What do we do? The agent just called and said another couple has put an offer in on the house we like, I know who she means as we saw them at the open house. The agent has done the whole 'make your best offer speech' so I"m feeling a bit stressed and more than a little sick. One second I'm thinking 'it's a depressed market, they wont offer more than xxx' but then I think 'if I'm wrong, will I kick myself till my dying days if I **** up'? We missed out on a property a few years ago so there's a part of us that wants to just offer asking amount and stuff all the second guessing.

What do we DO!!!!

Turn up at the Agent's office with a 10% deposit cheque and a signed copy of the contract and your best offer and say the owner has 2 hours to decide whether to accept it or you are walking away.

Put your best offer. And push it to your limit. Realistically we could have upped our offer by a couple of grand and we would of had my dream house. However we didn't (though it was no subject to anything, deposit cheque in hand, settlement they wanted) and missed out by a few grand. I kick myself every time I walk into my kitchen.

The same thing has happened to us both times we've bought - whether or not the agents were telling the truth I have no idea, bit I think it's a fairly common tactic to put the pressure on the potential buyers to increase their offer.

On our most recent purchase, after getting the word from the agent that another couple had also made an offer, I said something like "well this is my final offer (I only increased my previous offer by a couple of 1000) and I will be in your office to sign the contract at 3pm (which was an hour away) and put down the deposit". The agent said he'd confer with the owner and get back to us, which he did with the news that our offer had been accepted.

Funnily enough, we didn't hear about the other couple again and the house was ours!

Good luck - it's so annoying to be in the position and not know who is telling the truth!

uggh, it's horrible isn't it.

We have just finished cooling off and our finance has been approved for the house we just bought.

We have been looking on and off for a year or so, and tried to sell our house twice in that time. We know what the market is like and what is available for what price.

We had specific features in mind for this next house and could find nothing that matched what we wanted.

Until this one came up. We had sold our house so needed something reasonably quickly, as we wanted to settle on the same day.

This house ticked all boxes (bar one) by a country mile, compared to other houses in the price range.

We put an offer in, just above the minimum in their range. This offer was $15k below what the maximum was we were prepared to pay for anything.

The agent came back with 'there is another offer on the table'.

We wanted this house, it was better than anything we had seen and our first offer was not far away from what our max was.

Our max was still below the top of their range. So, we offered it and they accepted.

We think we probably could have gotten it for $5k cheaper. But, in the scheme of things, to secure the house that really suited our needs, and extra $5k was nothing.

I don't know if an agent can fake a potential buyer, surely there's a law against that? I'm sure I remember there being a law against it. She described the couple and they're very recognizable, I'm sure she's not making them up.


MrsLexiK this is what I fear, I haven't seen a house that has gripped me as much as this for a very long time.

sonnykins I can't walk away without a regret, I just know I'll kick myself forever if I do.

The real estate agent won't sell the house to the other couple without first telling you their offer and giving you the chance to offer higher!

Offer what you think the house is worth. If your offer is lower than the other couple's offer, no doubt the real estate agent will let you know. You will then have the chance to out "bid" the other couple.

The vendors and the real estate agents both want the highest price they can get for the property! So don't be afraid that the other couple will get it with their offer just because they initially offer more than you!

DP and I just bought out first house and we were also in competition with other couples. What we did was, we told the real estate agent we were extremely interested, and made an offer of a certain amount. We then said "This is our current offer, but please keep us updated of any other offers that are made because we are serious about this property." Turns out the couple we were competing against DID put in a higher offer than us, but the agent let us know that their offer was higher. We were then able to offer a smidge higher than THAT, and that is what got us the house.

Good luck! It is very stressful indeed!

ETA: If you have suspicions that the real estate agent is faking a potential buyer, just ask to see the offer that the other couple put in It's not uncommon, many buyers ask to see the offers in writing if they suspect the real estate agent is being tricky.

We are in SA. The agent we bought from told us he was unable to disclose what the other offer was, or even if it was higher or lower.

Therefore, no such thing as a bidding war. Just, put your best offer forward

He could disclose that they had quite favourable conditions - ie, was basically a cash offer, where ours was tied up in our house settling.

Is it different in different states?

Wrackspurts I didn't think they could tell you what the other offer was? Can we really ask what the other couple are bidding?

Mel I think wherever you are has the same rules as our state, I'm *pretty* sure the agent isn't allowed to disclose the other offer.

Really? The RE agent we dealt with told us what the other people were offering, but only AFTER we had made a lower offer. They didn't disclose the exact amount but they said it in a way that revealed pretty much where the figure was, e.g.

"Unfortunately your offer has been declined. Are you wishing to make another offer?" We then questioned them saying that we would like to make another offer but are unsure of what the figure is that the vendors are wanting and then the RE agent would reply with something like "Well we have had another offer around the $460k mark."

Real estate agents act in the best interest of the vendor. If they think concealing the offers will be in the best interest of the vendor, they will do that. However, in our case, revealing the offer to us made us offer an even HIGHER figure than the initial 2 offers, so in that case, revealing to us the figures offered was in the best interest of the vendor because it in the end, attracted a higher offer.

I'm not sure if there is a law against it, but most real estate agents we came across were sneaky anyway :/

ETA: I am in VIC.

Wrackspurts the more I think about it the more I'm sure they can't disclose the other offer (we're in QLD). Years ago we put an offer on a house and we got the same thing and they were crazy careful not to disclose anything that would give it away. I'm sure they could get more by playing people off each other so I don't doubt they'd be doing it if they could. This way you just have to take a random stab in the dark and hope you're in the right ball park. And you only get one go at it

Well I guess that's fair enough, our real estate agent could have just been dodgy?

Why do you only get one go at it though? If your offer is declined, it's not like you can't offer again! You don't know that they are going to immediately accept your offer OR the other offer! If they decline there is nothing stopping you offering again! I can assure you that if your offer isn't accepted, there is a strong possibility the real estate agents will approach you at some point again (even if there is another offer). We looked at about 5 houses that weren't for auction and this is what happened.

ETA: Why don't you just ask? If they aren't allowed to tell you, fine, but you've got nothing to lose! Express your interest but also the fact that you are unsure about the price and they might give you some more insight, even if they don't tell you what the other offers are. Like I said, real estate agents act in the best interests of the VENDOR, and the vendor wants the highest price. They aren't going to get the highest price if they just accept the first offer they receive when they know there are more than one party interested!

Wrackspurts I think I will ask, sure as hell can't hurt!

if the offer is really good, close to the asking price, u really think the agent is going to bother going back and forth between buyers, in their eyes, they have already done their job and a damn good one.

Our agent was amazing, signed up, and sold the day of the first inspection. Had 20 buyers through that it was crazy he didn't even get a chance to talk to anyone....had 7 good offers through, worked on the best offers and by 6pm, he came to us with a contract $2k less than asking price. Agents do not reveal the offer prices to buyers but thy will give hints..they may even say you won't get it for this price. You can choose to believe or not but if it just took that extra $2k then it's a shame. He told the buyers that the house will be sold with 7 offers, easily on day 1. apparently, buyers were still calling him and he said yup told you it was sold one day 1.

and it was just $2 or $3k difference between the top offers.

but if there's a poor turn out then maybe not.

I have only ever built houses or bought at auction so never really had to compete in a bidding war...well i did at the auction but at least you know everybody's offer, everything's in the open and no dodgy agent manipulating the price. we were so lucky that there was only one other bidder and it was a bank repossession. Only took a couple of bids. won it about $80k less than our budget! and $150k+ less than what it's worth.

Make your best offer - what else can you do? Don't play games, either it will be accepted or it won't, and you will know you gave it your best shot.

I agree. We've just sold and are in the market to buy, we just lost out on a property last week - we refuse to get into a bidding war. This is all you can do. Guard your heart OP - in the end it's only bricks & mortar!

Tbh this whole trying to save a few Thousand dollars mystifies me.

If you love the house, if it's reasonably priced and worth the money, then put your best offer forward. The only exceptions being if the house has been in the market for a long time.

Yes a few thousand is a lot of money, but over the term of the loan it's not that much. I would find it to be a shame to lose out on a property you love in order to save those dollars.

When we bought our new house, we had been looking for quite a while but not found anything in our price range we were happy to move for.

This place was advertised in the Thursday local paper, which we got Friday. I showed DH and we were busy Saturday so didn't get to do a drive by until the Sunday morning. I rang the agent and asked if we could organise inspection (went to voicemail) he rang me back later to say sorry, but he had already secured a large number of offers and the vendors were not interested in having any more inspections. He did promise to contact me back should things fall through.

I was peeved as it was the best thing in that price range (for us) that had been on the market for a long time!

I decided to send the agent an email. I stressed we were very interested and not tyre kickers. That we had pre approval from the bank at that price range, that we were flexible in regards to settlement and were not subject to the sale of our house.

He rang us LATE that afternoon and was at the vendors presenting the offers. He had showed them our email and they had agreed to let us inspect if we could come straight away.

DH and I flew up there, and the second we walked through the door we both knew this was the house we had been looking for for nearly 5 years (albeit casually). We put in an offer that we thought was strong, and by 8.00pm that night we had it!

The moral of this story is, sometimes if you snooze you can lose! ( as we almost did)

If you love a house and know your property values, then there is no harm in putting your best foot forward, rather than lose out trying to save money.

yeah, that's what our thinking was TopsyTurvy.

We weren't buying top end properties, so $5-10k was still a lot of money. But, at the end of the day it secured us a good house, great location with the backyard we had dreamed off (was a main priority), was still in our budget and we could stop house hunting.

Maybe it was an extra $5k in the pocket of the REA/vendor, that they didn't expect? Who knows.

But, it was worth it to us.

At the end of the day, houses are valued at what someone is prepared to pay.

Btw they don't have to come back to you if there's another offer so you can counter. If they think you are a timewaster they will not bother. They just want a sale and contract. A few thousands more doesn't translate to a higher commission for them.

Topsy your story resonates with me, this is the place I've been (subconsciously) looking for for ages. A couple of my girlfriends have looked on and off for years, and I've gone with them as I quite enjoyed the process and each time I'd get home afterwards I'd be happy that none of them appealed to me, not one bit. Even having a sticky on RealEstate.com would leave me thinking 'nup, don't want to move'. This is the first place thats gripped me like this.

We've got a few hours to make a counter offer. Wish us luck

If you believe there is a genuine other buyer, and you really want this property, then offer the maximum amount you are prepared to pay for this property. That way you will not kick yourself if the other offer is even $1k higher, and there would not be that fear of being gazumped.

We got it

There was another Open House today, the owner was going to choose a buyer after the Open. So we went along and the other couple were there, it was a bit awkward. We were thinking of offering the asking price but after looking around the house we realised it was much more work than we thought, so we offered $10 less than asking. Apparently there wasn't much difference in our offers and the owner remembered our son (who climbed their tree and collected Macadamia nuts!) and thought he'd like to live there so I don't know, I guess it was about the $$$ but they were kind of happy it was us?

Congratulations Romeo Void!

It must be a nice feeling knowing that you will be moving in there with the good will of the previous owners. I hope that you are all very happy there - and that your son enjoys those macadamias often.

Congrats!

For our house before this one, we apparantly made an offer very similar to another one. The house was 80 years old, and the people that were selling it were the grandchildren of the original owners or something. The original owners had bought it as newlyweds.

DH and I were 4 weeks away from getting married, so these ppl liked the idea that 'newlyweds' were once again using this house to start their life.



Well, that's what the REA told us anyway LOL

Congrats Romeo Void!

From a selling point of view, I can see where your sellers were coming from - they must have a certain emotional attachment to the property. We did turn down a lower offer from someone we were told would love our property, over someone who offered more who was more 'business' about our property - but it was very close! I imagine if we'd had a similar scenario we may have picked you too!

We went to auction so it was out of my hands but I'd seen a few young couples come through for building inspections and was secretly going for them. We started in the house as a young couple, got engaged, married and had our young children in that house. I was glad that it was a young couple that bought the house. If I had competing offers I would have gone for a young family/couple too Congratulations!

Thank you all, I'm at that stomach churning stage of thinking WHAT THE HELL HAVE WE DONE. And I feel a little fraudulent as we'll not be able to move in for 4-5 years so will need to rent it out for a bit and DS will be closer to 10 by then, but I'll love 'her' from a far till the day we can move in

Congrats! I love that "WHAT THE HELL HAVE WE DONE" feeling!

Congrats!!
The whole best offer sale is annoying, because it's basically a silent auction without actually holding an auction. You only get to put in one offer, so no negotiating! We purchased our current house that way but we were $5k under other offer but got the house because our settlement terms were better.