Listings "in receipt of offer" over asking price but not STC - confused

purplebutterfly

Quick version: Why would people offer MORE than the asking price on a property, seemingly as first offer?  

I have been looking at houses since early November and 2 properties have been on for a while.  Suddenly one that is for sale at £90k has a note on the listing saying "The estate agent is in receipt of an offer of £91k. Any further offers should be submitted before the exchange of contracts". 
 A house that was listed at £110k has the note "The estate agent is in receipt of an offer of £112k. Any further offers should be made before exchange of contracts".

There is no "STC" marking on either property. 

Neither house had any mention of previous offers at either below or at the asking price.
There is no mention of a time frame in which new offers can be made.


As a FTB I am utterly baffled by this. 

Note: The £90k needs an awful lot of work doing as it has been broken into and badly vandalised (plaster ripped off walls, cupboards torn out, UPVC patio doors broken).  The house next door was in much better condition and sold for £72k in December. 

Sorry if this is a stupid question.  

pinkteapot

Are they repossessions? These are marketed a bit differently and announcements are made when offers are received, to see if anyone will offer more. 

hazyjo

Definitely agree they sound like repos.

Are there other telltale signs like yellow tape over the loo/sink saying don't use?

AdrianC

purplebutterfly said:

Quick version: Why would people offer MORE than the asking price on a property, seemingly as first offer?

Because you're making an assumption, based on limited information and iffy presuppositions...

I have been looking at houses since early November and 2 properties have been on for a while.  Suddenly one that is for sale at £90k has a note on the listing saying "The estate agent is in receipt of an offer of £91k. Any further offers should be submitted before the exchange of contracts". 
 A house that was listed at £110k has the note "The estate agent is in receipt of an offer of £112k. Any further offers should be made before exchange of contracts".

That's classic repo wording, and your comments about condition would also support that. The vendor has a legal duty to obtain the best possible price, on behalf of their defaulted borrower, and will happily accept upped offers ("gazump") right up until the point of exchange of contracts.

There is no "STC" marking on either property. 

Neither house had any mention of previous offers at either below or at the asking price.

Nor does there need to be.

There is no mention of a time frame in which new offers can be made.

Right up until the other buyer exchanges contracts, at which point both parties are legally committed.

purplebutterfly

Even if they are repos, why would the first offer mentioned be above the original listing price? Or have they had previous offers that the agent hasn't mentioned? 
Just really confused.

This property is up with 2 agents and only one mentions the offer (obviously because it has been made to them) but would the other agent mention it if you had booked  a viewing with them? 
 http://www.rightmove.co.uk/s6p/76065553

AdrianC

purplebutterfly said:

Even if they are repos, why would the first offer mentioned be above the original listing price? Or have they had previous offers that the agent hasn't mentioned?

Sometimes the original listing price is deliberately low. Sometimes, there's multiple interested parties, so they ask for best and final offers. The EA is under no obligation to explain anything to you - nor does it make any difference to you. If you want it, you know you need to pay more than £x.

[Deleted User]

They advertise the first accepted offer
There may have been a thousand other offers under the price that was accepted.  They don't advertise these as it serves no purpose.  

purplebutterfly

Thank you all for your replies, I understand a bit better now.  

eddddy

purplebutterfly said:

Even if they are repos, why would the first offer mentioned be above the original listing price? Or have they had previous offers that the agent hasn't mentioned? 
Just really confused.

A repossession is often dealt with like this:

An EA markets the property for, say, 2 weeks - inviting offers. (It might be sealed bid offers, or just informing the EA of your offer).

At the end of the 2 weeks, the bank accepts the best offer. The best offer might be above or below the advertised price. Then notice of the offer is advertised, as you describe.

It's done this way, because the bank has a legal duty to get the best price reasonably possible.