Banks blamed for crisis, what about EA's who are still inflating make believe bids?

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kev53

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I was interested in a property posted recently on myhome.

I duly contacted the estate agent early one morning and was told the house in question had two viewings and already had two offers, the latest offer was €495k (€5k off the asking).

I went along to a viewing late evening (which was only attended my myself). The estate agent obviously forgot he had been talking to me and at the viewing told me that an offer of €480k had just been placed on the property that evening at 5pm! Call me cynical but the estate agents are taking the mick again!

Are buyers still that gullible and been taken in by these underhand tactics?

The banks are being blamed for the current crisis, what about EA who are still inflating, make believe bids!
 
Re: Banks blamed for crisis, what about EA's who are still inflating make believe bid

Agree with you Kev. I had my own experience when I went to view one property and was told that property has an offer of 245K i.e. 14k below asking price and when I called next day to place an offer of 250K EA called me back in 10 mins saying they just recieve an offer of 250K so I need to up my bid, needless to say I didnt fall for the trap.
But to be honest its upon us buyers to be more cunning and rejecting this EA mind game straight off and following what is available in front of us and that are facts ...
 
Re: Banks blamed for crisis, what about EA's who are still inflating make believe bid

The estate agents are legally obliged to get the best price they can for their clients.

While they have contributed to the problems , they would have been negotiant in taking any other course of action.
 
Re: Banks blamed for crisis, what about EA's who are still inflating make believe bid

jhegarty said:
The estate agents are legally obliged to get the best price they can for their clients.

While they have contributed to the problems , they would have been negotiant in taking any other course of action.
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If there is an offer that would be a fair comment. It is dishonest to make up bids.
 
Re: Banks blamed for crisis, what about EA's who are still inflating make believe bid

I have no sympathy with EAs lying about bids but the other posters are correct, you should not expect an EA to be on your side.

Aside for all that, it is clear to most of us that the economic problems that we have are a little more serious prices than EAs fake bidding.
 
Re: Banks blamed for crisis, what about EA's who are still inflating make believe bid

huskerdu said:
Aside for all that, it is clear to most of us that the economic problems that we have are a little more serious prices than EAs fake bidding.
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Try telling that to all those currently in negative equity. I was genuinely disgusted, shocked even as I though those days were behind us, but obviously I was wrong, this cavalier attitude from EAs continues as they try to talk up the market. If EAs cannot be relied upon for honest information buyers are always at risk of negative equity as false bids do not show the true market situation. Buyers beware!
 
A mate of mine has an offer on a houes and is the top bidder, his mother went to see the house and was told by the EA (who didnt know she was his ma) the current offer was 15K higher than it actually was. Mate checked and he was still the top bidder. Need I say anymore!! Dishonesty gets my goat!!
 

How do you know he is the top bidder? Did the EA actually name him as the top bidder?

mf
 

Agreed I expect to hear from MRMAN in 1,2,3...
 
Wouldn't trust EA's as far as I could throw them - either as a bidder or a seller. Although they are acting on the sellers behalf (supposedly) they encourage sellers to take less than they are looking for because a difference of say 10,000 means very little to the EA as far as commission is concerned but makes a big difference to the seller. I worked with an EA for a short while & know that is the case. They do not seem to be held to any legal requirements which is a disgrace.
 
Maybe the EA really wants your mate to get the house, so he's putting off other bidders by telling them there is a higher bid.

Maybe he knows your mate is genuine, and he knows the seller will take current bid so he doesn't want other messers getting involved now...
 


LOL, thats gass!! I do love a sense of humour!
 

And if you counter this argument with the other posters that say EA's use ghost bids to squezze as much out of you as possible because they are on commission we now have a complete damned if you do damned if you don't situation.
So to summarise; you worked with an EA for a short while and on the back of this you conclude that EA's will try to convince sellers to take less so that the EA can make something out of the deal? correct?
Would it not also be plausible that some vendors need a little kick once in awhile to get a reality check and that their wonderful home is going stale on the market and a reasonable offer has been made.
Not everything is black and white and while plenty of EA's are not best suited to their job that goes for every industry.
 
Whats wrong with good old fashioned honesty, the seller gets what the property is worth and the buyer gets an honest price, the EA gets his commission and reputation in tact. Its VERY simple, just pass the offers on (if they come in) to the vendor, and similarly be honest to other possible bidders, NO inflation or fake bids required. If prices fall further, as a buyer I would have no grudge as the transaction was open and fair. With this carry on I would be livid! We can blame no one if people act with honesty. (I guess world peace would be nice too!!)
 

It would be great but the problem is that good old fashioned honesty is not always accepted as face value. Ghost bids are not the norm and are not a good tool to make a sale, in fact they are a sure fire way of ruining a decent reputation and some EA offices will make a point of instructing new staff that it won't be accepted (probably because of the perception that the practice is common place).
The one thing that a buyer has control of is his purchase price and if you go above your budget and above what you think the house is worth then you really need to assess your buying strategy.
 
Estate Agents should be made log the bids on houses to an independent regulatory body who can log bids fairly.
 
kev53 said:
Yep, I refuse to view properties held by certain EAs from past experience. I dont care if its a dream house, I prefer to deal with an honest broker.



Anecdotal evidence suggests it STILL is
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The key word there is evidence and some people think nothing of shouting from the rooftops without real evidence.
 
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