You could try to give yourself the advantage by confirming to the selling agent that you are mortgage approved (assuming you are) and that you can fit into whatever timescale suits the vendor. Or get creative and throw in a holiday voucher for a €1000 or offer to pay for their removals for the new house. Good luck.
Sarah
www.rea.ie
I can't see why it wouldn't be. The estate agent will be trying to close the sale for the maximum price so (personally speaking) I would leave the offer of €381,000 for them to deal with and approach the vendor directly to see what would tip the scales in your favour. No harm in trying.
Sarah
www.rea.ie
Is this legal? Sounds like a way of avoiding paying stamp duty....
The buyer could also offer 1000 euro worth of gold or something so....sounds like a way of avoiding stamp duty which is not allowed I reckon.
No. The seller has the choice. Even if the other bidder goes 5k under you the seller can decide to go with them if they are more confident in the other buyer not backing out etc.If I bid 381K and so does the other bidder do I get the option because I bidded first?
That's what I thought - does anyone know what the Estate Agent has to do?
If I bid 381K and so does the other bidder do I get the option because I bidded first?
Sellers choice then, whoever they think will be best placed to close the deal. If I was selling, I wouldn't tolerate any first-come, first-served rubbish from an EA... I'd accept the offer of the mortgage-approved, preferably-chainless buyer. If both were in a chain, I'd want to know where their respective house sales are currently at.
You may not think so, but I bet Revenue would.I don't think they are breaking the law, just working their way around an unfair system really!!
While it does happen (and getting more frequent from stories of buyers/sellers), I wouldn't consider it good advice to go this route. It may secure you the house, but far from something that should happen! It's verging on, if not outright, tax evasion so not exactly "good advice".... though 99% of Sarahs posts are absolute gold!Mag2006 said:OP best of luck, hope it works out for you and Sarah W's advice is very good.
You can put any bid you like to an EA. They may not put it to the seller, the seller may not accept it, but you can still make it. Given the current market, a seller would think twice about going with a higher bid from someone in a chain than a taking the safer option of someone with no house to sell.Someone told me that if there is a bid of x on the table you can't bid the same (i.e you have to go x+1) - does anyone know if this is true?
To make it clear I am not advocating avoiding Stamp Duty. The contract price is €381,000. If you want to express your thanks to the vendor by buying them a holiday (I *think* the gift tax threshold between strangers is €1270 but stand to be corrected) then I don't believe there is anything wrong with this.
Sarah
www.rea.ie
If Revenue deemed the gift to be a measure to avoid tax they would take exception to it. The gift exemptions are clear, but using them for personal gain, even if all thresholds are maintained, is not allowed (examples given on transfers of property between family members to avoid CAT/CGT on the Revenue documents re gift tax).I don't believe there is anything wrong with this.
Some actively encourage it. A family member had an EA clearly state they would do up documents on the house contents to be included in sale with inflated prices to gain the seller the price they wanted and the buyer a reduction in SD. I was standing in front of him when he said it.Do estate agents turn a blind eye to this sort of thing
If Revenue deemed the gift to be a measure to avoid tax they would take exception to it. The gift exemptions are clear, but using them for personal gain, even if all thresholds are maintained, is not allowed (examples given on transfers of property between family members to avoid CAT/CGT on the Revenue documents re gift tax).
The chances of this being discovered and traced by Revenue are next to nill, I just don't agree with the tactic. If I was discussing this in relation to my own dream home, who knows how my views might change.
Some actively encourage it. A family member had an EA clearly state they would do up documents on the house contents to be included in sale with inflated prices to gain the seller the price they wanted and the buyer a reduction in SD. I was standing in front of him when he said it.
I'm happy enough for this to happen if it seals the deal - IMO it's a disgrace how Stamp Duty encourages this sort of behaviour though
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