Was there really another bidder?

C

CassyCi

Guest
I am a first time buyer and have been looking to buy a house for over 8 months. I am about to start into again, but I feel really apprehensive since I have been in a number of bidding wars in recent months.

The last time I really went for it, I am convinced I was bidding against a ghost bidder. Every time I bid, another one mirrored my bid plus €5,000 each time. For lots of reasons, mainly to do with the estate agent, I found it hard to believe the so called other couple actually existed.

Is there anyway of calling the agents bluff on this?
 
Interesting.
I saw something similar at an auction recently for a large 3 acre site, whereby 2 bidders emerged from the gathered crowd. However, I knew one of the bidders, and I know that he and the auctioneer were quite friendly, and as if that wasn't enough, this man was elderly, with no family, and lived no-where near this site, nor would he have any reason to buy it.
Rest assured, it definitely happens, but I'm not sure is it really a problem in Dublin, where i'm sure there are 2+ bidders for most houses. But if not, its easy to 'add' a bid I guess.
Unfortunately, the only way to catch them out is to withdraw. Bit extreme, unless you feel the price has gone too far
 
Yes - get a colleague or friend to ring the agent and, without disclosing that they know you, ask what the latest offer is on the house you're bidding on. If it's your bid and not the +€5000 then you have a phantom bidder.

Sarah

www.rea.ie
 
Sarah W said:
Yes - get a colleague or friend to ring the agent and, without disclosing that they know you, ask what the latest offer is on the house you're bidding on. If it's your bid and not the +€5000 then you have a phantom bidder.

Sarah

www.rea.ie
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simple yet effective :)
 
I'd question how effictive it might be....
If the EA is happy to risk the original bid from the OP by introducing the phantom bid, then why not do the same with the phone enquiry.

They may well try and get them into the bidding war by giving the lower (possibly "real") bid, but who knows what goes through the minds of EAs.
 
What a mess, I think I'll try sarah W's idea. If i find out that there never was another bidder is there anyone I can report him to? Though thinking about it I wouldnt have any real hard evidence.
 
CassyCi said:
Though thinking about it I wouldnt have any real hard evidence.
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None at all.
He can pitch the bid low to try and get you interested or high to try and bump the price... given the regulation on EAs I don't think either would cause anything more than a slap on the wrist, even if they came with hard evidence.

Always the get out clause of "a colleague took that bid", "I made a slip and was about to call them back on it"... etc etc.

It all seems too much aggravation to go through.
Set the price you're willing, happy and can afford to pay. If it goes higher, phantom bidder or not, walk away. If you get it for your price, you've agreed to pay a price you think it's worth (whether you could have got it a few k cheaper shouldn't cause you sleepless nights when your in a dream home).


Just to clarify, I'm not saying what some EAs do is ok, I just don't feel the OP has much to gain (other than stress, headaches, pain) by chasing them on it.
 
I agree, its a catch-22.

Slightly off subject, but my brother replaced the dashboard in his car after about 20k miles, so it was reset to zero. After another 20k miles he traded it in, and the garage knew it had 40k miles, and not the indicated 20k.
We rang the garage a week later enquiring, and sure enough, we were told it 'only had' 20k miles :)
 
Yeah I guess you're right Satanta, there's no point trying to second guess them, if the price goes up toomuch then just back out be it phantom or not. It's just so frustrating knowing that you have no recourse with them and that seem to hold all the cards
 
CassyCi said:
Yeah I guess you're right Satanta, there's no point trying to second guess them, if the price goes up toomuch then just back out be it phantom or not. It's just so frustrating knowing that you have no recourse with them and that seem to hold all the cards
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Another way of looking at it is that you hold the cards-call his/her bluff-tell them you are walking away.
 
I thought I was up against a phantom bidder on a couple of occasions,
but it turned out we were just outbid!

The people you were bidding against probably feel exactly the same way.
It's easy to feel paranoid about things like that.

Sarah W is correct though, there are some shysters who operate the way she described above, not necessarily the estate agents fault though.
 
Yeah that's true it could be that there is another genuine bidder but it all just seems so convenient for the EA. Anyway as a previous poster says:have a top price, stick to it and see who blinks first but I would love to be able to catch him out if he is ghost bidding
 
paddyd said:
I agree, its a catch-22.

Slightly off subject, but my brother replaced the dashboard in his car after about 20k miles, so it was reset to zero. After another 20k miles he traded it in, and the garage knew it had 40k miles, and not the indicated 20k.
We rang the garage a week later enquiring, and sure enough, we were told it 'only had' 20k miles :)
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Is 'clocking' or resetting your mileage back to zero not illegal? If it is, I would think you should contact the guards on that one and tell them about the garage selling a clocked car.
 
Bear in mind that the estate agent is acting on behalf of the seller. They should be aiming to get the maximum possible price. I think the degree of ethics and morality in the group as a whole would not be rated very highly by the general public.

On which note - Who would you distrust more - a politician or an estate agent? :)
 
Seagull said:
Bear in mind that the estate agent is acting on behalf of the seller. They should be aiming to get the maximum possible price. I think the degree of ethics and morality in the group as a whole would not be rated very highly by the general public.
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Many stories of EAs rejecting bids (as being refused by the seller) and not informing the seller of the bid (could be in a hope of a quicker sale, helping a buyer/friend with a better price, etc.). So while the EA should be acting on behalf of the seller, the questions on ethics and morality still arise.
 
Does anyone have a story of EA who did behave ethically/morally when selling a house? Just curious. We don't have a very high opinion of them but maybe there are a few heroes out there??!!!
 
I'm sure there must be at least one honest and ethical EA out there. People tend to pass on comments about bad service far more readily than they do about good service.
 
Yeah I think it would probably be unfair to tar all EAs with the same brush, just wondering does anyone know whether the estate agency body has ever acted against an EA who was found to be acting unethically?
 
yeah Sheena1 that's the problem for buyers, there doesnt seem to be any transparency or a paper trail to back up the EA's bidding claims
 
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