went to visit a good friend at his place and when i got there, there was an agent there,turns out my friend is looking to buy, what i found really strange is the motives behind the agent wanting offers in writing signed with a cheque 3 days before auction??? i can think of a couple of reasons, is it because vendors are worried that noone will bid at auction so they want it sold before, or is they want to have a list of offers so come auction day they will have offers plus highest bid of auction. i also find it strange that an agent will come to the house just to negotiate an offer sorry enter key on phone is not working