If all offers were accepted then I would imagine that the bank wouldn't loan you the money to buy all the properties anyway so you could legitimately cancel under the finance clause, couldn't you?

I sold real estate for 8 years.  When a property took a long time to sell, it was usually because the price was too high.  By now, any agency agreement with your real estate agent would have run out so, yes, you can sell privately and the agent will not be entitled to any commission.  However, having said this, I would send a letter to the ag…[Read more]

I guess you could use the "cooling off clause" if all offers were accepted.Jacqueline

Why don't you perhaps look for a sales job.  Most pay commission only so, I guess, they usually are willing to give someone a go.  If you can find a position somewhere where you can get good strong training, it might lead to something.  Many sales jobs don't mind if you are not experience because this means that you haven't picked up any bad ha…[Read more]

Who did the valuation?  Your bank or a registered valuer?  I know that we had a valuation with one bank, Westpac, some time ago and the valuation came in at $850,000.  Based on these figures, they wouldn't loan us the money we wanted to buy another property.  However, the ANZ bank valued it at $1,000,000 (shortly thereafter) which was enough to…[Read more]

I always asked for a 5% or 10% deposit, when selling real estate, because it really is a sign of good faith.  If the purchaser only puts down, say, $100, what have they really got to lose if they go cold on the idea of purchasing the property?  They could walk and all that's lost is $100 (sure the vendor can sue but that's pretty messy).  If th…[Read more]

Hey TonyI can't remember the exact wording of a Buyer's Declaration but I'm pretty sure it didn't contain the word "if".  It would have been more like:  [name of buyer] is aware that there is another offer on the property at [address] and acknowledges that he/she must make their best offer blah, blah, blah.  No if's or buts … definite wo…[Read more]

I would insist on the Buyer's Declaration.  The agent should not have a problem with this if in fact another buyer does exist.  Failing that, I would perhaps ask for input from the Principal of the office (mind you, you have no guarantees that the Principal is ethical).The way our office used to deal with multiple offers was to inform the buyers o…[Read more]

Forget about the price on the other property … maybe the vendor is desperate for a very quick sale and has put a low price on it for that reason.  If you just go ahead and buy the house you've got a contract on, I'm sure that you'll make money on it down the track.  What other people are asking for their properties hasn't really got a lot to d…[Read more]

When I used to work in real estate, if I told a buyer there was another offer, THERE WAS ANOTHER OFFER.  It amazes me how many buyers think this is just some line an agent dreams up to get a sale.  Sure, agents are paid a commission.  It's their job to list and sell houses – that's how they get paid (why do people begrudge this? Would you go to wo…[Read more]

If you were to increase your offer by, say, $5000, at the end of the day this would mean about a difference of $10 per week to your mortgage (at 9.5% interest).  Would you miss out on the house of your dream for $10.00 a week?  I know I wouldn't.  You keep saying that if someone wants to pay more than it's worth, so be it.  Isn't a property wor…[Read more]