The vendor gets tough

Up to this point the vendor's agent had been leaving messages trying to get things moving faster. Possibly being pressured by the vendor. This had been going on for a few weeks. But the most recent call was different. The most recent contact had a vicious edge to it.

The message was along the lines, if exchange does not take place within a week the property will be put back on the market and listed with another real estate agent. It had a nasty tone. These vendors didn’t seem particularly nice at all. Of course, the agent had always been polite to me. I could tell that the real estate agent who rang me wasn’t pleased with the vendors either. After consideration, it seemed to me to be an empty threat.

From things we’d been told by staff from various real estate agents who knew this particular property this threat didn’t make much sense. Various agents had said the property had been on the market for ages. It was priced way too high initially and wasn’t selling. We were told that there had been a few offers in the past, but all had been rejected. They had shifted agents once and it still wasn’t selling. Anyway, it occurred to me that should the vendors have decided to relist the property with another agent I would have spotted it with the new agent and I could have worked with them. By all accounts we were the only people showing any interest in recent months. Chances are that we would be buying the property from whichever agent they chose to sell it through. Surely the vendor didn’t think listing with another agent would magically release a whole new bunch of potential buyers that would somehow have excluded us. Anyway, I was doing all that I could, under the circumstances. This was an annoying development.

I can understand the agent feeling miffed by this recent development. After all, it’s the agent who stands around showing people through the property week after week waiting for some punter to come along. I imagine they wouldn’t be impressed if, after hooking me, the vendors decided to pull the property from sale and change agents.

It was with this aggressive attitude of the vendors and all the badgering they had been doing in recent weeks that we decided to cancel the arrangement to buy the existing furniture that was in the house. The arrangement would have suited us, but it was also done in part to save the vendor the inconvenience of having to deal with it. They lived in Sydney and may not have wished to go to the trouble of moving it. Stuff them; they can keep their furniture. But we still wanted the property. Though the thrill and excitement of owning it had been eroded.

It was at about this time I heard some news that took my attention. There was a news item on TV. It may have been coincidence, but a few days before the vendor made this threat there was a news segment that took my interest. The essence of the news story was to say that real estate prices were moving upward again. The news report said that the upward movement related to capital cities only. There was also an implication that the financial crisis may have been coming to an end. I wondered if our vendors had spotted that news item too and may have considered they might have been able to get more money for their property. Perhaps they were wondering if there were any buyers out there willing to pay more than we had them locked in for with our offer. We were certainly dragging our feet somewhat. Though, the news item focussed on major cities, which was certainly not the location of this property. There was no comment in the bulletin regarding regional towns.

I suspect with finance being tight, jobs being lost, that investment properties or holiday houses would be getting sold, and country areas would be the first to see property sales. People are not going to sell the family home if they have an investment property. And that was the appeal for us: get a bargain if we can. On the other hand, perhaps the vendors were just pissed off with us for taking too long to finalise the deal. Who knows? Though, it’s not as though real estate prices had fallen to bargain basement give away prices. This property was okay and it was a fair price.

Anyway, it was remarkably soon after that news bulletin that the vendors seemed to be getting agitated and wanted things to move faster. I was still having difficulties with the finance people. I was on edge over the deal. I wanted the property, but had no funds as yet.

A most unusual auction

I had a look at Queanbeyan. There seems to be an older part in addition to some newer areas. Some of it looks really ordinary looking, or is Canberra turning me into a snob. Very close by were some spectacular spots in Dodsworth and Ridgeway. Million dollar properties some of them, no doubt. I went to some open inspections in Jerrabomberra. What a name for a suburb. Large houses with prices to match. Some of them nearly take your breath away in the way they have been built and fitted out. I called in at an auction that happened to be about to start. I was first there, and had a chat to one of the agents.

On the way through the door I mentioned that I’d be a spectator only, and asked the price that the property was expected to bring. “Mid three hundreds,” she said. It was a very nice place, enhanced by the modern furnishings, if not a bit cramped inside, and the building almost filling the block completely. Anyway, while waiting for the auction to start, I began chatting with a couple of people outside, and mentioned the morsel of information I got from the agent. I was unaware at the time that this particular couple would buy the property. It was one of the most unusual auctions I’ve ever witnessed.

The auction began in the usual way with the auctioneer running through various attributes of the property and as far as I could tell seemed just another ordinary property auction. It’s the events which followed that surprised me. There were about three other agents on site in addition to the auctioneer, and they, along with a small group of perhaps ten or so spectators gathered on the small patch of lawn to the side of the house. There was only one interested buyer, as it turned out. Or rather, there was only one individual who was vocal at the auction. No one else showed any interest in bidding.

The bidding commenced at $300,000 with this chap calling out his bid. There were no subsequent raises in the auction despite the auctioneer’s usual banter of talking up the property. It appeared that this person had turned up to the auction and had no opposition. To me this is an ideal situation: it keeps the price low. And if the property gets passed in at the end of the auction, the highest bidder generally has first rights on negotiating a price, in private. Which also, is an ideal situation for a buyer. It has been known for properties to fail to sell at auction and subsequently sell at a lower price. The reverse also occurs.

So, here we are all gathered at this auction and there is only one bid, and that bid is for $300,000. One of the sales team approaches the bidder and speaks to him. I’m a little too far away from them and I don’t hear everything that was said, but I did manage to catch a comment by the sales person along the lines of, “…so you will be willing to raise your offer by $30,000.” This whole process took about three maybe four minutes; which is a lot of time to be standing around in relative silence. I thought this was an auction and not some badger-the-punter session.

My first reaction was wondering what this sales person was doing speaking to this guy. I’d feel inclined to tell them to get lost. My second thought was over the word “offer.” This guy didn’t make an offer on the house; he made a bid at an auction. Perhaps I’m splitting hairs, but it did seem mighty strange.

Anyway, this sales guy goes back to the auctioneer and whispers in his ear, to which the auctioneer immediately addresses those assembled, but to the bidder in particular. The auctioneer immediately asks to hear the new amount as a bid. And sure enough, like the little sheep he was, he responded with, “$330,000.”

This guy had just bid against himself. This was stupid, was my first reaction. This was outrageous of the agents to push this guy like this. Of course, the property may in fact have been worth a whole heap more than this amount. So, perhaps bidding against himself was no great loss. On the other hand he has just committed himself to another thirty thousand that perhaps he may not have had to put up. This guy doesn’t know the sellers situation. Perhaps the seller was in urgent need to sell; perhaps the property had to be sold on that day to get out of some financial trouble. We don’t know that possibly the seller had instructed the auctioneer to sell it any price, just get rid of it.

Having just bid against himself, the same salesperson approached the bidder again. Another prolonged discussion took place. Further delays as sales folk disappears inside the house. Possibly the owner was inside and they were seeking instructions from the owner. They come out for more discussions with the bidder. They troop back inside the house again. This would be funny had everything been captured on video and sped up like an old Keystone Cops silent movie.

Then finally they emerge and the figure $363,000 is announced by the auctioneer. The bidder acknowledges it. Then as quick as a flash, as though allowing no time to retract the bid, a mighty fast, “first call,” and without pause for a breath, “second call,” and immediately, “third call, sold,” exploded from the auctioneer’s mouth. It was all over

Unusual practice at best, more like a con job to me.

Don't forget the important things

This is my first day at work, and thankfully everyone has been very welcoming. I met the staff office person I had been dealing with over the phone. She was a stickler for detail, and wanted to sight my degree before putting me on the payroll. I didn’t know where it was, except that it was in Melbourne, somewhere. You know, in one of those safe places that you forget as soon as you walk out the room. However, she softened, saying as my qualifications for the job were based on work experience rather than my area of study it would be unnecessary. My new boss was good to me, and having been new to Canberra herself had a lot of useful advice for me. She mentioned in regard to renting that LJ Hooker want a lot of cash up front for the bond and they have a multi page check list to go through. It sounded ominous.