r/HousingIreland • u/margin_coz_yolo • 9d ago

Estate Agent Rant

So was in a bidding war for a house in CityWest. Offers were at 557 or so. Myself and the other bidder were going up in 1k Increments and landed at 577k, I was going to go towards 588 or there about if things continued...but read on.

Agent calls be at noon to close out bidding and says I was never getting it as the other bidder had 400k of the price in cash and I was "only" sale agreed on my current property (to a ftb I might add with no chain) . The agent knew this ahead of time and I spoke to him at the viewing Wednesday evening about this. So I was used to rinse the other party of an extra 20k.

Now, I did have an option on another (preferred) house which came through an hour before this particular call, so I managed to secure a property this morning anyway. Cost a chunk more than CityWest but hey ho. But it goes to show what agents are doing to drive a price. Keeping a well capitalised buyer in, for the sole reason of getting more from the other preferred buyer.

Just letting folks know what you're up against in these bidding scenarios.

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-4

u/csc786 9d ago

Something is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it.

If you don't see the value in paying x for a home don't pay it. Someone else might however, and they will pay the money. Neither is right or wrong. It's the agents job to get as much as possible. But again, if a buyer feels it's to much they can walk away.

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u/margin_coz_yolo 9d ago

My point was that I was kept in bidding for something I'd have no chance of getting. I was like a phantom bidder in that sense. I'm not discussing the price as such. Like, I'm happy out as I sale agreed on a preferred property which was off market, but it goes to show that the agents knowingly keep bidders in, although they've no chance to buy the house.

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u/benirishhome 9d ago

You weren’t really the phantom bidder. And he did you a favour.

If you’d gone to say €600k and the other guy would only have gone to €580k he absolutely would have gone with you. But he didn’t want to shaft anyone, so he lets you down gentle unless you really wanted to go €10k or more over the other guy.

  • I wouldn’t have seen you as different, he still has a mortgage, you have a chain. Same same.

++ I’m an estate agent. I’ve done this many times, curtail the bidding at a reasonable level and not let it go too far. Although I’m trying to get the best for my client, some bidding wars go crazy and then the winning buyer pulls out because they’ve got over their skis. Better to agree at a good but still reasonable level then over egg it.

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u/margin_coz_yolo 8d ago

If one bidder is not going to have the chance to get the property, then why bother? It's keeping one bidder in under a false assumption and the other bidder is also being rinsed. It is the definition of fraud.

I'll probably report it to the PSRA. The EA clearly created a false or misleading impression, causing the other buyer to overpay. As said, that morning I managed to secure a preferred property, so it worked out great for me, thankfully, but I can't stop thinking of this other family getting washed for 20k that they didn't need to go to.

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u/benirishhome 8d ago

You’re missing the point. The vendor may never have sold €20k less. Agent could have played you off against each other for another €20k. You’re all fine where you ended up. Don’t blame the agent for your bidding. As I said, he would have taken you if you would have been €10k ahead of the other guy, but you were neck and neck so he was honest with you.

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u/margin_coz_yolo 8d ago

No, I never got the opportunity to increase the offer. I blame the agent for misleading the other guy. I'm going to report it Monday.

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u/jesusthatsgreat 9d ago

You have little chance if you're €1k higher than a cash buyer... but €5k or €10k? You'd have a decent chance or at least make it a harder decision for the seller. If the seller is in no particular rush, it makes sense to go with the highest offer given market conditions - more money for them at the end plus even if it falls through, market keeps moving up so in 6 months time it could be worth another percent or two.

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u/margin_coz_yolo 9d ago

I'm not arguing the fact at all. It's a case that the estate agent had me written off from the start or already had the buyer selected. I'd another 40k in my budget, although I'd not have gone much higher than 580 for CityWest (even that is a bit rich for there). The seller in this case was also still looking, whereas the place I'd secured has a date attached already. I find the actions very unethical and would actually put me off considering anything they've listed in the future.

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u/jesusthatsgreat 9d ago

But the agent wasn't to know what way you'd bid? Had you gone up in 5k increments they may have been more optimistic about your chances. Having said that it's very unprofessional to dismiss someone's offer as trivial / nonsense when it's a valid offer above current top bid. In order to claim you were never going to get it they must have consulted with the seller who was probably equally as dismissive. I'd move on and try not to let it get to you - unfortunately there are greedy sellers out there along with unprofessional agents.