airportgirl83 wrote: » I've recently inquired about a 2nd hand house with an estate agent. I was told there is currently an offer of €455k on it. I was asked if I want to bid in €5k steps? I was really surprised by his question as it's my understanding that you can bid any amount up whether it's €5k or €500. Obviously he wants to reach the asking price asap but suggesting €5k bids seems odd and puts me off from dealing with him tbh even though I have a healthy budget to bid. Any thoughts anyone?
airportgirl83 wrote: » I just think it's wrong suggesting €5k steps as you can bid any amount. Going by €5k might unnecessarily drive up the price, in the heat of the moment.
awec wrote: » airportgirl83 wrote: » I've recently inquired about a 2nd hand house with an estate agent. I was told there is currently an offer of €455k on it. I was asked if I want to bid in €5k steps? I was really surprised by his question as it's my understanding that you can bid any amount up whether it's €5k or €500. Obviously he wants to reach the asking price asap but suggesting €5k bids seems odd and puts me off from dealing with him tbh even though I have a healthy budget to bid. Any thoughts anyone? Bid any amount you want but it's going to be a very long, tedious process if people increment by 500 quid at a time. It's not just about reaching the asking price, but also about getting the bidding over and done with relatively efficiently. The estate agent is most concerned with getting the house sold as quick as possible, that's when they get their cut. If I was a seller and there was one bidder that kept just increasing by 1k every time I'd think they were a time waster.
Bigmac1euro wrote: » Not sure how different it is down here but a friend of mine up north was bidding in 1k increments even though he had the money to go up 5 or 10k jumps, the other person eventually couldn't go any further, this was only 3 weeks ago. He may have just save himself 4k. Why would you bid in 5k increments ?
airportgirl83 wrote: » I was a seller myself and I didn't think someone was a time waster by bidding in small amounts. Just because someone puts a high bid quickly, doesn't mean they'll end up with the house. The +1k bidder should not be underestimated.
awec wrote: » Well if you are willing to go 30k over the current asking price that is potentially 30 back-and-forth bids before you're done. That's a huge waste of time for all concerned. 5k over the course of a mortgage is nothing. I would imagine most people, when involved in bidding, want to either win the bidding or lose the bidding as quickly as possible, so they can either start to close or move on to the next house. Nobody wants to be stuck in endless back and forth because someone wants to save a whole 4k when they're already dropping nearly half a million.
awec wrote: » Bigmac1euro wrote: » Not sure how different it is down here but a friend of mine up north was bidding in 1k increments even though he had the money to go up 5 or 10k jumps, the other person eventually couldn't go any further, this was only 3 weeks ago. He may have just save himself 4k. Why would you bid in 5k increments ? Well if you are willing to go 30k over the current asking price that is potentially 30 back-and-forth bids before you're done. That's a huge waste of time for all concerned. 5k over the course of a mortgage is nothing. I would imagine most people, when involved in bidding, want to either win the bidding or lose the bidding as quickly as possible, so they can either start to close or move on to the next house. Nobody wants to be stuck in endless back and forth because someone wants to save a whole 4k when they're already dropping nearly half a million.
Bigmac1euro wrote: » awec wrote: » Well if you are willing to go 30k over the current asking price that is potentially 30 back-and-forth bids before you're done. That's a huge waste of time for all concerned. 5k over the course of a mortgage is nothing. I would imagine most people, when involved in bidding, want to either win the bidding or lose the bidding as quickly as possible, so they can either start to close or move on to the next house. Nobody wants to be stuck in endless back and forth because someone wants to save a whole 4k when they're already dropping nearly half a million. Closer to 200,000 for the guy i was talking about, if your willing to go 30k over, bidding 10k at a time is just ridiculous, its the biggest purchase of most peoples lives. No wonder everything is over priced if bidding in this way is most popular. I couldn't care who I'm annoying or how long it takes. When I cant bid any more then I wont. Just my opinion on it everyone is different. If I bid on a house and someone goes 10k above me, if I can afford it ill go another 2k. I wont throw an extra 8k for the sake of getting things wrapped up fast.
awec wrote: » That's a huge waste of time for all concerned. 5k over the course of a mortgage is nothing.
JayWasTaken wrote: » No its still 5K. For what amounts to maybe an hour or two on the phone to an estate agent over the course of a few weeks. Saving 5K by spending a few extra minutes on the phone, you'd have to be mental not to.
airportgirl83 wrote: » That's my view anyway. Well I asked the agent why he wants me to bid in 5k steps. I don't think I'll hear back from him...
awec wrote: » JayWasTaken wrote: » No its still 5K. For what amounts to maybe an hour or two on the phone to an estate agent over the course of a few weeks. Saving 5K by spending a few extra minutes on the phone, you'd have to be mental not to. It's 5k over the course of 25/30 years. Have you calculated the difference the mortgage payment would be on paying 455 vs paying 460? It must be like 20 quid a month or something? Less than 1% increase on your monthly payment. Like if I was willing to go 30k over, I'd probably bid first 5k. Absolute worst case, I have overpaid by 4k, which is absolutely feck all when I'm already paying 460,000. If the counter bid comes back at 465,000, then I'll go 470,000, again worst case is 4k overpaid. I'd slow down when I come nearer to my limit, maybe reduce to 3k, then 2k, then 1k. If you are so uptight about getting the absolute minimum possible you will drive yourself insane. There will always be someone who got a bit of a better deal than you. Pay a price you're happy to pay and move on with your life.
awec wrote: » airportgirl83 wrote: » That's my view anyway. Well I asked the agent why he wants me to bid in 5k steps. I don't think I'll hear back from him... I don't even understand why you're asking him. Bid whatever you want, you don't need his permission. He's just suggesting 5k to get the ball rolling, if you're happy to go slower then just go slower, it's your decision, not his.
awec wrote: » It's 5k over the course of 25/30 years. Have you calculated the difference the mortgage payment would be on paying 455 vs paying 460? It must be like 20 quid a month or something? Less than 1% increase on your monthly payment. Like if I was willing to go 30k over, I'd probably bid first 5k. Absolute worst case, I have overpaid by 4k, which is absolutely feck all when I'm already paying 460,000. If the counter bid comes back at 465,000, then I'll go 470,000, again worst case is 4k overpaid. I'd slow down when I come nearer to my limit, maybe reduce to 3k, then 2k, then 1k. If you are so uptight about getting the absolute minimum possible you will drive yourself insane. There will always be someone who got a bit of a better deal than you. Pay a price you're happy to pay and move on with your life.
grogi wrote: » Classic penny wise, pound stupid. €4k is €4k - it won't remember where you save that €4k - on a car or on a house.
awec wrote: » €4k is €4k but you have to take into account how much it is relative to what you are paying. Saving €4k on a house that costs €460 is like saving €180 on a €20k car. Relatively it is peanuts, less than a single percent.
Mickiemcfist wrote: » How much time does it take you to earn 4k? That stays the same whether you're buying houses or hoovers. Additionally, 4k over 30 years is closer to 8k. It's actually cheaper to overpay by 4k on a car than it is to overpay by 4k on a house.
awec wrote: » Well, that is a good point. 4k is different to different people. But for someone who is capable of paying ~500k on a house, 4k is not an enormous sum of money. It's 2 months mortgage payment.
The_Conductor wrote: » It may be the difference between furnishing your living room/bedroom and buying kitchen appliances- or not. Most people over-stretch themselves financially when buying property- to the extent they have to severely curtail expenditure even on things like furnishing their new property. Its part of human nature.......
terrydel wrote: » Thats half the problem in this country tho, loads of people are technically capable of paying these prices and do so largely becuase theyve no choice as thats the market and if you need a home you have to pay it, but this attitude of 'ah sure its just another 4k on top of 400k' just exacerbates the whole madness we live in. And in any case, 4k is a nice some whether you are poor or well of, in terms of what you could do to a house to make it nicer once youve bought it. That flippant attitude towards significant sums of money really annoys me and is so Celtic Tiger for me, sorry. Edit - points above apply more specifically if the money is coming from savings and not added to the mortgage, but it still stands that being so blase about adding to borrowings that over 30 years can cost a lot of money, is symptomatic of the culture that has us in this mess.
awec wrote: » If you're talking about paying an extra 4k in cash up front, sure. That would be worth saving for sure, especially since kitting out a new house is more expensive than pretty much everyone thinks. But 4k extra on the mortgage? As I said, the difference is like 20 quid a month. If that is the difference between you furnishing or not furnishing your new gaff then you have bigger financial issues at play.
