Fake Bidder

BulliteShot

I have made several offers for a house which I keep being outbid on. I know for a fact that there is no actual other bidder.

Is there an ombudsman I can report the estate agent to?

robd

BulliteShot wrote: »

I have made several offers for a house which I keep being outbid on. I know for a fact that there is no actual other bidder.

Is there an ombudsman I can report the estate agent to?

Not quite yet. Currently being legislated for.
Will be http://www.npsra.ie/

In the interim you can report to authority that auctioneer is a member of such as IPAV (www.ipav.ie) or SCSI (http://www.scsi.ie/). They may investigate. Lots of complaints about that procedure too though.

Really it's like buying a used car at the moment. In general I'd advise not getting into bidding wars what so ever. Put a bid in that you think is fare and you willing to pay and leave it like that.

El Weirdo

If you know for a fact that there is no other bidder, why do you keep bidding? Why not just do as the previous poster has said and just bid the price you are prepared to pay and leave it?

If there is no one else, they'll come back to you.

odds_on

I think the main problem is that the buyer falls in love with the property and really wants it. Thus, if there is a higher "bid" the buyer tries to go one better.

I am buying a house or apartment in January. I have a good list of properties I want to view. I will make one offer and give a short time limit for a yes or no. It it's a no, I'll just go to the next on my list.

As there are several properties with the same estate agent, here, I will let the vendor make his best offer, again within say 24 hours. If no one comes down, I'll move on to the next place.

I'm retired and luckily can choose anywhere in the country.

I e-mailed 10 estate agents (some requesting a reply to a previous e-mail of several weeks ago) over the weekend and had a reply from one yesterday who wanted me to phone them and another replied today. Two out of ten is a very poor showing. What is the difficulty of at least acknowledging an e-mail even if they haven't got all the answers to my questions. Very poor service EAs

nibtrix

BulliteShot wrote: »

I have made several offers for a house which I keep being outbid on. I know for a fact that there is no actual other bidder.

Tell them you are withdrawing your offer. When they come back to you in a couple of days saying the "other bidder" has fallen through, offer them 5% below your original bid and tell them it's your final offer, and they have 1 week to accept. If they're still messing you around after that, walk away.

awec

odds_on wrote: »

I think the main problem is that the buyer falls in love with the property and really wants it. Thus, if there is a higher "bid" the buyer tries to go one better.

I am buying a house or apartment in January. I have a good list of properties I want to view. I will make one offer and give a short time limit for a yes or no. It it's a no, I'll just go to the next on my list.

As there are several properties with the same estate agent, here, I will let the vendor make his best offer, again within say 24 hours. If no one comes down, I'll move on to the next place.

I'm retired and luckily can choose anywhere in the country.

I e-mailed 10 estate agents (some requesting a reply to a previous e-mail of several weeks ago) over the weekend and had a reply from one yesterday who wanted me to phone them and another replied today. Two out of ten is a very poor showing. What is the difficulty of at least acknowledging an e-mail even if they haven't got all the answers to my questions. Very poor service EAs

Slight OT here but:

Not just estate agents, but people not answering emails is a pet hate of mine. We're almost into 2012, email is one of the major forms of communication and a lot of places still think they can just ignore it!

the_syco

nibtrix wrote: »

Tell them you are withdrawing your offer. When they come back to you in a couple of days saying the "other bidder" has fallen through, offer them 5% below your original bid and tell them it's your final offer, and they have 1 week to accept. If they're still messing you around after that, walk away.

Pretty much what I was going to say, except, I was going to say 10% less.

unattendedbag

awec wrote: »

Slight OT here but:

Not just estate agents, but people not answering emails is a pet hate of mine. We're almost into 2012, email is one of the major forms of communication and a lot of places still think they can just ignore it!

I still consider emailing a very informal method of communication. Somewhat like leaving a yellow sticky post-it on a persons desk. And you never know who in the office reads them. It could be the apprentice that makes the tea who answers them emails. As buying a house is a serious transaction I'd always try to pick up the phone and enquire/bid with the EA on the line or in person.

BulliteShot

I don't email estate agents for the reason they never reply, or wait a week. Same goes for solicitors.

I'm favouring the option of retracting my bid and offering a lower bid when he comes back.

I was looking for a quick cash sale but this agent is just a tool, like most i'm afraid.

odds_on

BulliteShot wrote: »

I don't email estate agents for the reason they never reply, or wait a week. Same goes for solicitors.

I'm favouring the option of retracting my bid and offering a lower bid when he comes back.

I was looking for a quick cash sale but this agent is just a tool, like most i'm afraid.

I'm only looking for further details which to me are very important and seldom included in their adverts. BER rating, Service charges, Kitchen appliances included, overall area.

Simple things that the estate agent should have to hand if they were any good at their job.

I don't think they are actually trying to sell properties but like to advertize the fact "hey, look, we've got another vendor on our books". Poor vendor!!!

And as I am some 1000s kilometres away, I'm not going to phone.