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How to know if an agent is lying.
benedictoveract
Posts: 11 Forumite
Perhaps I have just become cynical, and the agent is helping us out. This is not a 'rip off' story, but I always have nagging suspicions with every purchase.
Made an offer as a cash buyer.
It was refused.
Made a higher offer.
Agent said slightly higher offers have been made, but will send on these to the vendor anyway.
Agent replies asking if we will match the two current offers at £xxx, which coincidentally is the asking price.
Sounds straight forward. Though the offer proposed is both a 10k and 15k jump from our initial offer, we have that nagging suspicion those other offers may not exist because they materialised in the space of two days along with our own. We will probably match it. But our experience with being gazumped in the past has turned us into cynics.
Made an offer as a cash buyer.
It was refused.
Made a higher offer.
Agent said slightly higher offers have been made, but will send on these to the vendor anyway.
Agent replies asking if we will match the two current offers at £xxx, which coincidentally is the asking price.
Sounds straight forward. Though the offer proposed is both a 10k and 15k jump from our initial offer, we have that nagging suspicion those other offers may not exist because they materialised in the space of two days along with our own. We will probably match it. But our experience with being gazumped in the past has turned us into cynics.
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Comments
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his lips moveNever, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.0
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Damn, you beat me to it. :rotfl:his lips move
If the property has been on the market a while and they suddenly have two offers above yours, then I would be very sceptical.
How much do you like this house? Are you desperate, or is it one of many?Changing the world, one sarcastic comment at a time.0 -
just as the flip side to this story,
A property is on the market just before me and the wife were viewing and looking to make offers (but were looking at the market).
Goes sold STC
A month later becomes available again
Agent says the offer was reduced by the first couple ("FC") and owner didnt want to accept lower offer.
We view the next day and offer the same the original offer the day after that (so 3 days after it went back on the market).
Over the weekend the "FC" ring the agent to see if the owner had changed thier mind, they get told about us and our offer.
Now
If "FC" had come on this forum then, a lot of people would have doubted I or my offer existed, but I did.
They upped thier offer and we refused to match it, if they hadnt upped it we would have got the house as we hadnt messed the owner around.
To this day "FC" dont know if we really existed, but they are in thier house...
Just a tale of caution, it does really happen.0 -
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If the property has been on the market a while and they suddenly have two offers above yours, then I would be very sceptical.
Hmmm, maybe. But many people are indecisive. 2 or 3 people quite like a property... but aren't quite sure... wonder why it's been on the market so long... wonder if it's worth the money etc... etc...
Then the EA phones up and says someone else has put an offer in... "if somebody else has put an offer on it, it must be ok... it must be worth the money...", "We should put an offer in as well..."0 -
benedictoveract wrote: »...
Though the offer proposed is both a 10k and 15k jump from our initial offer,
....We will probably match it.
Looking on the bright side... when you eventually sell, perhaps remember this EA.
It sounds like they earned their 1.5% by negotiating the price up by £15k. Hopefully, they'll do the same again when you're the seller.0 -
Something to think about. Would an agent really jeopardise a potential sale by 'inventing' an alternative buyer and multiple offers, really all they want is a sale. An extra £10k - £15k makes very little difference to the EA concerned.
£15k x 1.5% = £225 to the firm, of which the individual may receive 10%.
It's simply not worth the risk and aggravation for such an insignificant amount of cash in the grand scheme of things.
You are right to be cynical, but I am very sceptical that an EA would completely falsify a buyer entirely.0 -
Something to think about. Would an agent really jeopardise a potential sale by 'inventing' an alternative buyer and multiple offers, really all they want is a sale. An extra £10k - £15k makes very little difference to the EA concerned.
£15k x 1.5% = £225 to the firm, of which the individual may receive 10%.
It's simply not worth the risk and aggravation for such an insignificant amount of cash in the grand scheme of things.
You are right to be cynical, but I am very sceptical that an EA would completely falsify a buyer entirely.
Given your forum name, can we assume you are an EA?"You were only supposed to blow the bl**dy doors off!!"0 -
Something to think about. Would an agent really jeopardise a potential sale by 'inventing' an alternative buyer and multiple offers, really all they want is a sale. An extra £10k - £15k makes very little difference to the EA concerned.
£15k x 1.5% = £225 to the firm, of which the individual may receive 10%.
It's simply not worth the risk and aggravation for such an insignificant amount of cash in the grand scheme of things.
You are right to be cynical, but I am very sceptical that an EA would completely falsify a buyer entirely.
A fair point. I have to admit with mine I was slightly suspicious a house on the market for 12 months had someone else interested just when I was... especially when my offer was accepted that afternoon!
But... I offered what I wanted to (although it was accepted so quick I'm suspicious I paid too much
) and had there been another genuine person interested and they'd wanted it more then fair play, such is life.
Think the moral is play your own game and not the game the estate agent wants you to, even if other parties are real or not.0 -
Brings back memories. We looked at a place, liked it, put in an offer that was 10% under the asking price (this was back in 2010).
Suddenly, according to the EA - and this guy was the primal archetype that the stereotype of wide-boy estate agent - there was this "other buyer" who had been watching the house for ages but couldn't proceed for some reason. Then the next day this "other buyer" put in an offer, and could we come into the EA and discuss.
The conversation went something along the lines of :-
EA : the other party has put in an offer of the asking price.
Me : OK, I'm not playing any bidding wars game, that's that then. Goodbye.
{Sound effect of door closing}
{Sound effect of door opening at estate agent three doors down}
Me : That house (the one we bought) we saw yesterday, would like to put an offer in ...
Phone call two days later from EA of 1st place : The other party has withdrawn their bid ...0
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