Is this EA out of order??

StuHolmes

I'll try to be brief!

Two identical 4bed houses 1 & 2, same road. 1 has been on market for a while with EA A at £240k. 2 is identical but has much bigger and nicer garden and has better decor. 2 comes to market @ £250k with EA B. Both are above our top budget of £225k but EA A says that vendor of House 1 is desperate and considering time on market and lack of interest they may consider offers in region of £225k. We view and love the house and location but garden is small considering we have 2 young kids. Still we put an offer in at £220k which is refused as we expected so we go to £222,500 and the vendor says "a little bit more". So we try £224k. At this point vendor says no as they want to see what happens with upcoming viewings. So we wait.

In the meantime House 2 drops their price to £242,500. We re-evaluate our finances and view and fall in love with the good sized garden. We put in an offer of £237,500. There are now 4 bids on table for House 2 so it goes to sealed bids:eek: . We put in £246k but are told we are seriously outbid and it has gone "well into" the next Stamp Duty bracket.

So back to House 1, apparently there has still been no interest but they have now gone multi-agency with EA's A,C,D & E! Overkill!! Enquiring about our offer which is still on table we are told that they will not consider that at any stage and are looking for £235k. We have a second viewing and the garden seems even smaller but interior space and location are too much for us to ignore so we give an offer of £232,500 which EA A thinks should secure it.
The answer...no. Apparently EA B has managed to get the vendors number and told them that House 2 sold for £247,500!:mad: (presumably to try and gain their instruction). Bet they didn't talk about the much bigger plot or better decor.
Now this is the point of my post, can an EA try to influence another's EA's clients in this way?? And how is £1,500 way over my sealed bid or into the next SD bracket for that matter???
I have now offered exactly what the vendor said they were looking for only two days ago (£235k) and they are still saying no despite having no other interest, I feel tis is entirely down to EA B whispering in their ear.

Sorry for my rambling but I feel v, frustrated and have had a few vinos to calm down(esp as when I clicked on the spell check button it wiped out my entire text and I had to do it all again!! )

wecanhelpu

StuHolmes wrote: »

I feel tis is entirely down to EA B whispering in their ear.
quote]


No. It's entirely down to greed.

PROFESSIONAL_LANDLORD

can an EA try to influence another's EA's clients in this way??

YES ! (presumably to try and gain their instruction) yes, tell the seller what they they want to hear,


And how is £1,500 way over my sealed bid or into the next SD bracket for that matter???

It's not ! Agents talk the market up, they know the hook is in your mouth and next time they can reel you in , and you will probably pay more for a similar property !!

nollag2006

No misbehaviour at all. The EA is just trying to maximise the price for the vendor.

When you come to sell, this is preciely what you need from your agent !

dwsjarcmcd

Put in your offer and give them 24 hours to accept or you will walk away. If nothing happens then do just that, walk away!

If after a few weeks if the place is still there and you have found nothing else then swallow your pride and go back.

Tha's what I'd do at least!

exasperated_2

If you think the one EA is telling the other EA about the house that sold, then you can probably assume that said EA has told the other EA how much you offered on the house you lost out on, and the EA on the house you are bidding on is holding out until you make a similar offer (i.e., 246), knowing that you can and are willing to go that high. If for one, why not the other, the EA must be thinking.

So you're at a disavantage bidding on two houses so close to each other, it's natural that, people being what they are, there'd be talk about what is happening with each. Even the vendors may be talking - "Oh, yes, that couple came and viewed our house last week, I see they are looking at yours today" or whatever. And all information becomes part of the game.

What you have to do is be prepared to walk away, if you don't want to pay 246 for the second house. Pick your price and stick to it. Tell the EA that you preffered the other house because of its bigger garden, and you are only prepared to offer [whatever your limit is] on the second house, and that's it. You'll move on to another house. And then do it.

Otherwise they will play you until they get the 246 that you offered before.

Good luck.

cattie

If the house isn't really want you want regarding it having a too small garden really for your two children, then why don't you just wait till a more suitable house comes along?

If a house is too small you can always extend it, but not so with a garden, so perhaps best to wait for something that gives the kids room to have a good play.

smreynard

Speaking as an Estate Agent, I don't know how much bigger the garden was in the house nextdoor, but the amenity value wouldn't add more than around £7K-10K to the price. If it sold for £247,500 then you should expect to pay around £237K-£240K for the other house. The decor wouldn't affect the value too much unless you're talking about the quality of the kitchen units which might affect it by a few thousand.

pcwilkins

StuHolmes wrote: »

Now this is the point of my post, can an EA try to influence another's EA's clients in this way??

Of course.

And how is £1,500 way over my sealed bid or into the next SD bracket for that matter???

So perhaps the estate agent lied. What? a dishonest estate agent? Surely not...

I have now offered exactly what the vendor said they were looking for only two days ago (£235k) and they are still saying no despite having no other interest

So they were going to sell for £235k but they someone told them they should be able to get more. So they decided not to sell for £235k.

I feel tis is entirely down to EA B whispering in their ear.

EA B is within his rights to talk to potential customers. Sellers are within their rights to revise their selling point based on what EA B tell them. You are well within your rights to feel annoyed! But nobody's broken any laws as far as I can see.

Hate to put it like this but at the end of the day the selling price is set by the seller. If you don't think it's worth that price or can't afford that price then you don't get the house! Same as with anything else --- just that with a house the amount of money is more and the frustration is a lot more!

If you really can't offer more then at least let seller know that your offer still stands so they can get in touch if they decide to accept it. And keep looking; you never know you might find another house and then be glad that they didn't accept your offer on this one!!!

Peter