Apartment offer

D'Agger

Hi all,

Viewed an apartment recently in Cork and I was told upon viewing that there are currently 3 offers on the aprartment, one of which is 30k over the initial asking price.

This leaves me fairly skeptical tbh so I'm coming here for some advice.

I believe I should offer what I can for the property as it ticks all the boxes. However, I'm wondering if this is a common tactic to drive the price up? Cork currently has a shortage of housing, so properties are going for over the odds, I just find it difficult to believe that, on the first day of viewing, an offer that large has gone in.

I may as well offer what I can and see what happens, but just for future reference / learning curve I said I'd reach out here to see what peoples thoughts on this were.

Michael D Not Higgins

It may seem odd but there are loads of people who have been looking for a while now willing to go in at the top end of their budget straight away on a property. Many people think the estate agents are gaming the system more often than they are. This can be reinforced by people bidding on several places at once. They go sale agreed on one and pull out of the others and the bidders on the other properties are left wondering if they were being bid up by the estate agent.

D'Agger

Yeah that's true, have heard of places going back on the market after being sale agreed for this reason so not beyond the realm of possibility.

I suppose the best thing to do is fire in my offer with the footnote that it's the only property I'm bidding on currently, that said, given the market, it looks as though that won't do me much good....we'll see, thanks Michael D

Michael D Not Higgins

Best to drop your bid in and continue the search immediately. Even when you get to the stage of sale agreed on some place, keep looking since the sale can fall through for any number of reasons out of your control.

Homer

I know when we were hunting recently (albeit in Dublin) that when someone offered the asking or above on a popular property the estate agent wanted to see loan offer or proof of funds or else they wouldn't accept the offer. All too easy to say you are ready to move only for the EA to find out you actually have somewhere to sell and they are back at square one.
If you are loan approved and ready to go make sure to let the EA know that as it can sometimes part you in a stronger position than someone with a slightly higher offer but part of the chain of having to sell etc..

D'Agger

Homer wrote: »

I know when we were hunting recently (albeit in Dublin) that when someone offered the asking or above on a popular property the estate agent wanted to see loan offer or proof of funds or else they wouldn't accept the offer. All too easy to say you are ready to move only for the EA to find out you actually have somewhere to sell and they are back at square one.
If you are loan approved and ready to go make sure to let the EA know that as it can sometimes part you in a stronger position than someone with a slightly higher offer but part of the chain of having to sell etc..

That's what has me wondering about the offer - the EA has stated that I'll need to fire on proof of funds to put in an offer, so the EA saying there's already an offer 30k above the asking is a bit odd to me and making me think that it's in his best interest to get a high price for the apartment.

At the same time, as Michael D mentioned, perhaps people are coming in and showing their cards to ward off other offers coming in.

I have POF so I can look to put an offer in and see what happens.

Pat Mustard

D'Agger wrote: »

That's what has me wondering about the offer - the EA has stated that I'll need to fire on proof of funds to put in an offer, so the EA saying there's already an offer 30k above the asking is a bit odd to me and making me think that it's in his best interest to get a high price for the apartment.

I'd agree with you. There's no way I'd show my hand to an Estate Agent before going sale agreed. You know yourself, their job to take as much money from you as possible. That's not a criticism of them, it's just a fact.

Buying in the second hand housing market can be a disheartening experience. Given a choice, I would opt for a new property where the price is the price.

jimmycrackcorm

D'Agger wrote:

That's what has me wondering about the offer - the EA has stated that I'll need to fire on proof of funds to put in an offer, so the EA saying there's already an offer 30k above the asking is a bit odd to me and making me think that it's in his best interest to get a high price for the apartment.

It's possible that there is that offer but the bigger hasn't provided the proof of funds yet, or may not be able to. That they simply told the EA that they would without backing it up and the EA is being optimistic.

Otherwise if your over is much less then why would the EA even ask you for proof of funds?

D'Agger

Pat Mustard wrote: »

Buying in the second hand housing market can be a disheartening experience. Given a choice, I would opt for a new property where the price is the price.

Yeah well I'm only getting started really, this is the first place I've seen and very much liked, that said, I wouldn't be too unhappy about missing out, saving and waiting for new property to show up like you mentioned. Issue there is, Cork isn't exactly churning out houses right now.

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

It's possible that there is that offer but the bigger hasn't provided the proof of funds yet, or may not be able to. That they simply told the EA that they would without backing it up and the EA is being optimistic.

Otherwise if your over is much less then why would the EA even ask you for proof of funds?

Yeah, he mentioned the other two offers were lower, so I mean, how are they relevant, why mention them. I've been told the offer won't be accepted until proof of funds are shown which is to eradicate time wasters I'd imagine, which is why I was asking if this would be a common tactic by an EA to get prices up - saying that they're strict on proof of funds & also that there's a high bid in already.

Either way, we'll see how it plays out. Appreciate the responses so far folks

davo10

Op, I've bought and sold quite a few properties over the last 20 years, I have an apartment in Cork City which has not been empty one day in the last 8 years and one sold in the same development for just under double what I paid for it in 2009 so it does not surprise me at all that an apartment is €30k over asking, particularly if it is 2 bed and in the city.

If I was the vendor, I would be telling the EA that unless there is a cash buyer, don't even bother taking bids below the current high bid, it's just wasting the bidders and my time. So I can see why the EA was upfront about the bid and that there are already 2 more underbidders. Effectively he is telling you that if you don't top that bid, and you aren't a cash buyer, then what is the point of bidding?

beaufoy

about 3 years ago i made an offer on a student apartment in a large block in limerick. Within days i was told someone had offered more than me, so i increased my bid. Then within a few days i was told the other person had bidded more. I then looked at other agents and found other apartments in the same complex for sale at the same price as my original bid. I suggested to the first agent that either the person bidding against me was stupid, or he (the agent) was lying about someone bidding more than me. The agent denied both my assertions and instead said the person bidding against me was willing to pay above the going rate for the apartment because he lived in said apartment when he was studying at limerick university....a little far fetched.....oh yes the apartment was being advertised as not sold two months later