open viewings- do they work?

merlinthehappypig

We like it, unfortunately, which tends to make for poor negotiation. I'll try to keep my nerve!

Nenen

Well, having told me categorically that the vendor is prepared to wait for a good offer and is in no hurry, the EA rung my dh today to say that sealed bids have to be in by noon this Wednesday! :eek: As it was first advertised on RM last week with the open viewings last Saturday it all seems a bit quick to me! I'm tempted to put a really low offer in and just see what happens. There is no way we could (or would) go to asking price. Does anyone know if it is acceptable for us to email in our bid (bearing in mind we'd have to hand deliver it otherwise given their timescale) or do they literally have a pile of unopened envelopes on their desk and then tear them open at the alloted hour?:D

Doozergirl

You can email.

Just call to confirm they have it.

lynzpower

Ah the joy of sealed bids and block viewings.

In my brief experience as an estate agent in the real Boom of the market in london of feb last year, we did a lot of sealed bids through the estate agents. I agree with posters who think the world has gone totally mad.

I stood aghast, every time the bids were read in the office, that that ropey 1bed council flat was going for 275 or whatever. Some people bid without even seeing the flat :eek: I could not believe it. As a committed MSE and STR it was an experience I can tell you. I knew, right there, I was best off out of it.

And you are too. Its ridiculous.

The truth is, you can have 40 viewers turning up in a few hours and that feels very busy. ( in a smallish house or flat)

Of those
some are nosey
some cannot afford it but wits they could
some will put in a bid thats not the winner
and a large proportion of viewers will walk round ooh and ah really love it but be put off by the process .

It was not uncommon therefore that in a situation where you can have AP from 3 buyers, then therefore the natural move is to sealed bids/ best & finals. Twice, in say 5 weeks, this happened in our office, and both those times, none of the 3 put new offers in, or they withdrew totally. Leaving the vendor with no buyers! What a carry on!!

Ive also done block viweings where 30 viewers were meant to turn up and 2 showed and they both hated it :rotfl:

This though is in the peak of the market. People were buying anything, banks were lending 6x IO. Times are different now, and people are more cautious, banks are more cautious and naturally surveyors are all cautious. I just cant believe people are still doing it now I mean havent they seen the news?!

My personal view is that it to me is madness to make a business decision under these circumstances, pitting your wits ( or debt) against someone acting with abandon as well!! But in this climate, I just wouldnt even entertain the idea.

Dont get sucked in!

Hoploz

If you genuinely want the house but are only willing to pay a certain figure, put the offer forward anyway, you never know. You are in a good position, and even if the EA says they won't consider it it is not them making the decision, it is the vendor.

My experience of Open Days was last spring was, as a genuine buyer (under offer) I didn't bother making an offer on a particular house as we felt it would go for above the asking price with all the competition, which we couldn't afford.

Have looked it up since and found it went for 20k under, same with another one down the road from it.

Hoploz

PS When we went to sealed bids on2 separate houses (and lost both!) w hand-delivered envelopes and yes there were a load of envelopes on the table when we got there. But I expect you could email or fax if you wanted, just check first. I would say I'd rather them have a piece of paper as an email could get forgotten about (but that's prob just me being paranoid!)