Did I offer too low?

H

HMC

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I bid on a house in a rural part of Cork last Friday. The house is on at €317K, has been on the market for a few weeks (I viewed it over 3 weeks ago) and is vacant (owners returned to UK). I offered €295K and haven't heard anything since. I was too embarrassed to phone EA direct so made the offer via email.
 
I don't think you offered too low. i would advice that you ring the EA and speak to them directly. I would also ask are there any other bids in and what is the highest bid.
 
Ditto what Margie said. If nothing else they would have replied to your email (surely). Nothing to lose by calling.
 
I would get a friend to ring first and see are there any offers and then you ring shortly after to confirm your bid of 295k. I definitely don’t think you've offered to low.

Good luck!
 
Curious - why are you embarrassed? it was a legitimate offer??
 
Sounds like they were pitcthing it at just below the FTB/second hand house stamp duty exemption threshold of €317,501 but it was presumably not attracting offers at that level. Naturally it makes sense for you to bid lower as long as there is no evidence of higher offers.
 
At the end of the day its only worth what ever someone is willing to pay. You made a very reasonable offer.
 
They're probably moving slowly while waiting to see what other offers are made. I'd follow it up by with a telephone call.
 
Probably the EA did not read your email. Have come accross several EA's who do have an email address but do not bother to check their email.
 
I wouldnt feel embarrased by putting a bid like that on a house. It lets the owner know that you are genuinely interested and maybe it can be used to agree on a price between your estimation of its value and theirs. Id definately ring the EA and put some kind of time restriction on the bid to prevent it from dragging on forever!
 
If I was bidding on a property I would pitch my first bid at twice the difference between the ask and what I want to pay and then expect to meet in the middle.
Looking at your example I would be expecting to buy this property at €306K
 
Never ever make an offer by e-mail - you have no guarantee the offer is received. Talk to a real live human being and make sure they're recording the details. There's no science to making offers - it really does depend on what other people are prepared to pay, and what level the owner is prepared to sell at. If they have no other offers, they may go with yours - but don't let them string you along: tell them how long the offer is open for. It's better to have a flat "no" than to wait for a couple of months while they hope another offer comes along. After all, you can always go back and make the same offer again if you like.
 
Thanks for all the reassuring and helpful responses.
I have since phoned to check whether my email was received (it was) and this morning followed up with a fax, stating a deadline too (seeing as they haven't seen fit even to acknowledge my offer).
 
Since my fax this morning to EA reiterating my offer and giving her a deadline, the price of the property has been reduced by €2K...hmmmm....:confused:
 
HMC said:
Since my fax this morning to EA reiterating my offer and giving her a deadline, the price of the property has been reduced by €2K...hmmmm....:confused:
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Then reduce your offer by €2k!
 
Sounds like there's no interest in the house and this is why they are dropping the asking price. Stick to your guns and don't go bidding against yourself!!
 
HMC said:
Since my fax this morning to EA reiterating my offer and giving her a deadline, the price of the property has been reduced by €2K...hmmmm....:confused:
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This seems crazy to me. Why would you reduce the asking price when you already have an offer on the table.
 
CrazyWater said:
This seems crazy to me. Why would you reduce the asking price when you already have an offer on the table.
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I would think that this is the normal negotiating procedure. It is the way that I have purchased and sold every property in my life (other than new developements).
If I make an offer then I expect the vendor to counter by a drop in the ask. I then raise my offer and we continue until we meet. Is there another way to do it.
 
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