Auctioneer issue

Hello,

First time posting here, hopefully someone can advise.

Put an offer on a house recently, offered full amount - cash.
Auctioneer has come back and said we have a competitor, who offered +2k

So we offer another 1.5k on top of that offer to test the water, as we're not sure
if we are bidding against ourselves or a genuine buyer. But auctioneer refuses to pass on offer to vendor, and won't entertain any offers less than 2k. Is this normal practice?

Cheers.

If I was that vendor I'd be annoyed if the EA didn't pass all offers on to me. There is no reason why you can't offer €500 more than another bid.

ghostparticles said:

Hello,

if we are bidding against ourselves or a genuine buyer. But auctioneer refuses to pass on offer to vendor, and won't entertain any offers less than 2k. Is this normal practice?

Cheers.

Click to expand...

As I understand it, the EA has to pass on offers to the Vendor, seems strange to me.

Where ghost bidders are concerned there is just no way to know for sure; it really comes down to how much you want it - if you really do, then you'll be willing to risk bidding against yourself as long as you stay within what you deem reasonable to pay for it.

EA is probably pressuring you to go +2k because he feels that the other party will top your offer. If you offer +2k, the other party will likely also add 2k; but if you add 1.5k, they might just top you by 1k, and certainly not by more than your increment.
Stick with your offer. He can't ignore it.

legally the EA must pass an offer on unless instructed not to do so if it doesnt meet the sellers criteria.

If you think an EA is holding out on a deal to squeeze an extra 500e out of you then you are mad. They just want a deal done an extra 5 or 10e commission isnt very high on their priority list I'd assume.