Bidding Advice

Cushcam

Registered User
Messages
44
Hi All,
We put in a bid on a property, with great potential, that is 40k below asking price currently. This property requires extension to make it into a family home.

If we lose out on this house, there are no alternatives, at this moment in time.

The EA rang us on holiday to say that a first bid had been placed. We placed our first bid, the following week (5k more) following architect consultation. We haven’t heard anything in 3 weeks, but I know there are ongoing viewings.

We have mortgage approval in principal.

Very keen to understand what worked for people? Should I sit tight, or place a higher bid, in a more acceptable range to seller, in the hope that it keeps further people from entering. I would think 20k below asking to still be around market value, for the square footage on offer.

The seller doesn’t appear to be in urgent need of sale, & is waiting to entice further bids, but if it’s a unique property, with unique development potential, should I be more aggressive, & bidding again, even when I got not formal rejection on initial bid?

Would love to get your thoughts please?
 
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Would love to get your thoughts please?
I did say I was a cash buyer. I wasn’t considered before when I said I wasn’t. The reality is that we have mortgage approval in principal, and our own home is on the market.

Perhaps, the fact that you said you weren't a cash buyer and now saying that you are (when you are not in reality), the EA isn't taking your offer seriously.
 
Hi, sorry for confusion here. I put in a bid on a previous house some months back, & was a little unprepared tbh. I said I needed to sell, to buy basically, without even having approval in principle at the time. I was bidding against cash buyers & others who the EA said were sale agreed. There were 5 people bidding at that stage, so fair enough, I got involved too late, unprepared & pulled out.

In my situation, I simple can’t risk selling first, & pricing myself outside of the area I live it, especially with kids integrated into schools & local clubs, so in my circumstances, I said I only had to sell, to renovate, which of course is not true, but hopefully i’ll be sale agreed inside next few weeks, before bidding process concludes.

So yeah, i’m In a tug of war, inside my head, about slowing things down, versus securing a dream project for the family.

So to get back to the burning question here, if the property really ticks your boxes for an upgrade, do you make contact with EA, to suss our if there are second viewings, & perhaps make a second bid, or wait?
 
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Obviously the seller is not interested in selling at the price you have offered.

It might be no harm to ask the EA what the seller would take. You can then reconsider.

If you really love this house, don't lose it trying to save a few bob.

If you want it, don't be afraid to pay what you can afford.
 
Golden rule tends to be - never bid against yourself.
If you are really really serious about this property then get your own on the market asap. As in this week!
You can't pressure the seller into making a decision on your offer when you're not in a position to sign a contract for quite some time
 
During my search for a property over the past 12 months, none of the estate agents I dealt with as a prospective buyer would consider an offer from me until my own house was sale agreed.
 
Thanks for your thoughts. Our own house goes live tomorrow. Fingers crossed it goes quick. I have been trying to remove as much of the delay as possibly my end, regarding preparation of contract with solicitor.

While it is obvious that the seller is not wanting to let this go at that price, I estimate renovation to be a minimum of 150k, to match the square footage on offer in your standard semi D. I do think going sale agreed at the asking, combined with total renovation cost, risks bringing this higher than current market value.

There is one other similar property in that area, again in need of renovation & extension. When I spoke with the selling EA for this other property, I was told that buyer is close to agreeing on a price 30k less that what i’m currently at, but it’s a terraced house & id need cranes & neighbor permission to access site.

The existing shell of the one I’m bidding on, is liveable for a period of time, which is also an important factor for us.

I guess i’ll check in with EA in morning, to get a sense of other parties. I don’t expect the vendor to give me a minimum figure, with plenty of interest on property still.

I definitely don’t want to lose the property, by saving a few bob, but going sale agreed at the asking, takes further from renovation budget.

Another incentive to bid against myself though, is to be able to go sale agreed quickly, at which point I could kickoff the planning process.

I’ll sleep on it :)
 
BTW - I do have my doubts about the first bidder being fictional. Or perhaps, they are also bidding on the other mentioned property.
 
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@Cushcam

Slow down a bit here,

Reading your posts, has all the hall marks of a possible rushed, one way ticket to disaster..

Going sale agreed on your own property, will take a minimum of 3 months, and thats assuming there are no complications. There is so much that can go wrong, you need to be prepared, and be able to handle for this, and adjust as necessary.

I dont want to rain on your parade, but this is fact.

If all manages to goes well with your purchase, yet your sale fall through through no fault of your own, which happens every day be it one thing or another, you need to be prepared, and vise versa, your sale could be a walk in the park, yet the new purchase for any number of reasons, could come ajar, thats all I would advise. Be prepared.

Dealing with the Banks here, will test your sanity.
 
Thanks @LS400

I would hope to be at sale agree, much sooner than the 3 month estimate, but have estimated 3 to 4 months, to conclude the overall sale. This is based on EA advise, and what he has sold in recent weeks in the area. It's a slow time of year, mind, but trying to think positively on this.

If we're not successful with our bid, then we'll have to take it back off the market sadly, as we're not prepared to move out of the area, and in terms of affordability, we can't afford the turn key option. We only want to move if a better option comes along.

I don't feel (but hope) that the square footage on offer will suit a wide range of buyer profiles, and while there might be cash buyers out there who can afford the property shell, i think there's an additional 100-150k extra that needs to pump into it, that may push it further out of reach for cash buyers. I can only assume / hope, but i do think the seller of the house we're bidding for, is also realistically thinking that it will be a 3 to 4 month process on their side, so my hope is that both timelines can marry up.

But again - thanks for all comments and feedback on this thread. I've never been good at negotiating in general day to day, and find it a stressful, when i do let the mind wander off, in terms of not being successful on bidding.

There are conflicting views on this thread. One person is saying, to not lose out on a dream move, by trying to save a few bob, & offering what you can afford, but the general consensus seems to be slow down, get your own ducks in a row.

Whether i'm too late or not, I do feel our own ducks are finally in a row, as best as we can control at this point. House now live on market. Solicitor is engaged, but we can't help feeling anxious that we should be doing more on the bidding side. My gut instinct is to make a second bid, halfway between current bid, and asking price, so that we get into a more acceptable range to seller, and then sit tight and buy time on this.

If there are other parties, who are getting professional advice on plans and estimates, then i think that they'd also be hoping that a bid of around 10/15k under asking could secure it, allowing contingency in the budget for the construction side of things, that would still keep final sum under market value.
 
BTW - I do have my doubts about the first bidder being fictional. Or perhaps, they are also bidding on the other mentioned property.

Since you are pretending to be a cash buyer are you not a fictional bidder? When would you intend to come clean?
 
Going by the pace at which things are moving so far, I'm hoping by the time the question gets raised again, i'll be sale agreed or at least considering serious bids. If there's another party in a better position at that point, then fair play to them.

There is a similar property up for sale in our area, and I'm biased, but i do feel we have a better orientation and location and view. There is a bidding war on this house. It's asking 10k less, but doesn't have exact same spec. I've my fingers crossed that we could get a transfer of interest, from this. Realistically, 3-4 weeks to go sale agreed our end
 
My husband and I did what you are attempting last year. We went sale agreed on out own house and another house in quick succession. The seller of second house knew they were getting a good price from us. We bid against ourselves to show we were serious and worth taking a gamble on. So it can be done. We were honest at every point and I think it stood to us. We were able to show the seller that our house was on the market and had offers above asking price. This gave seller of second house confidence in us as a buyer. Our house also needed work, but we moved in by doing the minimal and postponed worked that needed planning. Waiting to get planning would have taken too long
 
Which is it this,
versus securing a dream project for the family.

or this,
I do think going sale agreed at the asking, combined with total renovation cost, risks bringing this higher than current market value.

Current market value is irrelevant ! Yes really.

If its really a "dream project for the family", and you can afford it, don't trip yourself up.
 
The first bidder withdrew their interest. There were a handful of no shows, at another public viewing, which took place this week. However, a second party entered the bidding this week, and they raised it marginally. On the knowledge that the second party hadn't got the planning and design professionals in yet, we decided to up the bid considerably, to a price point that was halfway between current bid, and the asking price, 20k under asking. Absolutely delighted, to say that bid has been accepted. Our EA has also rang to say there has been strong interest registered in our property for the initial public viewing, with one private viewing scheduled. Hopefully we can find the right buyer, and all this can turn around within 3-4 months now.

Still hairy times ahead, until after structural survey, and planning process, but i think we'll be in so deep at that stage, that we'd have to rent, as opposed to taking ours back off the market. It's been one of those weeks, so thanks for the replies on here, which helped with the whole thought process.
 
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