosing the wrong EA in the first place basically.

Unless EA2 are slow to be updated & they're taking offers & giving viewings when they shouldn't be.

propertyman wrote: »

Go to the HMLR and obtain the owners details and make your offor direct to them.

http://www.landregistry.gov.uk/public/faqs/how-do-i-find-out-who-owns-a-property-or-piece-of-land

It sounds like some company owns the property now. Even if they don't, what will this tell me - where the people live, which is the house we're looking to buy? It's empty though.

DRP wrote: »

Have you heard back from the email? Probably best to ring the manager to get the answers you want.

Yes, i was in touch with the owner. Response..

"The company who are dealing with the property have decided they want to stop marketing the property & give the sale the chance to go ahead" They say that if there's any change in the situation then they'll be in touch with us.

I do wonder if we should've indicated the EA at some point to our situation, but how do you do that without playing all your cards - we're FTBs with a £50k-£60k deposit looking at a £150k house & £100k mortgage on a joint income of £34k so will therefore have no problem in securing a mortgage especially as our credit file is good as well?

The missus has picked up on the "give the sale a chance to go ahead" saying it sounds like they're unsure whether it will. Personally i think that's reading too much into it.

PancakeP wrote: »

I had this with my house. 2 of us went to view property on first day of viewings, 2 days after it came to market. I phoned back next day to ask for 2nd viewing and they said I couldn't as viewings were cancelled as person to view after me had offered same day and had it accepted. I asked EA if I could put my offer in and they said I could, but would need to prove my position was as strong as the first person, which it was. Submitted my offer, then had to wait 4 days as they wanted to give the other person time to increase their offer, which they didn't, so I bought it.
My house had been taken in, in part exchange and the Builder had a very definite date they wanted the sale to complete by, but that wasn't an issue for me and we ended up completing a week early.

This is the difference - we've asked if we can still offer & we've been told we can't.

StuC75 wrote: »

What if you offered but the survey found was overpriced, and lender wouldnt provide what you need..

The house isn't overpriced. It's selling for much less than the rest of the houses in the area & is up for £30k less than the previous time it sold in 2008 according to Zoopla. This is another reason our IFA thought it was a repo, as well as dropping 4 times in 2-3 months & the info given to me by the EA.

I know we haven't applied yet but we've been told we shouldn't have a problem securing the mortgage with our details.

For whatever reason the vendor has gone with what has been offered..- How would you feel if you were in this scenario. Maybe ask that you be informed if there was any breakdown in the sale..

To be perfectly honest, my interest is myself. I totally don't expect anyone else to care for my well being. I expect for them to care for their own & as such i care only about my own. Yes i suppose that isn't very 'nice' but ATEOTD i've come off worse too many times where others have only cared about their own situation & it has taught me 1 thing - look after yourself. I appreciate not everyone will be that way, but that's how it is.