Negotiation advice

hobo28

Hi all

Someone has just made an offer on my house and its not a million miles from what I want so am chuffed. Obviously rejected the first offer and waiting for a response.

That said, my dilemma is with the houses I want to buy. There are two we are interested in. One is up at £229k and the our favourite is £239k. he houses in that estate are v. popular stll and don't hang about. The one at £229k has only been on the market 5 weeks, had loads of viewings and a few people who have said they would offer but have not sold theirs. The £239k couple are in no rush to move and are semi-retired. They just want something smaller and a bit closer to work. Unfortunately, they are up with the same estate agents.

My problem is that since our favourite is the £239k one, if I say for example offer £220k and negotiate up to say £230k. If it all fails and we go for the second house at £229k, the estate agent already knows we can offer the full asking! The figures I can change but the principle is the same.

Anyone have any helpful suggestions?

Doozergirl

Why don't you do the negotiations on the house you really want and take it from there? You may get the house, in which case, worrying over the cheaper one is pointless. If you don't succeed with the more expensive house, then you must find a reason to down-value the second. Small garden, bedroom smaller than hoped, work required etc.

OR, (andthis is what I'd probably do) you could try to use the situation to your advantage and offer on both. Explain to the agent that you are serious, how you must be on this particular estate and will definately be buying BUT you can't decide between the two so which one you buy will depend on the house that comes in at the best price. If the agent is going to make commission on one house or the other, they should be helpful as it shouldn't matter to them which is sold as long as they make a sale. If anything, they may work harder to get you the more expensive house. Hopefully they will tell the vendors that you are offering on another property and this *should* put them under enough stress and pressure to get you the lowest price.

Good luck!

Robert_Sterling_3

If you tell him you MUST have one of them then he might sell the one you want to someone else.
In theory at least the Agent is not working for you but for the vendors.
In practice he is working for the Estate Agency.

lush_walrus

You are worrying over nothing, although I know that everyone seems to be obsessed with this!!. All EAs want to know is that any offer you do put forward you can afford, not how much you can stretch to.

Each property is worth what you are willing to pay, full stop. Any EA knows that and expects offers to be adjusted accordingly. If you value a property for sale for £239,000 at £220,000 no EA on the planet is going to really feel that you will value a house £10,000 cheaper the same.

Offer always what you are willing to pay, be careful not to go to low as generally you will rub the vendor if not the EA up the wrong way and make sure you can afford to pay any offer.

Good luck

lush_walrus

Doozergirl wrote:

OR, (andthis is what I'd probably do) you could try to use the situation to your advantage and offer on both. Explain to the agent that you are serious, how you must be on this particular estate and will definately be buying BUT you can't decide between the two so which one you buy will depend on the house that comes in at the best price.
Good luck!

Im not sure this is a good idea, talking from an EA side and as a vendor. The EA will straight away think that this will create nothing but hassle. If the EA puts an offer forward to both vendors, one vendor will definately end up with an offer that doesnt go through. The upshot an angry vendor and potentially a vendor who is going to see the EA as not working in their best interests and go straight off the books to another agent.

Not fair tactics at all, EAs have to put forward all offers, and as such the opening line to both vendor is going to be 'they have also offered on another property through our agency' and any tetchy vendor is going to not like that at all.

This is not a nice or fair way to do it, why should both properties be reserved for the OPs pleasure! Its as bad and cruel as gazzumping.

If you want to be safe then by all means tell the EA what you are thinking in that if you dont get the price you want from property A, then you are interested in property B, and then request that the vendor comes back to you in x days. But if you want them to react quick and not loose the possibility of the second property, why go in so low. Speak to the EA ask them what they realistically think the vendors will accept, most will tell you exactly that and offer on or close to it. Less messing around and playing games and less time wasted therefore less of a chance that you will loose the other property should all fail.

frugal_dougal_3

hobo28 wrote:

The £239k couple are in no rush to move and are semi-retired. They just want something smaller and a bit closer to work. Unfortunately, they are up with the same estate agents.

With these sorts of folk you can often find that they are indecisive in the extreme, and can often just plod along with their house on the market ad infinitum. Try putting an offer in to test how long they take to respond.

hobo28 wrote:

If it all fails and we go for the second house at £229k, the estate agent already knows we can offer the full asking!

That is irrelevant. Every property is different and every property has a different value to different people. You wouldn't offer more than you thought it was worth regardless of whether the EA knew that you could afford it.

Doozergirl

lush_walrus wrote:

Not fair tactics at all, EAs have to put forward all offers, and as such the opening line to both vendor is going to be 'they have also offered on another property through our agency' and any tetchy vendor is going to not like that at all.

I don't disagree Lush, I doubt the OP would do this anyway; I suspect that this is something only the very confident would do. Of course, I would hate someone to do it to me as a vendor as it puts me on the back foot, but as this advice is aimed at a purchaser, they are in the position to take advantage? The EA must be able to dig themselves out of the situation, after all, it's hardly their fault if someone makes two offers?

lush_walrus wrote:

This is not a nice or fair way to do it, why should both properties be reserved for the OPs pleasure! Its as bad and cruel as gazzumping.

I don't understand. I'm not suggesting that the OP goes to the point of agreeing two sales - properties continue to be marketed until a price is agreed by both parties, surely?

meanmachine_2

Correct.

You can make offers on as many properties as you like. It only goes "under offer" once the vendor has accepted the price, surely?!

The only downside is that the EA will think you're an "offers" junkie.

Also, to the OP I'd make it clear what you can afford. The agency will understand that you CAN go up to that level, but might not be willing to.

As I understand it, the EA will have your upper bracket on file, and will exclude all other properties that are above it, so be honest.

I had a few more viewings yesterday, and I have to confess I found all three agents absolutely charming. Gah! What's happening to me?!

Either they are genuinely nice people, or it's a cunning new tactic.

I suspect that latter.

Doozergirl

meanmachine wrote:

I had a few more viewings yesterday, and I have to confess I found all three agents absolutely charming. Gah! What's happening to me?!

Either they are genuinely nice people, or it's a cunning new tactic.

Do you use your username when you view? If you you do, they'd know then to be on their best behaviour - your reputation preceeds you