Making an offer pre-auction - direct to conveyancer?

I'm currently in the market to buy in Sydney, and you all know how hot the market is.

When asking agents if the Vendor will consider offers pre-auction, most just say no. (I get it, so would I - it's a no brainer to go to auction).

However, there is a property that I'd pay 20% more than the price guide for, and I'd like to secure it before auction.

I haven't bought in NSW for a while so bear with me... To make an offer in NSW, do you need to sign a contract or can you just send an email/letter outlining your terms?

Also, the agent is obviously blocking pre-auction offers so wondering if I should get my Solicitor to write to the Vendors' Solicitor. The Solicitor will then obviously have to ask the Vendors instructions and may not try and persuade them to say no. Was thinking my Solicitor could say something like:
"Dear ABC,
I act for a prospective purchaser who has reviewed the contract and would like to request the following changes:
Price: $X
Cooling off period: Y days
Settlement: Z days
If your client is agreeable to these changes, please send amended contract for execution"

Anyone done this before? I'm thinking worst case the agent gets upset but:
a) My Solicitor may not even have to reveal who I am in the initial letter
b) Who cares, they were going to auction anyway so I can show up on the day and bid

Thoughts?

 

Don't really believe agents block preauction offers, because if they can get a deal done they can get paid and move on.
But sellers are confident in this market so it would have to be at a 'wow' price.
And if it's a preauction offer, s66W would be a requirement (unconditional, no cooling, decent deposit up front).
Also remember at the moment, 20% over price guide is probably still below what it would get at auction. The 'wow' price would have to be above what the seller thinks they can get at auction.

 

I'd be a bit wary of getting agent offside, but the strategy may be a creative way to get heard. Would be good if you can do this while keeping the agent happy. Not sure if possible, but potential of floating a sale of your PPOR as an idea to buy it to get their attention.

Few random thought bubbles:

You could submit that offer and the agent will likely show it anyway. You could suggest another property is trading prior and you are willing to go 20% above guide or move onto the other deal.

Find out 'why' they are going to auction. If it's purely to get the highest price, then the property can easily trade just prior to auction. If its a genuine reason, e.g. mortgagee in possession/government sale/executor with multiple parties/etc - then there's not too much harm.

Right now a lot of action often happens in the final week of the sale, just prior to auction. Given this, getting the agent offside and it could come back to bite.

We've had a few situations where agents would do everything they can to get deals over the line for us at the pointy end (my profession may help here, given agents often treat as a fellow professional not only buyer). You may want to develop rapport and try & get into this jockeying position so you have the information on hand come pointy end. I.e. the great agents generally don't disclose the winning bid just prior, but give you a generic estimation above the actual amount to try and get you to beat it. This can be very awkward as your bidding blind here. If they really like you, they'll likely disclose the $ amount, and give you a deadline to beat it (likely an hour or so while the other person is getting $$$ finalised).

Also, often putting in strong offers prior to auction is you just bidding against yourself, the seller collecting information and bidding it up privately. They have time on their side with a set date and can use your offer to reset guidelines with other interested parties. Closer to auction date, the time factor gets removed and very strong bids get heard. Hence a LOT is trading just prior to auctions.