Any real estate agents out there? Does this seem odd to you?

[Different kind of Rabbit]

I went to an open house on Saturday for a house that had only been listed mid last week.

The wife and I had a chat about it yesterday and thought that we would potentially like to make an offer but that we'd need to have another look at the place.

Rang the agent but got her voicemail and left a message saying that we'd like to view the property again and potentially could make an offer.

A while later, I was looking at the listing again and noticed that the house was "under offer". Of course, this wasn't a concern to me as it just indicated that someone else was keen and I know that you can still make offers on a property which is already under offer.

The agent called me this morning at about 10am saying that she would like to discuss but at the time I was in a meeting.

Anyway, less than a couple of hours later, the property is already under contract...

I'm assuming that the offer must have been a decent one but really, the house was only on the market for two days. Do people really accept offers that quickly?

For mine, it seems like the agent must have already had a buyer in mind or the offer made must have been RIDICULOUS.

I mean, I was prepared to offer anything up to about $80k over the listed price so I think the vendor has probably left some money on the table. Are people really that mad to accept first offers? Especially knowing that they may have other interested parties? I would have thought the vendor would have sat on a first offer for at least a couple of days.

 

[Parra]

Sounds normal for Sydney. Plenty of deals done before the open house even. Certainly at them or straight after.

 

[muzby]

welcome to the free market economy..


you shouldn't need to be a real estate agent to understand that..

 

[Dogs Of War]

Geez when I bought the house I bought was on the market for 30mins. I knew the area and realized that the price was perfect. Someone else made an offer 10k below the asking price. I just paid what they were seeking. He listed the apartment for 20k less than others had sold for in the same building.

 

[Different kind of Rabbit]

welcome to the free market economy..


you shouldn't need to be a real estate agent to understand that..

I thought there'd at least be a period of a week or so where the vendor may have fielded several offers. Seems I was wrong.

When I purchased my current house 10 years ago, things moved a lot slower. Anyway, looks like I need to adjust my tactics.

 

[Pierced Soul]

i guess it depends on how keen the seller is to sell. if the offer wasnt what they wanted or they have to sell sooner than later they'll take the first decent offer they can get

 

[Abz]

i bought a house after i made an offer before auction and the house was listed for about 2 weeks but the agent knew straight away that my offer was going to be accepted and i would have made that same offer after i first saw the house

it is not something that is uncommon and with the housing market as bad as it is many people will make an offer before auction

i had to make 3 offers before i was finally successful 4th time round

 

[some11]

At least you didn't get gazumped.

 

[Vic Mackey]

No it's not normal and it's a complete disgrace. To me it's probably an inexperienced agent who got a good offer, panicked and told the owner they had to accept it. In the process potentially costing them thousands.

A property should never exchange unless you've called everyone on the Monday to make sure no one else is interested. It's time consuming and nervy but a good agent will be a skilled negotiator and handle multiple offers and temperamental/emotional buyers.

This is a prime example as to why the cheapest agent will generally cost you instead of save you.

In future tell the agent immediently at the open home that you are interested and request a contract be emailed to you. Reply to the email saying you wish to notified of any offers, or make one in writing yourself.

It's shit like this that gives the whole industry a bad name and pisses me off.

 

[papabear]

You didn't put an offer in.

What do you expect.

I don't think there is enough information to say whether the agent did a good job or not. Suffice to say that you didn't do a very good job of purchasing that property.

As for the least expensive agent costing you more money, he didn't mention the price of the agent or a comparable one. IMO an agent who says that to you is in lala land but then that might be the type of agent you want.

 

[Vic Mackey]

I understand where you are coming from with the no offer however it was only Monday after the open home and he had contacted the agent. Buying a property is one of the biggest decisions a person/couple will make in their lives. At an open home there can be 30/40 other people at the home at the same time as you and you're already in a rush to get to the next one. Being at an open for 10 minutes and than having to decide if that's where you're going to live for the next 30 years and part with upwards of $1mil is a massive thing and a lot of people need to have that second look. It's perfectly justified.

If the agent isn't skilled enough to keep the offer they have on hold for another day or two while other interested parties come back for second inspections they aren't doing the right thing by the vendor. The vendor is probably happy, and got what they wanted (potentially even more) but the agents job isn't to get the vendor what they want. It's to get the vendor the most the market is prepared to pay for it.

 

[Jubileeboy]

I understand where you are coming from with the no offer however it was only Monday after the open home and he had contacted the agent. Buying a property is one of the biggest decisions a person/couple will make in their lives. At an open home there can be 30/40 other people at the home at the same time as you and you're already in a rush to get to the next one. Being at an open for 10 minutes and than having to decide if that's where you're going to live for the next 30 years and part with upwards of $1mil is a massive thing and a lot of people need to have that second look. It's perfectly justified.

If the agent isn't skilled enough to keep the offer they have on hold for another day or two while other interested parties come back for second inspections they aren't doing the right thing by the vendor. The vendor is probably happy, and got what they wanted (potentially even more) but the agents job isn't to get the vendor what they want. It's to get the vendor the most the market is prepared to pay for it.

So you are encouraging gazumping or trying to create an unfair auction process? I'm sure the agent is bound by law to submit all offers to the vendor? By using your analogy, you may well be looking at causing heartache and distress for another couple that have already had an agreed price and a contract issued? So the agent may well be damned if he does, or damned if he doesn't.
First in, best dressed...put your money where your mouth is and all that? What happened to 'first to exchange unconditionally'?
If I'm the owner, having an understanding of comparable market sales and agree to the sale price, then having the property sold quickly may be seen as a bonus.
There could be a truckload of reasons as to what happened...initial interested party may have already inspected property and commenced searches/ legals/ pest and building inspections etc, etc? All at a cost and a risk of having an agent encourage a higher offer from others?
Property may have been on the market previously? Who knows.

 

[Vic Mackey]

Mate where in my scenario has anyone been gazumped? I said in no way should an offer be accepted before everyone has been spoken too. If the agent is clear with everyone there is no issue. 'Thank you for your offer, I'll submit your offer to the owner (like you have to legally) however we want everyone to have a fair chance of purchasing the property. As yet I haven't spoke to everyone who saw the home on Saturday. I'll get back to you with feedback from the owner and rest assured if I receive a higher offer youll have a chance to better it.'

In today's market properties sell for outrageous above the market prices all the time. You have cases of a unit selling for $700k than the identical one next door coming up a month later and selling for $750k regularly. How would you feel if as an owner you sell for a price that you're happy with, but than find out through a friend that someone from their work was willing to pay $20k more however the agent didn't give them a chance?

 

[Lambretta]

So you are encouraging gazumping or trying to create an unfair auction process? I'm sure the agent is bound by law to submit all offers to the vendor? By using your analogy, you may well be looking at causing heartache and distress for another couple that have already had an agreed price and a contract issued? So the agent may well be damned if he does, or damned if he doesn't.
First in, best dressed...put your money where your mouth is and all that? What happened to 'first to exchange unconditionally'?
If I'm the owner, having an understanding of comparable market sales and agree to the sale price, then having the property sold quickly may be seen as a bonus.
There could be a truckload of reasons as to what happened...initial interested party may have already inspected property and commenced searches/ legals/ pest and building inspections etc, etc? All at a cost and a risk of having an agent encourage a higher offer from others?
Property may have been on the market previously? Who knows.

No, he's suggesting that it's prudent when there's a lot of interest in a property to not make a rushed decision on the first day or two especially when there are other interested parties who have yet to table an offer

It's a sensible approach to take

If someone was super keen on a property they wouldn't pull their offer just because the agent hadn't taken the property off the market

In Sydney a property isn't generally taken off the market until a 10% deposit is taken and contracts are exchanged

From the language used by DKOR in the original post I got the feeling that an offer had been made and that a contract asked for or even a 0.25% holding deposit made. But possibly not a 10% deposit.

Once a contract has been exchanged and a 10% deposit taken then no other offers can be made or accepted

Gazumping can only occur where someone has made an offer and had the price agreed in principal, but then a higher offer is made and accepted BEFORE contracts are exchanged and a 5 or 10% deposit paid.

But you are right that the offer may have been accepted as it matched or exceeded the vendors expectations and they were in a hurry or under pressure to sell quickly.

 

[Jubileeboy]

No, he's suggesting that it's prudent when there's a lot of interest in a property to not make a rushed decision on the first day or two especially when there are other interested parties who have yet to table an offer

It's a sensible approach to take

If someone was super keen on a property they wouldn't pull their offer just because the agent hadn't taken the property off the market

In Sydney a property isn't generally taken off the market until a 10% deposit is taken and contracts are exchanged

From the language used by DKOR in the original post I got the feeling that an offer had been made and that a contract asked for or even a 0.25% holding deposit made. But possibly not a 10% deposit.

Once a contract has been exchanged and a 10% deposit taken then no other offers can be made or accepted

Gazumping can only occur where someone has made an offer and had the price agreed in principal, but then a higher offer is made and accepted BEFORE contracts are exchanged and a 5 or 10% deposit paid.

But you are right that the offer may have been accepted as it matched or exceeded the vendors expectations and they were in a hurry or under pressure to sell quickly.

I completely understand what constitutes gazumping. I'm also fully aware of the sale process involving contracts and deposits. For Vic M to say that he thinks it should be a fair process and people given a second chance to make an offer is encouraging gazumping. Not only that, why does he think this is a 'fair' process? How is that fair to the first interested party that have had their offer accepted and quite possibly commenced legals etc? It's not. Unfortunately, time is of the essence and those that move the quickest win and the vendor gets their sale. Sounds like the agent has done his job. As long as all legal requirements have been met as per due process, there is no issue here. Sorry for DKOR but that's how the property market rolls.

 

[muzby]

No it's not normal and it's a complete disgrace. To me it's probably an inexperienced agent who got a good offer, panicked and told the owner they had to accept it. In the process potentially costing them thousands.

A property should never exchange unless you've called everyone on the Monday to make sure no one else is interested. It's time consuming and nervy but a good agent will be a skilled negotiator and handle multiple offers and temperamental/emotional buyers.

This is a prime example as to why the cheapest agent will generally cost you instead of save you.

In future tell the agent immediently at the open home that you are interested and request a contract be emailed to you. Reply to the email saying you wish to notified of any offers, or make one in writing yourself.

It's shit like this that gives the whole industry a bad name and pisses me off.

well actually it's greed, pure and simple, that gives the whole process a bad name.

if the vendor has a price they are willing to accept & they take it, then they shouldn't always be too greedy and look for more..

recently when looking to upgrade the family home, on a saturday i went to an open for a house that was listed that wednesday. when i arrived, the agent said i could go in and have a look around, but the property had an offer accepted on it on the friday night - someone came through on the thursday open (they generally do thursday & saturdays down here) and put in an offer.

the agent said it was far in excess of the reserve price that the vendors would have wanted at auction so they accepted it. no need to push further as they didn't want to lose that buyer.


on a similar note, i was buying an investment property and had my eye on two different places.. not really emotionally attached to either..

i put in an offer on one place that was in the quoted range (was private sale), and had the agent try the usual 'oh, we've got another party interested and they've offered $x more than you' which put the offer over the quoted range.. so i politely explained they had better sell it to them.. hung up and started dealing with the other agent for the other property and ended up buying that one instead.

a day later the first agent called back and tried to get more out of me again, i said no thanks they had my best offer the first time and hung up. he called again the next day and said the owners were prepared to accept my offer, it was pretty funny hearing his reaction when i told him i had bought another property.

that first one stayed on the market for another couple of months & ended up selling for less than what i initially offered.. so that ended up biting the vendor in the bum..

 

[sensesmaybenumbed]

Not just the vendor, the agent as well. Two more months of effort for a sale.

When the Wife and I got a two bedroom unit we made an offer. Of course there was another offer as well, so we offered a token raise of 500$.

The agent began to try the spiel about it and we stood up and thanked the agent while making it clear we were no longer interested in bidding. He asked us to have a seat for a minute, went and 'made a call' then came back and told us our offer had been accepted.

 

[muzby]

Not just the vendor, the agent as well. Two more months of effort for a sale.

When the Wife and I got a two bedroom unit we made an offer. Of course there was another offer as well, so we offered a token raise of 500$.

The agent began to try the spiel about it and we stood up and thanked the agent while making it clear we were no longer interested in bidding. He asked us to have a seat for a minute, went and 'made a call' then came back and told us our offer had been accepted.

quite possibly the most entertaining negotiation i ever had was when buying our current house.. offer was submitted on saturday after an open for inspection, and had the agent calling about 6pm that night doing the negotiations.. expected it to happen as i went in under the quoted range..

but by that stage i was at a party & had imbibed a bit of booze so was a bit more obnoxious than i normally am.. involved a few calls back and forth so knew at what stage of 'the dance' we were at, so eventually i just started lowering my price each time he'd call..

was lots of fun, although quite easily the most expensive 'drunk purchase' i've ever made..

but well worth it

 

[Vic Mackey]

I completely understand what constitutes gazumping. I'm also fully aware of the sale process involving contracts and deposits. For Vic M to say that he thinks it should be a fair process and people given a second chance to make an offer is encouraging gazumping. Not only that, why does he think this is a 'fair' process? How is that fair to the first interested party that have had their offer accepted and quite possibly commenced legals etc? It's not. Unfortunately, time is of the essence and those that move the quickest win and the vendor gets their sale. Sounds like the agent has done his job. As long as all legal requirements have been met as per due process, there is no issue here. Sorry for DKOR but that's how the property market rolls.

You quiet clearly didn't read, or understand my posts. At no stage have I said that another offer should be submitted after one has been accepted.

 

[Vic Mackey]

well actually it's greed, pure and simple, that gives the whole process a bad name.

if the vendor has a price they are willing to accept & they take it, then they shouldn't always be too greedy and look for more..

recently when looking to upgrade the family home, on a saturday i went to an open for a house that was listed that wednesday. when i arrived, the agent said i could go in and have a look around, but the property had an offer accepted on it on the friday night - someone came through on the thursday open (they generally do thursday & saturdays down here) and put in an offer.

the agent said it was far in excess of the reserve price that the vendors would have wanted at auction so they accepted it. no need to push further as they didn't want to lose that buyer.


on a similar note, i was buying an investment property and had my eye on two different places.. not really emotionally attached to either..

i put in an offer on one place that was in the quoted range (was private sale), and had the agent try the usual 'oh, we've got another party interested and they've offered $x more than you' which put the offer over the quoted range.. so i politely explained they had better sell it to them.. hung up and started dealing with the other agent for the other property and ended up buying that one instead.

a day later the first agent called back and tried to get more out of me again, i said no thanks they had my best offer the first time and hung up. he called again the next day and said the owners were prepared to accept my offer, it was pretty funny hearing his reaction when i told him i had bought another property.

that first one stayed on the market for another couple of months & ended up selling for less than what i initially offered.. so that ended up biting the vendor in the bum..

It's not about being greedy. It's about getting the true worth of your asset. I know you're not saying it, but to say the vendor should accept what they're happy with is saying it's ok for an agent to go and sell a little old ladies place for $500k cause she thinks that's all it's worth to his mate when it's worth $700k, hey the vendors happy.

Having a young couple say that extra $30k you got for their house allows the wife to stay home for a year with their first child, having a retired couple say that extra $50k they got from downsizing has allowed them to give their children a deposit for their first home. That's what's it's about mate.