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Should you tell an estate agent your budget?

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Pepperoni
Pepperoni Posts: 461 Forumite
Debt-free and Proud!
in House buying, renting & selling
We are in the process of signing up with estate agents in the hope they'll help us find a property. Obviously one of the questions they ask is our budget.

Should we just be honest and tell them outright? Or just give them a ballpark, i.e. we would consider houses upto the value of XX (how much extra would you add on, ie as you may try bidding below asking price!).

Our actual spend budget is 300K.
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Comments

  • Carmk2008
    Carmk2008 Posts: 157 Forumite
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    I don't see the point in looking houses over your budget it will only dishearten you if you see one like but can't afford.
  • Hoploz
    Hoploz Posts: 3,888 Forumite
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    Tell them budget 300k but say it's flexible, that's what I've always done. Try not to get into specifics. If you can get an independent broker to sort out a mip then the ea doesn't need chapter and verse.
  • Guest101
    Guest101 Posts: 15,764 Forumite
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    Well obviously you need to tell them something, otherwise they wont be able to find you a suitable property.


    But no, don't tell them your maximum amount. IE by showing them your AIP
  • Hoploz
    Hoploz Posts: 3,888 Forumite
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    Carmk2008 wrote: »
    I don't see the point in looking houses over your budget it will only dishearten you if you see one like but can't afford.

    Agreed. It always seems pretty easy to get the perfect house if only you had another £x!
  • GoldenShadow
    GoldenShadow Posts: 968 Forumite
    edited 10 March 2017 at 2:54PM
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    I tell them outright. They won't want to waste time sending you stuff you can't afford. Ours knewnour budget was up to 325 and we viewed a house of 315 and agreed a price of 308. I would never borrow the max I could, we offer what a house is worth. It was 'we won't go up because it's not worth more to us' not we can't go up. I'd be worried if we were paying 325 because that would be a very tight margin re mortgages...I would rather a buyer with some flex than needing every penny.
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 0 Newbie
    Holiday Haggler
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    You should tell them a budget, but it doesn't have to be your actual budget. Remember - an estate agent works in the sellers interests.
  • Surrey_EA
    Surrey_EA Posts: 2,042 Forumite
    First Anniversary First Post
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    Hoploz wrote: »
    Agreed. It always seems pretty easy to get the perfect house if only you had another £x!

    Whatever budget you're working with, another 10% is always needed!
  • firebird082
    firebird082 Posts: 577 Forumite
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker
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    It's worth checking whether they will automatically add 10-15% above your 'top level' - some will, some won't, and if you have an absolutely max, factor this in.

    Obviously if you don't give them a budget, how are they going to alert you to suitable houses?
  • 3mph
    3mph Posts: 247 Forumite
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    Depends where you are. In our area houses often go for below price so I always say up to £550K but knowing our maximum is £535k. The flat we are nearly ready to exchange on the final price we agreed was 2% below the "offers over figure" the EA asked for.

    I have always assumed that "offers over" was an expression of hope, not an instruction.
  • Hedgehog99
    Hedgehog99 Posts: 1,425 Forumite
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    No, but you'll have to tell them a range so that they send you relevant properties. You can always ask to view properties you see online that they hadn't individually emailed you about.
    You could say you're looking at £250k - £280k for example, but research whether that leaves you just on the borderline of local prices for detached/semi/terrace or with/without garage or extra bedroom etc. It would be annoying if they didn't offer you the better properties you can actually afford.
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