Is it a phantom bidder?

I am looking at a house at present. The asking Price is 395k Agent says that there is an offer of 370k. House is 3 bed semi Cork City
The house has been on market for almost two years initially at 410k. However some work was done about a year ago. House was underpinned and new kitchen put in.
Given that its been on market so long do you think that this offer may be genuine or is it a phantom bidder to keep the bid price up? Initially I was thinking of going in low at 350k (House is old and will need redecoration new bathroom etc) but I presume that the agent will not entertain that in light of the 370k offer that they already have.
What do you think?

Ask how long the offer of 370K is on the table and are they still interested, say that you are willing to put an offer in of 350K and take it from there, if its a phantom bid and the property is on the market so long, you will quicly find out...
All offers must be recorded by EA's so you could challenge them on the offer, its up to them to prove that its real

johnnyg said:

All offers must be recorded by EA's so you could challenge them on the offer, its up to them to prove that its real

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Eh, no - they don't have to prove anything to prospective purchasers. They do have to maintain a list of offers alright, but you're not entitled to see it (privacy issues arise also)

I know they can't show it to you, but if you invalidating offer there are ways of proving it, rules can always be bent

It was my understanding that once you put in a bid, the EA is obliged to open his/her books and show you any other offers that have been submitted.

EF123 said:

It was my understanding that once you put in a bid, the EA is obliged to open his/her books and show you any other offers that have been submitted.

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Not true

I would say it is exceptionally unlikely, although not impossible, that the EA has another bid at the same time as yours given that the property is on the market for 2 years.

I would bid €330k with a time limit of 5 days for a decision.
Sit back and watch the EA squirm as the other bid "falls through"

Now I know it looks like I'm always trying to be the positive to the mant negatives but here goes anyways. Even though its on 2 years some properties have a habit of going through cycles of high interest and zero interest so there is the possibility that there is another interested party. If you do seriously believe that the Ea is being underhanded then you should behave as though there is no other offer and put in whatever offer you feel is right. You may want to say that should the other offer fall through then you can stand over your offer of €x. Be prepared for the fact that the EA could be honest (shock horror) and you lose the house.

thejuggler said:

House was underpinned and new kitchen put in.

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Before you bid for this house, ask to be allowed to get a survey done together with details of what underpinning are/were required and whether an engineer etc signed it off. If they have a bid in they probably will tell you to take a running jump, if there is no real bid in you may be given permission to have a survey done.

davidoco said:

Before you bid for this house, ask to be allowed to get a survey done together with details of what underpinning are/were required and whether an engineer etc signed it off. If they have a bid in they probably will tell you to take a running jump, if there is no real bid in you may be given permission to have a survey done.

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Yes any bid that I make will be subject to structural survey

Well I saw the house. It needs about 20-25 grand of renovation work to be done to it. Agent claims to have two offers one of 360k no chain and one of 370 subject to sale of their own house. Maybe its genuine but I won't be bettering the offer of 370.

while well aware that everyone loves a bargain and no one wants to feel they were 'done' - the easiest thing for you to do here is to decide what it is worth to you - if you are saying it needs 20-25k work then decide what is the top price you are willing to pay before you lose it - forget about other bidders, real or imaginary - if you want the house you want the house - put in a bid that makes sense to you + money to be paid in doing up - if they accept, then great - if not then you are paying too much for the house based on your own initial calculations to go any higher - so ignore other bids and bid what you feel it is worth. If that is 360k then the EA will either refuse (as he already has that) or accept (showing a phantom bid potentially) - either way you pay what you think it is worth - the whole housing bubble has been driven by people paying over the odds and forgetting to pay what it is worth as opposed to what 'others' think it is worth - that's my tuppence worth anyway ... I expect a site I bought a number of years ago was driven up 20k by a phantom bidder but we wanted it so we paid the extra - if you think about it too much you hurt your head - just need to be happy that the price paid reflected your interest in the properry - now if only someone whould buy my house in Cork City then I'd be laughing ...