In message , Mike Mitchell
writes
On Mon, 30 Aug 2004 18:34:03 +0100, "sid" wrote:

I still think that the system of making up your mind time and making a
legally binding offer stops most of the abuses of the English system - can't
sell my own house etc and the various dodges employed by sellers and buyers
to manipulate the price up or down.

Yes, make it legally binding (or lose the 10% deposit), but cease this
ridiculous "offers over" scam. I dabbled with RightMove again today,
whilst waiting for my real RM email updates to arrive for Lincs etc,
and I played "what ifs" on a number of locations, Ayrshire being one
of them. I saw a couple of fantastic, huge properties, and the OO
price was £149,950 for one and around £155K for the other. Houses that
would cost £400K in Bucks at least. Now, I reckon that both these
prices, even for Ayrshire where property is obviously cheaper, are
just come-ons to temp prospective buyers to at least have a look. I
think the £149K house would probably go for around £180 - 190K, but I
have no idea.

I believe that when it comes to the biggest asset most of us will ever
acquire, there is no room for funny business and vendors should state
the price up front as in England and Wales. As for having to have
surveys done on the same house, what if the same surveyor is hired by
three or four different buyers? I'll bet he has invested in a very
expensive photocopier! Talk about money for old rope.

MM

Mike,

you really seem to have been through it!

Offers over, and Guide prices, are nothing new and have been used in
england aswell as scotland for years. Auctions are prime examples,
although the bidding is not blind.

In England, I often invited interested parties to make their "Best &
Final Offers In Writing" by a particular deadline and, whilst never
achieving 2x the asking price, there were often some fascinating high
offers.

I have also set Guide prices particularly low where sellers had to sell
very fast - this usually resulted in many fast offers around the Guide
price with the opportunity to bid the price up to its best at the time.
I must stress that it was always the buyers that bid the price up, and
not the seller.

Why not try it - Guide Price £170,000 or Offers Over £170,000. Dont
forget, whatever offer you get, if you dont like it, you dont have to
take it.

As for surveyors, in my 17 years in the business, I can probably count
on 1 hand the number of times the same surveyor was instructed by 2 or
more buyers.



--
Richard Faulkner