Made an offer - what should I do?

homeOwner

I went to view a house that was sale agreed 8 months ago but the sale fell through, it was put back on the market about 1 month ago. I viewed it twice. The second time i viewed it, I was told there was an offer of 480K on it by a couple and that the owners wanted a quick sale because they were building their own house outside dublin and needed the money quickly. I offerred 485K and was called back to say that the owners want someone who isnt in a chain (I have to sell mine), so they would not entertain my offer but that they will go with the bid of 480K from the first couple (we were the only two parties who bid).

That was two weeks ago. Turns out that the people who put the offer of 480K pulled out as they cant get the mortgage approval, so the estate agent called me back yesterday to ask am I still interested. I said yes, I can get bridging loan which will cost me alot so I am offerring 480K, I cant get paperwork by tomorrow. They passed on word to vendor and got back to me and said that they want to show it again next week to a few people and they want 490K!!! If the people next week are not interested they will go with my offer and if I want to make another offer they will consider this.

I dont know what to do. It sounds to me like they are just trying to hold out for more money from me. Should I offer 485K and hope they will go for that?
I was wiling to offer 485 but now that I need bridging to accomodate their "quick sale" that extra money is really going to hurt.

Any advice?

Kinetic^

homeOwner wrote:

I offerred 485K and was called back to say that the owners want someone who isnt in a chain (I have to sell mine), so they would not entertain my offer but that they will go with the bid of 480K from the first couple (we were the only two parties who bid).

The exact same thing happened to me this week, I was seriously mad.

miju

personally i'd walk away , it's pretty obvious he's messing around / trying to gazump / putting pressure on you for the hard sell (could even be why the last sale fell through ????? )

plenty more properties out there to choose from

Noelie

if they do come back to you offer less liek 475 see if they really want a quick sale

homeOwner

But I really, really like the house and i have been looking for so long now. Its so difficult to play games with them so I am leaning towards offering more money just to be done with it. I know they are trying to get more money out of me but maybe thats what I have to do to get the property.

Kinetic^

homeOwner wrote:

But I really, really like the house and i have been looking for so long now. Its so difficult to play games with them so I am leaning towards offering more money just to be done with it. I know they are trying to get more money out of me but maybe thats what I have to do to get the property.

DO NOT OFFER MORE MONEY, THEY ARE TAKING ADVANTAGE OF YOU!!!!!!!! NO MORE MONEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

homeOwner

If someone looks at it next week and bids more I will loose the house.
If i offer a bit more before anyone else sees it, they will probably go sale agreed...or they might still hold out for the next viewing????


AghhhhH!!! :mad:

Kinetic^

homeOwner wrote:

If someone looks at it next week and bids more I will loose the house.
If i offer a bit more before anyone else sees it, they will probably go sale agreed...or they might still hold out for the next viewing????


AghhhhH!!! :mad:

If they've got people lined up to view it then they'll hold out to see what they offer. Seriously, they're messing you around. I'd just withdraw from the whole thing.

branners69

What area are we talking about here??

If its a very popular one or an up and coming one and you like the house then pay what you need to.. Ask them is the €490k what is required to take it off the market?? If so do it, surely its only gonna be an extra €20-€30 a month??

I had the same situation before xmas and I went 10k over the asking cos I really wanted it.. since then the house has gone up 50k-60k!!

So basically in 6 months the extra 5k or 10k you are worrying about wont even matter and you will be in a house you like and you'll be happy like me:D

You can expect a significant increase with the SSIA's so get in sooner rather then later!!

aniascor

It's funny - I think that when we start dealing with house prices, people seem to forget that they are dealing with REAL money. 10K is still 10K - regardless of whether you are spending it on a house or not. For most people I would imagine that 10K is a few month's wages. Now ask yourself, would you rather it was in your pocket, or in theirs?

No way would I make another offer unless they guaranteed to go sale agreed if I did. Think about it - if you leave your offer where it's at, then anyone who bids against you will be trying to out-do your current bid, but if you raise your bid now, before the next lot of viewings, then people will be trying to outbid your higher bid.

If I were you, I would add 1-2 thousand - no more, and tell them that your bid is only good for 24 hours. After that you will be withdrawing from the bidding. If they want to accept it, they have to withdraw the house from the market and cancel the viewings. Otherwise, you are likely to end up in a long drawn out bidding war against the next lot of viewers - assuming they exist and it's not just a ploy to get you to raise your bid. Even if they come back and tell you that a counter-bid has been made, can you be sure it is real? And not just an attempt to get you to raise your offer? Of course, this is always the problem for everyone.

miju

branners69 wrote:

I had the same situation before xmas and I went 10k over the asking cos I really wanted it.. since then the house has gone up 50k-60k!!

So basically in 6 months the extra 5k or 10k you are worrying about wont even matter and you will be in a house you like and you'll be happy like me

so to hijack for a second , but you do realise that your property wouldn't be unique in rising 50-60k and so in reality you've made little to no gain

homeOwner wrote:

But I really, really like the house and i have been looking for so long now. Its so difficult to play games with them so I am leaning towards offering more money just to be done with it. I know they are trying to get more money out of me but maybe thats what I have to do to get the property.

seriously , dont give in , this is what the estate agent / vendor are counting on and why they are putting pressure on you , ask yourself the question

if they are really looking for a quick sale why would they not take the offer of 480k instead opting to put it back on the market for 490k , they're gazumping you plain and simple , flip the tables on them thell them the offer of 480k is on the table for 48 hours and then your walking i'd be willing to bet they'll accept the offer

miju

also post the same question over at http://www.askaboutmoney.com/forumdisplay.php?f=2 where there's people who deal in property quite alot and they'll tell you the exact same thing

branners69

miju wrote:

so to hijack for a second , but you do realise that your property wouldn't be unique in rising 50-60k and so in reality you've made little to no gain

agreed but I know another g0bsh1te who waited and has recently bought near me and had to pay the 50k increase!!

so where I made no gain he made a huge loss!!

To OP go the 10k.. get this sh1te over with sooner!! By the time another house comes up which you like it could be 3 to 4 months and you will probs be paying 20k more for the privilege!!

homeOwner

In a strange twist of events, the estate agent who has just valued my own place, knows the estate agent who is selling the property I have bid on. (They are with different estate agents). I explained to him the situation I am in and he is going to call her up and see if he can close the deal for me!

This is bizzare.

I have told him that I wont be selling my place if the other one falls through, so he wants to see if she will convince the vendors to close saying I can sign contracts within 10 days!! I have told him I am not offering anymore money, my offer is final (in case he tries to get her an extra couple of quid).

I'll keep you posted. At this stage I am laughing at it all. Where else would it happen.

[edited to add:]
Maybe this is the future.....let estate agents argue it out between themselves. They know each other's tricks.

branners69

homeowner what area we talking about here? No need to be too specific are you selling in Dublin and buying in Dublin and if so what areas?

homeOwner

Selling in South Dublin buying in West Dublin.

miju

homeOwner wrote:

In a strange twist of events, the estate agent who has just valued my own place, knows the estate agent who is selling the property I have bid on. (They are with different estate agents). I explained to him the situation I am in and he is going to call her up and see if he can close the deal for me!

This is bizzare.

I have told him that I wont be selling my place if the other one falls through, so he wants to see if she will convince the vendors to close saying I can sign contracts within 10 days!! I have told him I am not offering anymore money, my offer is final (in case he tries to get her an extra couple of quid).

I'll keep you posted. At this stage I am laughing at it all. Where else would it happen.

[edited to add:]
Maybe this is the future.....let estate agents argue it out between themselves. They know each other's tricks.

good on ye playing a bit of hardball , hope it all works out for you homeowner , best of luck

homeOwner

Latest update is that my estate agent has managed to get the other estate agent to agree that if i get all my paperwork to her by lunchtime monday (letter of mortage approval which I already have and letter approving open bridged loan, which is the hard part) , she will do her best to talk the vendor into going sale agreed with me at the original price of 480K. She wants to close the sale too and get her commission - its gone belly up twice on her.

So its all up to the bank now to get the paperwork to me. I have to say the woman in the bank has been brilliant (I know they are making money out of me but really she has been helpful instead of the usual hatchet-faced people I have dealt with in banks before).

I am sort of just removing myself from proceedings and am letting the chips fall as they may. I find the whole process really strange given that it is one of the most expensive things I will ever buy in my life, it all comes down to a race against the clock and the whim of a few people.

mad m

^^ Yeah goodluck with it....

lomb

homeOwner wrote:

given that it is one of the most expensive things I will ever buy in my life, it all comes down to a race against the clock and the whim of a few people.

correct, but property is valuable like gold, and the seller wants the most but the quickest also. if u were a seller and u could get another 10 ud be negligent not too. they are just protecting their interests.

ur job is to protect urs, which u have done well very well. my personal opinion is if u really want it paying another few euro a month on a mortgage isnt going to make alot of difference. which would u rather, having the house with say 20 euro a month more on a mortgage or not have it, and do a deal in 6 months on a worse unit and have a mortgage of 100 euro more. giving the baby their bottle is the way alot of rich people have gotten rich...good luck with it.

homeOwner

Just an update on what happened......

I got the paperwork from the bank to them yesterday evening and they went sale agreed at the original price of 480K. I am sure now that they were just fishing for more money last week and I am so glad I stuck to my guns.

Cool!

I finally have a house.

quazzy

Congrats

Sounded like a whole pile of stress

branners69

nice one:)

now you can spend the money you saved on a nice big plasma to go over your fireplace:D

miju

well done for not bowing to the pressure , enjoy your new home

lomb

homeOwner wrote:

Cool!

I finally have a house.

not till u have contracts signed and exchanged u dont with the vendors signature on them, should be ok though, best of luck with the new house.

mad m

lomb wrote:

not till u have contracts signed and exchanged u dont with the vendors signature on them,

So very true,we lost our sale agreed then we lost house we paided deposit on.Gutted. It aint finished till those names go on contract.

Kinetic^

Congrats man, so when are you buying us beers for saving you 10k

Good luck with the new place

lomb

mad m wrote:

So very true,we lost our sale agreed then we lost house we paided deposit on.Gutted. It aint finished till those names go on contract.

sorry to hear that why did the vendor reneg on the deal, gazumping? or just change of mind?

mad m

lomb wrote:

sorry to hear that why did the vendor reneg on the deal, gazumping? or just change of mind?

No idea,they never gave a reason.After 3 viewings and a surveyor then after a week they pull out of buying ours.We then had to tell the people who were selling their house to us,they went with their underbidders.