Other bidder "no longer needs to sell" all of a sudden. Is this suspicious?

myotherdogisabeagle

Hello, I put an offer on a house that has been on the market for four months with only one low ball offer (25% under asking) which was refused. It's in a very slow moving rural area (some houses have been on the market for well over a year).

House is on with two agents. Lo and behold, the very day I offer someone else comes along (through the other agent) and offers £5k more, but they are 'subject to sale', so I didn't move on my offer. 4 days later they are suddenly as proceedable as me, with the exact same deposit (80k on a £145k house) as they "no longer need to sell to buy". Is it just me or is this really fishy? I'm thinking:

A: the other bidder lied about their status changing in hopes of winning the race.
B: the EAs are in cahoots and are both lying.
C: the vendor is manipulating the situation themselves.
the change in status is genuine and due to the other bidder being fairly wealthy and able to take on a second mortgage/bridging loan and pull up £80k in savings (seems reckless) OR
E: the other bidder is genuine and was lucky enough to get a cash buyer for their house in the handful of days since they put in their first offer.

The current situation is that the EA I had been dealing with called me and asked me if I'd increase. I told him I couldn't meet the other offer, but could increase on my own offer. He asked me how much more I could offer, which I thought was strange as surely it doesn't matter if he knows that the other offer won't be beaten, and I offered £3k more than my original bid (£2k under the other guys).

4 days passed with no word and then I got a call at 4.30pm on Friday (great timing!) saying that the vendor would go with the other offer unless I could increase on mine. I said I could not and that is apparently that.

This is my first time bidding on a house, so I'm very clueless, but this seems fishy in the extreme to me. Has anyone experienced anything similar? Any advice welcome!

anselld

Some EAs play games with fictional offers.
Sometimes the other offer is genuine.
It should not really matter which because you should only offer what you think the place is worth to you.

fishpond

Personally, I think the EA'S are lying through their teeth and unless you are absolutely desperate for this property (just in case they are not lying), I would retract my second offer and go back with the first.
As you quite rightly say
" He asked me how much more I could offer, which I thought was strange as surely it doesn't matter if he knows that the other offer won't be beaten, and I offered £3k more than my original bid (£2k under the other guys). "

It stinks!
bold= they can't keep their mouths shut, which has come back to bite them---don't make the mistake of thinking EA's are intelligent.

I_have_spoken

The vendor/EAs are playing you, there is no other bidder.

If you proceed, wait until day of exchange then gazunder them by £3k due to 'worrying' information in the survey about the roof.

MobileSaver

myotherdogisabeagle wrote: »

B: the EAs are in cahoots and are both lying.

Write a letter to the vendor reiterating your position and offer and pop it through their letter box. Keep it absolutely short and sweet and simply say you are disappointed to have been outbid but if the other buyer's offer falls through your offer of £xxx still stands.

ellie27

Whether or not there is another bidder or another 6 bidders is irrelevant. I would offer up to the max I want to pay for the house. Remember the seller is just a person who, like everyone else, wants as much money as possible for their home.

you said........ 4 days passed with no word and then I got a call at 4.30pm on Friday (great timing!) saying that the vendor would go with the other offer unless I could increase on mine. I said I could not and that is apparently that....... I really dont think an estate agent would say that without there actually being another bidder and the seller happy enough that they will accept that bid. If there was no other bidder then by saying that they are risking their only one interested party and that would be very risky.

How much do you like it? If I knew that by increasing my offer by £2k I would get the house I want then it would be worth it.

In the house I am buying my offer was put in, rejected and left at that. I was still looking at other homes so not quite willing to go up to my max on the house. 2 weeks passed and they came back and accepted. In that 2 weeks they did call asking if I would up my offer, I said no. They did not say there was any other offers, in fact I thougth agents were not allowed to say anything about any other offers that are there.


Good luck!

martin.cat

It's a game of poker
They are probably waiting for your call on Monday as they have let you stew
There are definitely 2 schools of thought and it depends on on much you want it
If you want it a lot you need to up your offer as £2k is £12 a month on a mortgage so not really an issue
Other than that stink to your guns. You sound like that you have you head screwed on so hold your nerve
No doubt the vendor has said they want more the EA says I try so asks you how much then tells vendor but says if he says that they can usually find more.

myotherdogisabeagle

Thanks everyone! There is another element to this story. I asked him, after I raised the offer by 3k on Tuesday last week, to confirm in writing that it had been passed on to the vendor. I didn't hear a thing back and was planning to write a letter to the vendor's house this weekend, but when he called last thing on Friday he said "the computers had been down" and he had "just got my email asking for confirmation".

He said he would forward me a thread between him and the vendor so I could read it myself. I did so. It reflected what he had said re the vendor saying they would go with the higher offer (this last sent on Thursday but I was not called until 4.30pm on Friday).

So, I thought I'd email the vendor, supposedly a lady in her 60's - the daughter and trustee of the deceased former owner of the house. I googled the email address first and it came up as a chartered surveyor (a man). Obviously this could be her husband, but it adds to my suspicion as it could also be some mate of the EA. The EA is a small time rural EA and so is the CS, though in a different area. It's just another thing in a chain of strange coincidences.

I emailed the vendor anyway and they responded pretty quickly to say they'd keep me in mind should something fall through with the other buyer.

I still think I might back this up with a note through the door, as I can at least believe that this will get to the actual vendor. I'm not sure what to think.

I think the EA knows that we are fishing in a limited pool, as he knows from other people in this particular area that we are planning to move there due to work, so he may think he has us in the palm of his hand. however, he may think we are more in the palm of his hand than we actually are, as we are currently living for free with family and can do so indefinitely. In fact my MIL is very ill with cancer at the moment so I'm not in a massive hurry to move until she's stable. Our work situation there can be put on hold and is more or less under our control.

He also promised that he has another house that I will "love" coming to the market in 3 weeks - of course I get the feeling that I wouldn't get this for any less than what he now knows I have even if I do like it.

By the way, I didn't offer over what I would pay or what the house is worth. I would be happy to pay £145k for it. That's still well below asking and a reasonable price for this house. I guess I'll see what happens. Perhaps it'll magically come back on the market. I can't help thinking that even if these people are real (apparently they are also from abroad and living abroad now) they sound a bit flighty.

Hoploz

You've done all you can do. Wait a few days, see what next week brings.

And keep looking. You might get it, you might not, but I would say only increase your offer if you totally love it and are prepared to pay it.

I would add, if you can afford it, in my view it is worth spending a little extra on the basis that prices could go up before you find anything else you like, so if you're buying for the long term and you're only talking a couple of thousand, it's worth spending the little extra.

But hold fire and see what the next week brings first!

ellie27

I dont think the estate agent is carrying on here - an extra £2k or £3k on a sale doesnt make much difference to their fee they will be paid. Most estate agents would rather take the first offer, get paid their fee and ger rid of the house so they can then sell the next house rather than spending time going back and forth between buyers/sellers.

Mickygg

Hoploz wrote: »

You've done all you can do. Wait a few days, see what next week brings.

And keep looking. You might get it, you might not, but I would say only increase your offer if you totally love it and are prepared to pay it.

I would add, if you can afford it, in my view it is worth spending a little extra on the basis that prices could go up before you find anything else you like, so if you're buying for the long term and you're only talking a couple of thousand, it's worth spending the little extra.

But hold fire and see what the next week brings first!

I'd go with this advice.