Attempting to buy

jeff lebowski

Hi,

I am about to put in an offer on a property and after some unsuccessful attempts at buying different properties, I am wondering what the best way is to make sure there isn't a fictional other bidder, and to not have it drawn out for ages and have the price driven up.

I was close to a purchase before and all of a sudden "another bid" came in....this happened in a part of the country where you can count on 2 hands the number of houses that have sold so far in 2014, and happened on a few houses, and a site, so often that it has made me suspicious.

The whole thing isn't very transparent.

Any advice is appreciated.

Jeff

Hyphen

Hi - lie detector?

Seriously though, it is a 'tactic' of the trade and happens everywhere in the world there are real estate agents. We have had "another buyer" on the scene with every property we have bought! I don't think there is a way to get an agent to legally prove that there was/is another buyer.

My advice for what it's worth....
Watch/listen to the agent carefully when they tell about this other bidder/purchaser and gauge if they are telling a fib - the last property we put an offer on the other bidder was American, then in the next conversation they were UK based! - so we thought they were 'fictional'.

I guess if you think they pulling a fast one then call their bluff - as in "My offer stands, the owners have 24 hours to come back with an answer after that I withdraw it as I have other properties I am interested in and don't want to waste time".

Be firm and objective - try not to get too attached to a particular property and remember that the agent is always working for the seller/vendor, not you and a 'good' agent will always try to get the best price for their client even if that means a bit of manipulation of potential buyers.

Having said that sometimes interest in a property (like an offer) does generate other interest so they may be telling the truth - at its least worst the "other buyer" can push a potential purchaser to make an offer. It is such a big decision for most of us that we can be tentative. It is just when dirty tactics start coming in to push the price up that it gets uncomfortable.

Good Luck! Would like to hear how you got on...

handlemaster

if the agent didn't get back to you after the counter offer well that tells you somthing.