"Offers Over"

[JRCT]

Have any of you bought, or tried to buy, a property in Scotland on the Offers Over scheme?

I attempted to, and failed, this week and what an incredible system. It perpetuates greed from the vendor and it takes advantage of often desperate buyers who bid way over the value of a house just to ensure they get it.

I've got friends in Edinburgh who have paid £30/ 40k over the odds for a property and I've heard some ridiculous stories even worse than that. When people lose out 2-3 times on the trot, they become desperate and they end up bidding way, way over just to get somewhere.

Bearing in mind that any mortgage is only secured on the value, not the bid. So often these people are way in debt before they start.

I never realised how horrendous it was until I had a go. So much for a fairer Scotland.

[BolshieBastard]

Have any of you bought, or tried to buy, a property in Scotland on the Offers Over scheme?

I attempted to, and failed, this week and what an incredible system. It perpetuates greed from the vendor and it takes advantage of often desperate buyers who bid way over the value of a house just to ensure they get it.

I've got friends in Edinburgh who have paid £30/ 40k over the odds for a property and I've heard some ridiculous stories even worse than that. When people lose out 2-3 times on the trot, they become desperate and they end up bidding way, way over just to get somewhere.

Bearing in mind that any mortgage is only secured on the value, not the bid. So often these people are way in debt before they start.

I never realised how horrendous it was until I had a go. So much for a fairer Scotland.

The rule are simple, dont bid more than you can afford or think what its worth.

[eek]

It only works in a market with multiple buyers wanting the same property. When that occurs the exact same thing occurs south of the border...

The exact same thing happens whenever a house is up for sale on my parent's road (London suburb so miles from Scotland)...

[TheFaQQer]

My parents bought their house at a silent auction - one sealed bid each with the highest one winning.

That was in Yorkshire, and they paid about £10k more than the next bid. But they bid what they wanted to, and got the house they wanted.

[Batcher]

My parents bought their house at a silent auction - one sealed bid each with the highest one winning.

That was in Yorkshire, and they paid about £10k more than the next bid. But they bid what they wanted to, and got the house they wanted.

Offers Over are normally sealed bids with an end date when the bid letters are opened.

We bought a house on offers over and our bid was just over the starting price. We then sold our old house at a fixed price. The people who bought our old house mentioned they had bid for our new house but lost out. They told us the price and it was more than we had offered.

Once the letters are opened the sellers can pick which one they want to win and not necessarily the highest price. Most people would go for the highest bid but I think the fact we were a young couple with an 18-month-old baby swung it for us as the other people were an old retired couple and the house suited a young family.

Very nice of the sellers to do it that way and we certainly considered it every time we sold a house after that.

[TestMangler]

Have any of you bought, or tried to buy, a property in Scotland on the Offers Over scheme?

I attempted to, and failed, this week and what an incredible system. It perpetuates greed from the vendor and it takes advantage of often desperate buyers who bid way over the value of a house just to ensure they get it.

I've got friends in Edinburgh who have paid £30/ 40k over the odds for a property and I've heard some ridiculous stories even worse than that. When people lose out 2-3 times on the trot, they become desperate and they end up bidding way, way over just to get somewhere.

Bearing in mind that any mortgage is only secured on the value, not the bid. So often these people are way in debt before they start.

I never realised how horrendous it was until I had a go. So much for a fairer Scotland.

You clearly don't get the system then.

In Scotland, you make an offer. That offer can either be accepted or rejected, sometimes the vendor may opt to go to bids and batcher described.

What is a damn site fairer is the fact that the legal offer to buy normally includes the conclusion date. That is a material part of the offer and the exchange takes place on that date. None of this 'in a chain' tulipe where you buy a house and have no idea when you can move in or can be gazumped or gazundered after the deal has been concluded.

[VectraMan]

What is a damn site fairer is the fact that the legal offer to buy normally includes the conclusion date. That is a material part of the offer and the exchange takes place on that date. None of this 'in a chain' tulipe where you buy a house and have no idea when you can move in or can be gazumped or gazundered after the deal has been concluded.

So does that means you have to already have an offer on your house with an end date before you can make an offer on somebody else's with your end date, and so on up the chain?

[Goatfell]

So does that means you have to already have an offer on your house with an end date before you can make an offer on somebody else's with your end date, and so on up the chain?

Not necessarily, but it helps. If not you might need to get bridging finance to cover the gap between purchase and sale. As TM says, the big advantage is that once the offer is accepted it's a done deal.

I've bought properties on a handshake with the seller at the viewing, and been fecked about by another in Wales for four months after our offer was accepted with "We've recieved another offer" and "The market is improving"

[TestMangler]

So does that means you have to already have an offer on your house with an end date before you can make an offer on somebody else's with your end date, and so on up the chain?

Depends on how risk averse you are :-)

Most of my deals have been, find a house, make an offer, put current house on market immediately and I've never been stuck on bridging finance at any point but I know people who have. You can verbally agree the conclusion date with the vendor before the legal offer is made.

Also, worth bearing in mind that not all 'offers over' sales go to sealed bids. It depends a lot on the seller and the popularity of the house. When I sold my last one I used this 'American style' agent who advertised at a pretty low price and invited offers at viewings. We were looking for offers 15-20% above and ended up getting 40% but that was 2005 at the cusp of the bubble. I just accepted the first offer I was happy with rather than going to bids. As batcher said, most money doesn't always make winning bid. For example, if you were in a hurry, you may accept a bid from a first time buyer rather than someone who wanted a date far in the future to give time to sell.

[MicrosoftBob]

Not necessarily, but it helps. If not you might need to get bridging finance to cover the gap between purchase and sale. As TM says, the big advantage is that once the offer is accepted it's a done deal.

I've bought properties on a handshake with the seller at the viewing, and been fecked about by another in Wales for four months after our offer was accepted with "We've recieved another offer" and "The market is improving"

I had that about the market improving in Wales, but threatened to walk unless they dropped the price, considering they wanted to move into an OAP home they sharpish they didn't have the strongest hand

We got £10k knocked off in the end