Estate agent encouraged higher bid - ethical?

nidO

steveyme wrote: »

Presumably he was real, but if the estate agent called us both with the same message, it didn't actually benefit us

As a buyer, nothing an estate agent says or does is for your benefit.
They aren't working for you, on your side, impartial mediators, or anything similar - They work for the seller and their sole job is to sell their house for them as quickly as possible for as much money as possible.

Guest101

Don't think ethical is the way if ever describe estate agents.

It's posdible this second buyer pulls out over next few days...

browneyedbazzi

steveyme wrote: »

Presumably he was real, but if the estate agent called us both with the same message, it didn't actually benefit us, in fact we both ended up (one might assume) potentially paying more. Thinking about it, the only logical way in which one could imagine the call was helpful would be knowing that the other interested party had definitely not been contacted. If everyone bidding was called and I then upped the bid, I actually stood 0% more chance of winning and 100% chance of paying more. I guess the bottom line is you pay what you think it's worth and no more. Just wasn't sure if this kind of shenanigans was commonplace, rare or even allowed.

The vendor's estate agent isn't working to benefit you - they are working to get the best sale for their client (the vendor) and the most profit for themselves. The tactic you describe seems to be a fairly common one that does that job. It's really important to remember what motivates estate agents because that can help you understand what they are doing and why and to make an informed choice about what you want to do.

princeofpounds

This is the actually the most ethical way to run things.

Agents are employed to sell a house and get the best price for the vendor.

The buyer will know about both initial offers. So going back and asking for best and final offers by a set deadline is totally normal, and not betraying any kind of information at all besides the simple fact that there are two bidders.

I am as quick to criticise agents as anyone else, but this one has done things properly.

PS what the agent thinks is a dutch auction is not a dutch auction.

ETA: often there is a fake competitor buyer, yes. But in this instance it would appear not.

Shelly1986

Guest101 wrote: »

Don't think ethical is the way if ever describe estate agents.

It's posdible this second buyer pulls out over next few days...

This happened to me, I refused to budge on my bid and then a week later the other buyer had vanished, if they existed at all!

DaftyDuck

Shock News Just In....

Estate Agent Does Good Job For Vendor....

So, the agent, employed by the vendor, managed to achieve multiple offers, and up the price received by at least ten thousand pounds, thus ensuring the vendor gets the best price. It appears agent was honest (there was a second bidder) and ethical (didn't leak prices offered), and did a good job all round.

Still, sorry you didn't get the house, and better luck next time.

pinkteapot

Not odd at all. You make an offer and an EA claims someone else has too. High-pressure EAs will say "we want a final offer from both of you today and the vendor will choose".

We had that with the house we bought last year.

The trouble is, you have no way of knowing if the other buyer exists or not. If you suspect they don't, you can try to call the bluff by not increasing your offer. But then you lose out if there is another buyer.

We did increase our offer in response to it as we were buying in a hugely popular area where we'd already missed out on houses through them selling before we could view them. We loved the house and simply weren't prepared to take the chance that there was another buyer. We increased our offer by £6k. We quite possibly wasted £6k and will never know. :mad: