Q&A

Your property questions answered

Can I be sure competing bids are for real?

Q I recently pulled out of negotiations for a house as I felt the estate agents were inventing other buyers, and that I was in fact bidding against myself. I have no evidence other than what my instincts were telling me. Over a period of eight weeks three different buyers materialised at just the right moment, bid against my offer, and disappeared. I reluctantly pulled out and the house is still on the market (at a considerably reduced price). I appreciate that this is a contentious issue but I am furious. Is there anything I can do to get an agent to prove the validity of bids?

A It is quite extraordinary that in these difficult times when buyers are so thin on the ground estate agents would risk messing up a sale by this sort of carry on. As you say it’s hard to prove but three other prospective buyers suddenly emerging does seem suspicious. Is there a chance that your offer was a particularly low one and the agent already had a few other (marginally) higher offers that he was able to pull out and put up to you?

These days, for most houses on the market for a long time an agent will have at least one – too low for the seller – offer in his drawer. Or that one of the other offers that materialised did beat yours but there was a problem with the house (structural/title) that only emerged much later which might explain why it is still on the market? Whatever happened, it does not inspire trust. The crux of the problem is the secretive nature of our private treaty process – which you can’t get past. There is still no register of sales providing sales prices – something that would be particularly helpful now in getting a true picture of the market. We have heard of cases where buyers who felt messed around (particularly when they suspected phantom bidders) employed another estate agent to do the negotiations for them – for a fee of X if they could secure the house for Y. That might work. If you really want the house don’t be put off by an incompetent estate agent.

Will bank’s pull-out affect mortgage?

Q I am managing the affairs of my daughter who is travelling for the year and who has a Bank of Scotland Ireland mortgage. As Halifax are pulling out of Ireland how will it effect her? I heard that customers have to clear their loans by May but my daughter will not be back in the country by then to move her mortgage – which I’m not even sure she will be able to do as her apartment is in negative equity.

A There may be mail waiting somewhere for your daughter from Halifax informing her of her position. Customers with a Halifax credit card do have to clear their debt by May but for mortgage holders the situation is different. Your daughter’s mortgage will continue under its existing terms as normal until it is paid off or she decides to switch to another financial provider. There is a customer service number (1890 81 81 81) which you might want to contact for general reassurance or get her to look at the halifax.ie website.

Your questions

Send your queries to Property questions, The Irish Times, The Irish Times Building, 24-28 Tara Street, Dublin 2 or email propertyquestions@irish-times.ie. This column is a readers’ service and is not intended to replace professional advice.