Estate agent trouble

Blinkmonkey

Hello, it's my first time posting, I need some advice. We were in a bidding war for about 3 weeks and it all came to an end on Friday when we outbid our rivals (Yay!) They conceded, and our agent asked us both for proof of approval (fair enough). The day before, we had submitted our papers to AIB and were told it would take a week. In lieu of a full approval letter, we took a letter from the bank stating that we were eligible for approval of a certain amount, etc. to the agent where he said he would recommend to the seller that they accept our offer. I told him that the proof of funds would come through the following Wednesday or Thursday.
Today however, after chasing him looking for details of the property that the solicitor needs, he eventually calls me back and says that the other couple have submitted their forms and are ready to go, and is putting us under a great deal of pressure to submit our approval. The problem is, I have contacted the back and they only submitted out forms to the department yesterday and it will be Monday before we hear anything. My question is, if we have outbid them by 5000, can the agent still agree to selling the house to them, rather than waiting the 3 days for us?

strandroad

It's up to the owner to decide, but they can sell to them if they wish.

elfy4eva

I would say (in general) an extra 5000 is incentive enough for them to wait a few days. Estate agents are notorious for piling the pressure on in the aim of closing a deal. All you can do is keep them informed as to exactly what you are waiting on and what you've been told.

Hope it all works out for you.

cossiem0d0

Also just to let you know - it took AIB about 3 weeks to get back to us about our approval. They're pretty busy at the moment and are giving estimates of 10-15 days from when the lending team receive all the documents.

Hopefully you hear on Monday but be prepared to wait a bit!

NewRunnerRoy

In total it took AIB 4 weeks to get back to me, they do not seem to prioritise applications. I would imagine that the EA is trying to tie up a few loose ends before the long weekend and the likelihood of him approaching the underbidder this soon is unrealistic. I hope it works out for you but to anyone else looking at bidding on a property I would recommend having approval in place before I make any offers.

Henry Ford III

Entering and winning a bidding war without approval in advance is both unwise and stressful.

djimi

If it came to it could you bypass the EA and go direct to the seller to tell them that you have tabled a higher bid?

(I dont know how these things work so it might not be possible to do this!)

Pro Hoc Vice

A seller or buyer can walk away/change mind right up to the moment contracts are signed.

As another poster said it is not the best tactic to bid with out relatively solid approval. Also it's very unwise to become emotionally attached to a property. Be willing to set realistic prices and be willing to walk away. No house is worth the misery it can cause, we just have to look back over the past 10 years, there are tens of thousands of people who would be delighted if they had just walked away.

Pro Hoc Vice

djimi wrote: »

If it came to it could you bypass the EA and go direct to the seller to tell them that you have tabled a higher bid?

(I dont know how these things work so it might not be possible to do this!)

But they have entered a higher bid they can not backup. The other bidder has entered a bid and have proof of funds. If I was selling I would take the lower bid, as it's the only real bid.

djimi

infosys wrote: »

But they have entered a higher bid they can not backup. The other bidder has entered a bid and have proof of funds. If I was selling I would take the lower bid, as it's the only real bid.

If you were told there was the possibility of getting €5000 more if you wait a week would you still take the lower bid now?

Pro Hoc Vice

djimi wrote: »

If you were told there was the possibility of getting €5000 more if you wait a week would you still take the lower bid now?

No, as by waiting the people with real money may buy somewhere else and the over bidder may be refused funding, so I'm back trying to sell the house. Any real money beats a maybe any day in my book. Say the bids are 150k and 155k a real 150 is not worth the risk of losing for an extra imaginary 5k.

I turn your question around are you willing to risk losing 150k in the hope of an extra 5k.

djimi

Fair enough; Ive not been in the situation so I cant say what Id do.