Offered asking price but vendor wont budge

[Ace in the Hole]

We sold over asking price recently.
Priced our property at fair market price, $699,999, hoping for high 6's.
Lots of interest in the first open, as expected, because we presented very well.
After the 2nd day on market, all interested parties were asked to submit offers.
Only 2 offers came back, but one was at 710k, the other at 700k.
Very happy with the result, agent did well.
They've done this in the recent past too, which seems a good tactic to me.

 

[emjay68]

Had a similar situtation before.

Basically house to have 1st open as advertised on website and papers. A lot of interested buyers wanting to attend open, agent said to be fair to them as they was no way for him to ring them back to advise open was cancelled.

I suggest going to the open and give offer with sunset clause (48 hours - as recommended by other members) with as minimal conditions as possible and be prepared to walk away if you don't get it.

Your offer price may be based on whether it is your PPOR or IP.

What I have experienced
- we have missed on one property because other offer was unconditional, 30 day settlement and cash!

- we got one offer accepted even though our offer was $2k less because the other buyer who attended the open on sat told the agent his offer (match price asked) expires on sat (the day itself) and was very pushy with the agent.

Thanks for the advice. And I'll make sure not to be pushy with any agents.

 

[emjay68]

We sold over asking price recently.
Priced our property at fair market price, $699,999, hoping for high 6's.
Lots of interest in the first open, as expected, because we presented very well.
After the 2nd day on market, all interested parties were asked to submit offers.
Only 2 offers came back, but one was at 710k, the other at 700k.
Very happy with the result, agent did well.
They've done this in the recent past too, which seems a good tactic to me.

Wow, they actually offered above the asking as their initial offers? Was the person who offered 700k notified and given the chance to outbid the other?

 

[Robstar]

Wow, they actually offered above the asking as their initial offers? Was the person who offered 700k notified and given the chance to outbid the other?

I'd like to know this too...
Was it a case of "submit your absolute max offer"?

 

[HotRod]

Pull the offer, scrub out your original offer and put down $20K (or whatever) less with a 24hr sunset clause.

Thank the agent and let him know that you're close to making an offer on another property and need to know back ASAP.

Be prepared to walk if they counter more than the original price.

 

[lamp]

I had similar experience with my recent purchase. I went for the first inspection of this unit and asked the agent upfront to give me a realistic price, as the price listed in the ad is always vague, like 'above $xxx', thats why I was being upfront so that I won't be wasting too much time.

The agent told me 10% above the ad price, so couple of days later I offered 10% + $1000, the agent then responded that the vendor is expecting more! I get really frustrated when this happens, especially when there is no one else putting in offer. So I stayed firm as I was not in a hurry of buying. The agent kept calling me over the weekend (I put in my offer on Friday and set the expiry date to Monday). Agent told me that the seller is expecting $2000 more otherwise, I would have to shorten the settlement date to 30 to 45 days for the price I offered. I counter offered anything less than 90 days settlement would be $15k less..... I really dislike how agent told you the 10% more, when you reached there, they would try to squeez more!!!

 

[eKwatee]

So i acted quickly and made an offer early next morning. The offer i made was the asking price because i wanted this BAD.

What were your conditions, there is more to an offer than the price. The vendor maybe happy with the price, but be waiting for all offers to see which buyer offers the best conditions.

 

[Ace in the Hole]

I'd like to know this too...
Was it a case of "submit your absolute max offer"?

Yes, it was basically submit your best and final offer.
The potential purchasors were advised that they may have to offer above asking price to secure the property, and given a few recent cases of this happening.

 

[Jamie M]

Looks like the property was listed at a price that created lots of interest, if you were the only interested party and offering full asking price he would have signed you up even if it was XMAS day.

This property will be going above the asking and will become a bidding war, forget what the asking price was, you need to work out exactly what you think it is worth and offer up to that but not more

Spot on - my thoughts exactly.

The agent's probably been inundated with inquiries and is using the public holiday to buy some time to reassess the situation and work out how much more he/she can squeeze out of it for the seller.

Cheers

Jamie

 

[travelbug]

Correct me if I'm wrong but an agent told me if a place was advertised at a price and rthey knocked back that price they had to change the asking price up.
Also with offers over- If it's listed as offers over $399K and someone offers $410K and it's rejected they have to change the add to offers over $410K.
Another agent said noone does it though.

Anyone know the legalities?

 

[datto]

Good point travelbug.

If you offer something for sale at $x and someone comes along and accepts that offer, then it should be sold.

Thr REA can't hold an unofficial auction, waiting for a higher offer. Surely, this has to be against some regulation.

I would check with the relevant authorities.

 

[eKwatee]

Good point travelbug.

If you offer something for sale at $x and someone comes along and accepts that offer, then it should be sold.

Thr REA can't hold an unofficial auction, waiting for a higher offer. Surely, this has to be against some regulation.

I would check with the relevant authorities.

What if the price offered was right, but the buyers conditions were not suitable, why should the vendor have to accept the offer. Price is not always the determining factor.

 

[eKwatee]

- thanks for the offer and that the vendor will advise me of the decision when he receive's their response. It's a public holiday here in Adelaide this coming Monday, so the vendor "will not be considering offers until Tuesday and we will expect their decision on Wednesday".

Is the vendor the Public Trustee? If so, they would be closed over the long weekend.

 

[Dazz]

If you offer something for sale at $x and someone comes along and accepts that offer, then it should be sold.

It's the other way around.

The Seller puts the property up for sale. They don't offer anything.

The Buyer is the one who puts up the offer.

It is then 100% totally up to the Seller if the wish to accept the offer. The offer includes all terms and conditions on the offer, not just the price. The specific terms and conditions may run for a page or two, and the general conditions can run for 40 pages or more.

Everything has to be agreed. It's a lot to agree on. Most people take it for granted that the 40 pages of general conditions are automatically agreed....but then when I've offered to buy property in the past 6 years, the Seller wants to scrap most of the general conditions that afford protections for the Buyer.

It all boils down to your definition of the word "standard".

 

[joanmc]

It sounds like it might be a Jenman agency. I think they work a bit that way. The price is low end and then they try to get people to offer more and more. It makes them look like gods to the sellers especially oldies who are blown away by the huge numbers anyway.
Well, that's how it happened with my parents when they sold.
I would never sell with them but I don't mind buying from them as they are usually the lowest prices around

 

[Crabnet]

The agent acts on behalf of the seller,
i.e. The last property that I sold, being the vendor, I had three written offers presented to me for my consideration. I didn't accept the highest priced offer. I accepted a lower offer because I was more confident that the deal would proceed to the unconditional stage. The highest offer had more conditions.
As a vendor one might like some time to consider offers rather sign the first one put in front of you.

 

[M1zz]

They don't have to sell just coz you give them the asking price. you shouldn't have made it obvious you want it so bad. it tells the agent you have a few thousand left in you.

put yourself in their shoes, if you know you can wait or say something (takes you 5 minutes) and get $2000 or $5000 more you would?

You should read this page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negotiation

Pay attention to "Negotiation tactics" section.

With no disrespect to all of the real estate agents on this forum, but they can smell the potential sale because you pretty much told them "I would buy this property at any price" when you said I want to secure the purchase a day after.

It's also their job to tell you that "there are many buyers" so that you'll get competitive, because no one bids higher when there's no competition.

Also in this case the agent works on behalf of the seller, his only intention for you is to see if he can get a better price out of you. You should have done it the other way around, you should try and get the better price from him.

I really hope you end up winning the bid, but just remember that the agent doesn't care if he sells it to you or someone else when the price is right and the conditions are reasonable. Try and find out the details of the seller, if you can get in touch with the seller it might speed up the process for you.

 

[Tim86]

How to get a good price for a purchase in realestate: always be prepared to walk away.

 

[blueskymine]

Had a similar experience last week. Home listed late in the night on real estate sites, sent inquiry overnight the same night expressing interest and asking for contract, get a phone call early the next morning that the place has sold. The home was very well priced for the area and there would be little wiggle room to negotiate .... which is rare on the Gold Coast. Drove past the place and sign there but no sold or under contract sticker.

I strongly suspect the agents leave these listings online as still for sale to build their database of buyers interested in the area. Right price, right area, right style of home .... bang .... you have a captive audience of buyers / investors knocking down your door. Just another trick of the trade I guess.
Every time I ring one of these agents the day of listing good deals and get the "sorry its already sold but I have your details so will call you ...." I cross a line through the name of the agent as one to avoid.

As many Gold Coast agents will tell you ..... only the toughest and hardened agents have survived this market.

Same annoying experience, and as a first time buyer, it is very confusing, as read earlier, it is an auction under closed door

 

[emjay68]

With no disrespect to all of the real estate agents on this forum, but they can smell the potential sale because you pretty much told them "I would buy this property at any price" when you said I want to secure the purchase a day after.

It's also their job to tell you that "there are many buyers" so that you'll get competitive, because no one bids higher when there's no competition.

As a first time buyer, i realize i made a mistake by going in so quickly and so eagerly. However, I only did so because i missed out on a very similar property the week before which got snapped up extremely quickly. So i thought that by acting quickly on this property, the bad luck would fall on someone else. Well, that was my theory anyway.

Also in this case the agent works on behalf of the seller, his only intention for you is to see if he can get a better price out of you. You should have done it the other way around, you should try and get the better price from him.

Yep i can't disagree with that. But what do you mean that i should have done it the other way around? How do i get a better price out of him? How do i lower the price if there are plenty of other people wanting the same thing.

I really hope you end up winning the bid, but just remember that the agent doesn't care if he sells it to you or someone else when the price is right and the conditions are reasonable. Try and find out the details of the seller, if you can get in touch with the seller it might speed up the process for you.

Thanks for the high hopes, but unfortunately that's all it was. Apparently, someone put a massive offer in which surprised the REA. My offer was "in the bottom half" of the group believe it or not. I wont hide it, but i'm very disappointed. However, i've learnt a lesson here: no matter what the asking price is, always offer what YOU think the market price of the property is. In this case it was more than the asking price.

Also, after i'd put in my offer, i decided to get a copy of the title of the property and discovered the vendor was SA Housing Trust. That explains why they could only process offers after the long weekend. And it seems they also do not negotiate.