Private sale. Should agents disclose offers?

Looking at a house being sold via private sale. The difference between the bottom end of the range and the top end is about $120K. I've been told by the agent that there have been 2 other offers but he won't disclose what they were. He's just said put forward my best offer and he'll take it to the vendor. I feel this puts potential buyers off immediately as it feels like they're conducting an auction without any transparency. It also doesn't help the vendors because without knowing what they really want or what my competition is I'll probably just put in an offer at the bottom of the range. Other agents for other properties I've looked at have been happy to disclose previous offer amounts and I feel this saves everyone's time. If I can beat it I will, if I can't I won't. What do other people think?

 

Always remember the agent is working for the seller.
Agent will follow any instructions given to him.
As always, offer what you think it is worth, to you.
Marg

 

that's exactly what they are doing, The agents actions seem pretty normal to me

 

Put in your best offer. The agent may be in breach of the law sharing others' offers with you. Make a written offer and wait and see if you are successful.

 

The agents that told you what the previous offers were, they did that by showing you a signed contract? No? It was just whispered by the agent?

It definitely wasn’t made up by the agent.

 

More often than not this will get a good bid from a motovated buyer. Thats what you want in a selling agent.

 

In WA private treaty sales are the norm. During hot markets, savvy agents often use something like the following strategy.
- initially advertise at a wide price range, or start with "all offers considered"
- Get a bunch of offers in, many of them lowballs that they have no intention of accepting.
- Play them off each other by saying "the seller currently has 3 good offers under consideration but i can't tell you their value. Just put in your best offer so you don't miss out" etc to get the serious buyers into a frenzy and upping their price
- If they still aren't getting offers at the price they want, narrow the advertised price the next week to be closer to what the seller actually wants, but keep stringing along the old lowball offers for another week without rejecting them.
- tell prospective buyers "we've got x offers in already that the seller will be considering after the weekend", so people think these offers are around the new advertised price range, and hopefully they put offers in at that price accordingly.

 

That's the way it is..A very simple way is offer your best low offer ,but add a few % just in case the vendors come back with a price close to your offer,plus let the agent know you are looking at one other property and you want to know within 24 hours if this offer will close the contract before looking at the next offer..imho..

 

Of course it could be made up by the agent, but I always ask if the offer has been made verbally or in writing. I think it's less likely to be a blatant lie if the agent confirms that the offer was made in writing. There will be exceptions of course.

What law would it be in breach of? No personal details were shared, just the offer amount and whether or not it's been made formally or informally.

Yes, this is basically my plan. Offer something at the bottom end of the range. If it's less than what others have offered or what the vendor would consider, I'll know immediately that it won't be accepted and go from there. It'd be extremely rare for an agent to sell a property without informing everyone else who made offers and giving them an opportunity to put in a better offer.

 

The the vendor gets less than your best offer. Which a motivated buyer may offer.

I think it happens all the time. Get a good offer, get it signed and move on. An extra 5k isnt going to mean much for the agent.

 

And there’s no such thing as an informal or verbal offer. If it’s not in writing on the contract signed and accompanied by some consideration, it’s not an offer.

 

What If the agent's guide is so far above/below market? You risk overpaying or missing out totally.

 

Agree.

Do your own research and offer what the property is worth to you, keep $5K up your sleeve in case your first offer is refused on principle.
Marg

 

Worry more about the price the property is worth based on your research and less about what an agent or seller says.

 

It's a multiple offers situation, you've been advised that there are other negotiations current on the property and given the opportunity to put your best offer forwards, to secure it over other potential purchasers. You should be specifically warned that you are not guaranteed another opportunity to negotiate after that offer- and in many cases you wont be.

The other offers shouldn't be disclosed to you- if you know what the offers are, you know what you need to offer to secure the property, probably less than what you were willing to pay. The agent is paid to extract the highest sale price from you.

 

Quite simple put your best offer forward.

If you don’t win you will know what the other offer was and if you could of beaten it well that is your fault as the agent did give you the information in order for you to put your best offer forward.

If you win then you will never know if there was another offer or what the next highest offer was - you might think you do when the agent tells you that you where only a couple x,000 above the other person but this will likely be a lie as people don’t like to hear oh you paid xx,000+ more than the other person.

I have sold a place for ~10% more than the other offers but that purchaser thinks they got it by a couple of grand. People typically don’t like hearing hey overpaid compared to others and the silly thing is of they were told the truth they wouldn’t pick that agent in the future or tell their friends how an agent extracted more money from them.

Long story short put your best offer forward and you will never know the whole story.

 

If you do offer the bottom of the range best be sure you don’t have to many conditions and cash or finance is good to go. Most people would offer the lower range so you need to have an offer that stands out, without to much complication.
I think a better option is offering what its truly worth going by comparables in the area/finances sorted and if possible favour the terms the vendors require in terms of vacating.
Even if your offer is slightly lower than others it might just seal the deal. Best of luck