Quote Originally Posted by dml1954 View Post
Sealed bids are a nightmare. There is no guarantee that you will get it, no matter what you bid but you just have to take a bit of a chance. Think of a figure that you are happy with but dont offer a level number. If you would be happy to pay £400000, offer £400251 or something like that i.e, an odd number just over. You are almost certainly going to have to offer over the guide price to get it, especially if there has been a lot of interest. Ask the Estate Agent selling it what interest they have had and that will give you a rough idea. You could also pay to get it valued by another Valuer before you offer anything if you wanted. Have the agents stated that they will definitely accept the highest bid ? If not, that might give another opportunity to bid again after, if you lose out the first time. It might not be the highest bid that wins either, it will probably be the position of the buyer to proceed the quickest that ultimately wins the day.
thanks, i was going to bid over the amount we are willing to pay by a few hundred quid to maybe separate our bid, the down side is that we havent even put ours on the market, it will sell quickly i think, due to the school access, but who knows

Quote Originally Posted by Optimistic Nick View Post
I like the idea of sealed bids. You work out what you are willing to pay and bid that much. It should avoid you getting caught up in an emotional bidding war.

The problem I find is that sellers/agents get greedy and don't decide on a winner after receiving sealed bids. When we bought in London it was not uncommon for houses to be sold by sealed bids, but then for the agent to call the day after the bids were received and say "well done, you are one of 3 through to the final round - you were not the highest of the sealed bids so let me have your best and final bid tomorrow" or whatever. And then after offering a bit more - "the other guy really wants it and has bid higher - do you want to up your bid?" We must have had this happen half a dozen times, until I realised the best thing to do is withdraw your bid as soon as the agent/seller starts playing silly buggers.

That was a few years ago and in a different city, but I would bid the value you put on the house, but emphasising all of the other positive factors in your favour (financing sorted; solicitor instructed; house sold; can move in x weeks etc etc). Even if you lose and they do honour the process you can still make a revised offer- it's not a legally binding process or anything. I don't really see much point in low-balling though. It only really makes sense for a seller to use sealed bids if there are plenty of people interested. It's not like an ebay auction where you might snag it at a low price if nobody else bids - if all of the bids are less than the house is worth, I don't imagine the seller will sell.
cheers

i suspect a builder would have the funds ready to go and be in the driving seat

really dont want to go too much over £400 K as that is pushing silly money imho