Diary of a London Estate Agent

baby_boomer

I thought I'd share with you some snippets from the Evening Standard's diary - written by a different agent each week. This one was on Putney Hill.

Tuesday
".....a young Scandinavian couple made a £350K offer on a mansion block flat in the heart of Putney [on sale for £585K]." Thats more than 41% off :eek:

Wednesday
The agent had been one of three booked to make a valuation at the same time.
"The owner asked us to complete a speedy valuation, then lined us up and pointed at us in turn to give him a price and our fee. We then had to troop out again to await his decision. It was like being back at school...." :rotfl:

Oh - and NO SALES were mentioned .

justpurchased

baby_boomer wrote: »

I thought I'd share with you some snippets from the Evening Standard's diary - written by a different agent each week. This one was on Putney Hill.

Tuesday
".....a young Scandinavian couple made a £350K offer on a mansion block flat in the heart of Putney [on sale for £585K]." Thats more than 41% off :eek:

But was it accepted?

baby_boomer

No. But neither has the property sold.

Apparently the technique is known as

"anchor [the vendor's expectations] and lift [your price later to clinch the deal]"

No doubt it will soon seep into the nation's regular phraseology .

lynzpower

i would have thought that IF the vendor had accepted the offer the EA wouldnt say

If it was rejected as laughable the EA surely would want the world to know about it!

justpurchased

lynzpower wrote: »

i would have thought that IF the vendor had accepted the offer the EA wouldnt say

If it was rejected as laughable the EA surely would want the world to know about it!

True, they can't disclose an excepted offer.
So surley you could make a £1 offer, I don't see the point of the article, am I being thick?

carolt

A flat in Putney at 585K!!!!!!! :eek:

350K seems somewhat over-generous, IMHO.

baby_boomer

The couple did revise their offer but we aren't told the details.

I imagine the EA was trying to send out the message that such offers are not going to work.

Maybe not.

Yet!

carolt

But the message he actually succeeded in sending out was that flats in his neighbourhood were vastly overpriced!

justpurchased

baby_boomer wrote: »

The couple did revise their offer but we aren't told the details.

I imagine the EA was trying to send out the message that such offers are not going to work.

Maybe not.

Yet!

Sorry you have lost me, Do you think people should put in higher offers then?

baby_boomer

I wouldn't be putting in any offers until vendors have faced reality and are more fearful.

dopester

lynzpower wrote: »

i would have thought that IF the vendor had accepted the offer the EA wouldnt say

If it was rejected as laughable the EA surely would want the world to know about it!

Maybe not true. EAs seem to finally grasping the fact the only way transactions are going to pick up is if the market corrects faster, and therefore they sell more houses so as to put some money in their pockets.

Although if I recall correctly that concept saw one EA here on the house forums a few weeks back throw a strop and wishing death on us.