Offering to pay the asking price for repossessed property.

kennifer

Hey,

I have a small issue relating to a repossessed property, and feel the estate agent is trying to screw me over.

I went to view a property last week, which came on the market the day before. After seeing the property I made an offer for the asking price and was told I should send them proof of my capability to buy (mortgage in principle, and deposit savings). After doing this I heard heard nothing until the next morning when I got a phone call telling me another offer had come in which was greater than mine. I told the estate agent I wasn't going to be part of a bidding war, which I'd already decided I wasn't. However the property is still being listed as available and not flagged as SOC on right move. So my question is:

Do the owners of redeposited properties usually take the first offer (at asking price) on repossessed properties, or do they wait for the highest offer within a certain time frame?

I know the property is a steal, its in the centre of Manchester, and at least 15-30k unpriced. The shady behaviour of the estate agent makes me question if they've even put my offer forward, or if there is something more untoward happening here.

Anyone else's experiences buying repossessed properties would be much appreciated.

Thanks very much,
Kennifer

pyueck

Bid what you think you are prepared to pay and if you don't get it walk away. You have no other way of knowing if 'another bidder' is real or not.

Talc1234

Banks are required to take whatever is the highest offer prior to exchange.

dktreesea

Sounds like the property is going to go to auction and the estate agent is just seeing what is offered so it knows what reserve to put on the proerty.

Generali

The bank has an obligation to get the best price possible for a repo and can do this by either auctioning off the house or by leaving it on the market until someone exchanges contracts.

It sounds like they're doing the latter. This is completely normal although quite annoying as you can end up doing most of the work to get to exchange and be gazumped at the last minute.

Tassotti

EA's don't usually update RM immediately. They will probably wait to see if any higher offers come in.

Then there must be a Public Notice for 7 days showing the current offer. Can be on RM or a local paper, etc.

After that, people can still make higher offers right up until exchange.

Repos often don't really end up that good a deal.

Kevie192

I wonder, when you sent your MIP and deposit information was that for the exact amount of the offer or more?

If it's more, I'd guess the EA is playing you as you've shown them all your cards...

stator

As above if the offer was real you will see it on RightMove in a day or two when they post the announcement "An offer has been made of XXX,XXX". They may be waiting for the buyer to send over their AIP and POF before they accept the offer.
Or it may be completely made up to try and push you higher. You can either wait and see or put in a higher offer.
However even if your offer is accepted you have to be prepared for someone else to out bid you within the 28 day period. If it's new to the market there might be quite a lot of interest and you may find someone offers market value.

kennifer

These replies are great, thanks very much to everyone for their detailed information. I'm pretty sure it's mostly just me feeling the victim here, and that the banks are just looking for the highest offer. I guess the search goes on.

eddddy

Kevie192 wrote: »

I wonder, when you sent your MIP and deposit information was that for the exact amount of the offer or more?

If it's more, I'd guess the EA is playing you as you've shown them all your cards...

I'm not so sure with a repo.

Pushing the buyer up £5k would probably only earn the EA an extra £50 in commission.

I think any EA would go for £50 less and quick sale if they could - rather than messing about for a few days, and potentially losing the buyer... all for the sake of possibly making £50.


I'd say, either the bank has rejected the offer or there is indeed another offer.