Blind bidding on a house...

[DellyMac]

Hi,

We have put in a bid on a house below asking price. We have said that we're willing to negotiate and the EA has taken the bid to the vendor. They have now come back saying that the vendor will not accept our bid, that there is another bid in that is higher and they have advised us to think about increasing our bid. They will not tell us what the other bid is or what price the vendors will accept. Is this the norm for negotiations on property? We find it strange as we would have expected to be told what the other bid is and then work on that basis.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

[home-approved]

It’s always a difficult situation when it comes to bidding for a property and then not knowing what you are up against in terms of other bids! It might be that the EA is simply trying to get you to increase your offer by making you ‘sweat it out’ for a while. Not pleasant I know but they are after all trying to realise the maximum price for their client... It is also not the case that the agent would divulge the other bidders figure, although they will sometimes give an indication...
Something that is worth considering is having the property inspected before deciding to increase your offer. All too often defects can be missed as the buyer feels under pressure and at risk of losing the property of their dreams, and in the end you can end up paying more for the property and still being left with costly repairs!
My suggestion would be to get it inspected before you make your next move. A thorough inspection would provide you with the information you need to make an informed decision.
Best of luck

Matthew Brown

[clairec]

Hi

It's not unusual for the agent to keep other offers to themselves or to keep the offer that the vendor will accept to themselves, it's actually a sign of a good agent. You need to keep in mind that the agent acts for the vendor as they pay the fee so they want to get the best price possible. If i'm offering on a property that's being marketed for 100k and I offer say 75k and they reject it, i'll go back and ask has an offer been put in above 80k or 90k. That way you can start to eliminate the numbers. This usually works in most cases where the agent won't give much away. Also keep the agent on your side as much as possible and be as nice as possible (regardless of how hard) it's the best way to gain the info you require. The other option is sit back and wait, try not to get too emotionally involved with the property. A lot of property is left on the shelf for a long while or will come back available after being sold and that's when the best deals are made

Good luck.