Do you Trust Auctioneer

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pennypincher

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Selling a property at present.Was told there were 2 people really keen who were bidding against each other,was advised that if I took it off market it would be best ,as these 2 people were serious and if a third party entered at this point it might scupper the lot and we'd end up with no bidders.Anyway took house off market and there's been no movement since last bid.Should I be suspicous...I was expecting that taking it off the market would at least make a slight increase on the price.Being told price is what they usually get in the area but again it's from the same auctioneer.Rang other auctioneers but they won't discuss price houses sold for in the area unless you're a genuine bidder.Should I just accept I'm doing ok?
 
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I simply can't understand why an estate agent would advise a client to take a property off the market on which an offer has not been accepted....

What are they afraid of? That somebody new might come in with a lower bid? Refuse it. That somebody might come in with a higher bid? Accept it.

But then I'm not an estate agent. Not nearly clever enough.

pennypincher said:
I was expecting that taking it off the market would at least make a slight increase on the price.
Click to expand...
Why? If I'm a bidder, once I hear it's off the market I believe the price is now high enough to secure and if there's another bidder then it's now largely a beauty contest between us i.e. who can close first; is either a first timer etc.

How exactly did the estate agent justify the strategy to you?
 
The logic from the autcioneer was that these two bidders would now realise they are the only ones left and that it's up to them to secure it at the higest price.The two people involved were an investor and a couple who were FTB.The investor has seemingly won by not increasing his bid at all!Something not quite right but I've nothing to go on.....
 
pennypincher,

I'm not trying to be obtuse and genuinely hope you get a great price but the logic of the estate agent's strategy simply escapes me.

Buyers aren't stupid and will only raise their bids to prices they are prepared to pay.

Taking it off the market and telling each of the two bidders there are only themselves and one other left in the race seems in fact to reduce the competition and effectively tell them they've bid enough.

Plus, it excludes the possibility of a new party who loves your house and is prepared to pay loads more for it.
 
You have me thinking...I may have been had,I put my faith in the Auctioneer as he seemed to indicate that doing this would get me more money which it hasn't....I would pull the sale but the auctioneer tells me summer is a very slow time to be selling my house...
 
If you have a nagging feeling that the auctioneer isn't being straight with you over the bidders I'd get rid of him. Sounds VERY fishy to me!
 
Well, where there really 2 bidders at the first place ???

I think one bidder was "real", the other was a "ghost" bidder that only estate agents know to make appear... so they play the "ghost" against the "real" to make the price go up, and sometimes the "real" disappears like a "ghost" before the "ghost" himself. :)
So, looks like he lost this deal.... But why would he go into so much bullshit ? are estate agents not on the seller side rather than the bidder side?

I am not going to go into long details about my personal experience when we bought our house years ago, but i am convinced that i was the only true "bidder" and that i have been outbiding myselft for the last 9k of the journey....

Another rogue dealer....
 
pennypincher, I can't comment on your case, but it has been known for estate agents to manipulate proceedings so that a buyer known to them secures the property, sometimes at below market rates.
 
This could be a case where they were effectively bidding against each other over a couple of weeks - in this case, it is not unusual for the auctioneer to suggest "best bids" situation to a client so that a date is set by which they both need to submit a best and final offer in order to close the sale.
The auctioneer shouldn't do this without the express permission of the vendor though.
In saying that, this might not be the case!
 
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