Estate Agents... are they are playing games or what?

Nenen

Oh flipping heck... I don't think I've got the requisite nerves of steel for this house buying malarky (and certainly not the patience)!

We are currently interested in buying one of 2 houses (we sold our own a couple of months ago and are living in rented while we search). I know (from all the brilliant advice I've received on here) that I need to play it cool when making offers but I'm just sooooooooooo impatient!:o

Saw house 1 last Tuesday so I waited a couple of days (amazingly patient for me) and then I emailed the EA with an offer 14% below asking price on Thursday evening (presumably they would have seen it Friday morning). I put a read receipt on my email and kept looking all day yesterday but had still not got a return indicating they had received and opened it. I woke up at 7.00 this morning and waited (very impatiently) until 11.30 and, as there was still not even a read receipt let alone a reply, I then caved in and rang them. When I said my name the woman started reading me my own email and yes they had received it, presumably refused the request for read receipt! Why did they do that? And why had they not even bothered to contact me regarding my offer for more than 24 hours?

I had included all the info about our position (big deposit, mortgage agreed, currently renting etc) plus reasons for our offer. Do they deliberately wait to 'up the anxiety' of the buyer and get you to increase your offer? Is this all part of the 'game'?

House 2, I decided to scrap the email idea and ring to make an offer instead! Rang at 9.15 this morning and got an answer phone message. I left a message to say I would like to talk to someone about the property (but didn't indicate if I was making an offer or wanting to view). It's now almost midday and they still haven't got back to me! Again, are they really so snowed under they can afford to lose a potential sale or is this just their way of making potential buyers think they are too busy to return a phone call?

We have had endless problems getting EAs to show us round empty properties in the last few months, whereby they need at least 4 days notice to do it for a weekday and even more for a Saturday! Maybe I'm getting paranoid but I'm starting to think that it is another strategy to increase buyer's desire... if you have to wait to see it you start to imagine there are hoards of other buyers and get worried someone else will 'beat you to the perfect property' so you start to want to bend over backwards to accomodate the EA, rather than the other way round. Certainly in this area (Cambridge) it is still a seller's market *sigh*.

Oh well... I suppose what will be will be and all that!... just want it to be yesterday!:D

Nenen

Any ideas? Saw house 1 on at 285K... we like it but consider it is well overpriced and certainly wouldn't go above 250K for it (even though we could afford a little bit more than this if we thought it was worth it).

We therefore offered £242,500 to give us room to negotiate. Just had a call back from the EA's assistant (not been able to get through and speak to the man himself) to say that the vendor had already turned down a previous ofer of £240,000 so they don't think the vendor will accept our offer and would we like to increase it?
I asked what sort of offer they were looking for but she wouldn't give anything away... just said we'd have to increase our offer. I told her that it was a bit silly us increasing our offer before their client had actually turned it down, she said she was 100% sure they would turn it down so we should think about it over the weekend and come back on Monday with an increased offer.
Is this normal practice? I really want them to put this offer of 242,500 to the client (a solicitor acting on behalf of the court). I would think that the fact that someone else has already offered 240,00 is an indication that this is about what it is worth... there obviously hasn't been a great deal of interest in it at the asking price which is rare for this area unless something is wrong (price, location, condition, etc).

What do I do now????? Do I ring her back today and say I want her to put 242,500 to the vendor on Monday, do I wait until Monday to do this or do I think about upping our offer for Monday?
I have mixed feelings about the house anyway... great house, not good location and I know the LLL mantra!;)

Doozergirl I need you!:D

wecanhelpu

You said it's a sellers market nen but it obviously isn't.

Hold your nerve. Wait until monday and go in with the same offer.

Wizwoo

Hold your nerve and insist on them discussing your offer (and position) with the seller - afterall the previous offer may not have been made in as such a strong position as your in.
Have you checked what price similar houses on that street have recently sold for?

A friend of mine is currently buying a property where the agents had told her that the owners had turned down her offer when they hadn't even been told of it. How did she know? A work colleugue was a friend of the owner. It got to a stage of threatening the EAs with a solicitor before the matter was resolved.

CHR15

I dont see why it's the EA's business if you want to put an offer in.

Like you say, it is up to the owner to turn it down not the EA!!!

As for the email.....

If they have a preview pane on their outlook. They could read it freely without it asking for a return note.

That is only asked for if the email is actually opened. So they may have read it as soon as you sent it.

Snow_Dog

The reason they weren't going to put your offer of 242.5K in was manyfold.

1. If the vendor keeps getting offers well below the EA valuation it don't look good for the EA.

2. The more the EA can beat you upwards before your first offer the more likely the vendor will accept the eventual offer, ie if they can get your first offer in at 145K then you have already lost 2.5K of bargaining power before you even start with the vendor.

3. The EA makes a little bit more, the more you pay, though this is relatively negligable.

4. Some email systems are setup to automatically not respond to requests for read receipts.

5. Some EAs are complete jerks who seem to think that they automatically have to lie and deceive to get what they want. (Some on the other hand are very good and do their jobs very well, like the last EA we bought through, they were top notch).

If you think that 242.5K is a good offer then simply tell the EA that you will get in touch with the person selling the property and you will inform them that the EA is witholding offers.

(It is possibly that the vendor has instructed the EA to withold offers below a certain amount however as you indicate they already rejected 240K then your offer sounds reasonable)

Nenen

Thank you all so much for such sound advice... you are all confirming my gut feeling. So I'm going to contact the EA Monday and ask them to put in our offer of 242.5 K.
Does anyone know the name of the law/rule that states EAs have to put forward the offers (unless they have been instructed otherwise by the vendor)? I was hoping to say something along the lines of 'I understand that under rule xx, subsection yy you are obliged to put our offer to your client' and hope that by sounding really knowledgable it will make them more likely to do as we've asked.

oasisfeverish

If on Monday the EA again mentions that they will not put forward your offer, I would visit the vendor (I'm assuming you have had a viewing already?), but don't tell the EA of your intention.

You don't need to tell them what the offer is, but mention you have made a offer, but understand the EA is not prepared to inform the vendor of this. Then let the Vendor deal with the EA.

Also are the EA sole agent? If not, look at the other EAs and put your original offer through them to gauge their response.

As Snow Dog has said, it may be that the Vendor & EA have agreed the minimum they want. Try pushing back to the EA and say if a offer was made at £245 (EA's recommended increase), would that be accepted then? If the EA says I don't know, they are telling a lie, otherwise why mention a £2.5 increase and not £5 or £7 or £10?

Nenen

oasisfeverish wrote: »

If on Monday the EA again mentions that they will not put forward your offer, I would visit the vendor (I'm assuming you have had a viewing already?), but don't tell the EA of your intention.

Thank you so much for your ideas oasisf... I certainly think you are right about the EA telling lies! However, re your idea above, unfortunately the house is empty and the EA showed us round (sole agents). The EA told us they are being instructed by a solicitor because the sale is a subject of a court order to force a sale following an acrimonious split between the vendors. I am assuming that means one wants to sell and the other doesn't but can't buy partner out. I'm going to see if I can get the EA to tell me the name of the solicitor being used as I could then contact them direct but I doubt whether they'll tell me!
I'd still love to know what the appropriate wording regarding the law stating the EA must put forward all offers is. Anyone know it please?

Nenen

Snow_Dog wrote: »

The reason they weren't going to put your offer of 242.5K in was manyfold.

1. If the vendor keeps getting offers well below the EA valuation it don't look good for the EA.

I think this is spot on Snowdog... when I was on the phone to EA and asked what sort of offer she thought the vendor would accept she said 'Oh we have valued it at 285K so that's what it is worth.' :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

After I'd finished laughing... it is patently NOT the case that a house is always worth whatever an EA values it at I told her anyone offering over 250 for that house would be mad! I don't think that went down too well *sigh* Probably not one of my more tactful comments:o

I think the fact that they had an offer of 240 and then ours at 242,500 shows the more realistic current market value. To be fair, it is a lovely house, the vendors have spent a huge amount doing it up to a high standard (solid granite kitchen workstops, solid wood internal doors etc) but the outlook is very ugly and the house is ex-LA which, whether fair or not, always devalues it. If you picked the house up and moved it a mile up the road it would probably be worth 300+! I think it is always difficult for people to accept, when they have spent a great deal of time and money doing up a property in what is considered to be an unappealing area, they just won't get their money back on the improvements. They have improved this property out of all keeping with the surrounding ones! There is outline planning permission for the surrounding area to be demolished and rebuilt but council can't say when that will actually happen.
I'm gradually talking myself out of this deal altogether!:eek:

olly300

Nenen wrote: »

I'm gradually talking myself out of this deal altogether!:eek:

Well maybe you know in your hearts of hearts this is NOT the right house for you.

One thing to think about is say you got the house and the council was demolishing properties nearby and you wanted to sell, the mess and noise caused by the council would put of some prospective buyers.

BTW if you make your offer and then move on to look at other properties, you may actually get the EA ringing you up in 3 months time when they can't sell the house.