Made final offer, EA asked for AIP

l3mmmy

We made an offer below asking price on a property on Saturday morning after a viewing. The seller has the property on with Yopa so we were able to make the offer online and the seller replied to tell us they had actually had a offer at the asking price the same morning, but wanted to 'give us chance to increase our offer before doing anything further'.

We upped our offer to asking that same morning, and didn't hear anything until today when we heard from the Yopa rep asking for our 'best offer' as they have 'had a few offers' over the weekend. We're desperate for this house so (rightly or wrongly), upped our offer to £2k above asking however explained that the offer would only be on the table until close of play today.

The EA replied instantly asking for our AIP which I have since sent over. That was all this morning. Why would the EA ask for this now before an acceptance?

I called Yopa's contact centre before giving our best offer and they have only had ours and another person's offer over the weekend which is the same situation as Saturday. They would not give us any specifics though, so I have no idea if the other potential buyers have revised their offer.

billy2shots

They want your AIP to make sure you are a serious buyer. They have to weigh up all offers and positions of those making them.

A slightly lower offer from someone with AIP in hand is better than a higher offer from someone who doesn't know what they could borrow.

l3mmmy

Makes sense - thank you.

I am slightly nervous about the fact I have put a time limit on my offer in hind-sight. I just get the impression the EA might try to play potential buyers off against each other to get a higher price for the property and I don't want to be a part of that. I hate games!

billy2shots

We all buy and sell differently but I personally never get involved with bidding wars/gazump or gazunder.

Just do what you feel comfortable with and hopefully it pays off.

Good luck!

Surrey_EA

l3mmmy wrote: »

I hate games!

It's not a game.

The very role that an estate agent is employed to perform on behalf of the seller is to sell the property for the best price possible.

It would seem that the Yopa representative is being relatively transparent.

It is of course then up to you as to whether you wish to make any counter offer.

I'm not sure what other way there is to fairly handle the situation when two people express an interest in buying the same property.

l3mmmy

Surrey_EA wrote: »

It's not a game.

The very role that an estate agent is employed to perform on behalf of the seller is to sell the property for the best price possible.

It would seem that the Yopa representative is being relatively transparent.

It is of course then up to you as to whether you wish to make any counter offer.

I'm not sure what other way there is to fairly handle the situation when two people express an interest in buying the same property.

I agree, at present everything seems to be pretty transparent and seems to be handled fairly. I guess I'm over-thinking because I want them to accept OUR offer

If the other potential buyer puts in an offer higher than ours is the EA likely to come back to us and ask us if we want to counter off, even if I said it's our final offer?

Surrey_EA

l3mmmy wrote: »

If the other potential buyer puts in an offer higher than ours is the EA likely to come back to us and ask us if we want to counter off, even if I said it's our final offer?

I would be incredibly surprised if they didn't.

As a buyer in your shoes I would also want to make the decision myself whether to put in a further 'final' offer, rather than have the estate agent make such a decision on my behalf.

Sibz

Surrey_EA wrote: »

It's not a game.

The very role that an estate agent is employed to perform on behalf of the seller is to sell the property for the best price possible.

It would seem that the Yopa representative is being relatively transparent.

It is of course then up to you as to whether you wish to make any counter offer.

I'm not sure what other way there is to fairly handle the situation when two people express an interest in buying the same property.

It is in a way 'games' - if it wasn't it would be a straight auction and a closing date for best offers.

I do agree that it's the EAs job to get the best offer/sale possible and within the rules they can do this many ways... If any of us were the seller we'd be happy with that. Indeed, there are plenty of posts on here complaining of apathetic EA's.

l3mmmy

Do EA's usually specify the counter offers they've received? Or do you always have to bid blind?

Because this EA didn't give us any numbers on the 'other offers' they've had.

Surrey_EA

Sibz wrote: »

It is in a way 'games' - if it wasn't it would be a straight auction and a closing date for best offers.

Surely this way is more attractive from the view of a buyer, as it gives both parties more time to consider their position, and what offer to make (if at all), compared to the option of putting in one best offer by a certain date and that being the end of it?

Both scenarios have their pros and cons.

Surrey_EA

l3mmmy wrote: »

Do EA's usually specify the counter offers they've received? Or do you always have to bid blind?

Because this EA didn't give us any numbers on the 'other offers' they've had.

It varies from EA to EA really.

If they divulge the level of their other parties offer to you, then it must be assumed that your offer is being divulged to the other buyer.