Estate Agent is keeping me waiting

Doozergirl

Sorry it was rejected.

It's not complete incompetence but there is a degree of arrogance there. If they don't get back to you then I should think the offer is so far off the mark of what the vendor is expecting that the EA sends a rather strong message by waiting for a call rather than even making one to reject the offer. Not nice.

puddy

yes i wondered that, from our perspective and our calculations (see above) we feel it isnt way off the mark,certainly less than they should expect but not way off, however, the vendor may see it differently.
i felt he sort of gave mixed messages, he sort of said it really abruptly, that it was too low and then said that although there is room for manouvre i wold need to come up further to the asking price. so i then said well that asking price has been in place for a year, in the meantime prices have dropped quite significantly, he agreed, he then said, look a property is worth what someone is willing to pay for it, but then said that if we werent willing to come up at all the we could draw a line under this one and they could find us something else

is he trying to manipulate me? trouble is, we want this place

SavingSteve

I feel that you've fallen in love with this place which could end up to the detriment of you bank balance.

IF it were me I'd never contact this EA again if I could help it, and a lot of buyers on here have reported that a few weeks/months later the EA will call THEM asking if their offer still stood.

Is this absolutely THE ONLY place that fits all your needs? If no, then move on, the seller will never get a sale with that attitude in the current market.

QTPie

jenner wrote: »

because we saw it first with the agent at 184, arranged a viewing and then spotted it was on with another agent at a lower price, although i say that, the price with the other agent was 175 -195 so naturally i am discounting the 'to 195' bit and considering the asking price as 175

Regardless of what you choose to bid or not bid (that is a personal decision on which I have no opinion), as useless as they seem, stick with negotiating through that SAME agent. Do not start speaking (even "out of interest" to the other agent).

The reason that I say that is that we made the mistake, before, of initially showing interest on a property with one agent... then, VERY CASUALLY, speaking to another (just along the lines of "do you think that they will take offers" - nothing formal). Anyway, the second agent reported back to the seller and suddenly "the seller isn't interested in taking offers below the asking price because he has several people interested in the property" :rolleyes: (yes! they are both us!)

Keep it clean and simple - stick with the same/first agent. Don't even be TEMPTED to speak to the other. All estate agents are as useless as each other - so the other agent will be no better for you...

QT

puddy

no, we wont be talking to the other agent, i wouldnt do that anyway as it causes problems i think

saving stevie - well yes, you're right in a way. i have some reservations about the property because of things i want to change, hence the money we need to keep back (thats not the vendors problem). the area, location, road, property is perfect, the price and the layout is not. the house is very 'us' so its perfect in that way, i think our next offer is a final offer, we cant really go higher because of our own limitations

QTPie

jenner wrote: »

is he trying to manipulate me? trouble is, we want this place

The him not ringing you back was stupid (in anyone's book). His attitude on the phone is just trying to manipulate you. A seller cannot really afford to show too much weakness to a buyer, otherwise an unscurpulous buyer (not you!) will put them over a barrel...

If I was you, I would work out how much you want to offer, go back to him (but I would wait a day or so), make the offer and say it is your FINAL offer. Ask him to forward it to the seller and get back to you (in a timely manner this time!). Then starts a battle of wills. If I was you, and it was rejected, I would certainly decline the estate agent's offer to find you a house (just say that you are really "in no rush" ), but would "leave the offer on the table". But that is me.

It is a very personal decision and only you know how you want to proceed.

VERY good luck . Let us know what happens.
QT

puddy

its good advice, just not sure i am brave enough to stick to being strong, look at my previous statement that i wasnt going to ring him, then i end up rining him!!!!

QTPie

jenner wrote: »

its good advice, just not sure i am brave enough to stick to being strong, look at my previous statement that i wasnt going to ring him, then i end up rining him!!!!

No, you were right to ring him! As I said, he was an incompetent twit who had completely forgotten about it all...

It is COMPLETELY up to you, the housing market is a complex thing. Ideally, you want to get your dream house at the best price possible. Sometimes something has to give somewhere.

At the end of the day, you really basically want two things (I think):
- the house you want at a price that YOU are happy with (which may or may not be "the best price at the lowest point in the housing price trough"...).
- no messing around from the seller.

I am selling my house and I know that - once I agree a price - I have no intention of messing a buyer around. My recent attept to sell, where we were gazundered, showed that buyers wont always treat me with the same straightforwardness.... What I am trying to say, is that you may have a "no nonsense" seller like me, but equally you could have someone who will take advantage of any weakness you show. So I think that you do need to show strength. Otherwise you will end up paying £184k + £5k extra for the fitted carpets and curtain poles...

Could your husband handle the negotiation instead? I know that mine is better at these things than me...

QT

puddy

ive just been looking at statistics. they show that the area we are looking at, has lost 24% on selling prices over the past year on semi detached houses. what i dont understand is that all the other types of house have supposedly gone up!! and by huge amounts. i dont know what is happening with the market.

anyway, that would put the price at about 140k!!!!! we offered 148. i really like the place but really dont want to be paying over the odds, plus contending with future drops. i dropped mine over 30 percent to sell it, was hoping for an equivilent drop for the next purchase but this isnt happening.

theres no way i'd let my partner loose, he would antagonise them

do you know since i spoke to him this morning, i then rang back within about 5 minutes and gave a message to his colleage for him to phone me,,,, he still hasnt. that was hours ago. i CANNOT believe this attitude, you would think they would bite my hand off

QTPie

jenner wrote: »

do you know since i spoke to him this morning, i then rang back within about 5 minutes and gave a message to his colleage for him to phone me,,,, he still hasnt. that was hours ago. i CANNOT believe this attitude, you would think they would bite my hand off

Tell me where you live, I will drive across, make you a nice cup of tea (with a shot of something in) and tie your hands to your sides...

Yes, he should be biting your hands off, but he is acting for the seller and doesn't want to appear "too keen". As far as the estate agent and the seller are concerned, you could be one of those buyers "trying to get them over a barrel".... Plus, as I keep saying, estate agents are stupid and completely incompetent. Although, to be fair, he could be out on viewings all morning. I would expect a call back by the end of the day.

House values are VERY complex things: just because the papers say that houses have dropped 24%, doesn't mean that the value of all houses have. To be REALISED, the value of any specific house needs to be set by the convergence of both the buyers and the sellers expectations. If there is no convergence, then the property just wont sell (and no value can be realised for it).

Every buyer and every seller is different: the property market is more of an art than a science. Yes we can use various market indicators (like falling property prices and what other houses have sold for locally) to negotiate, but it wont always work. But you have to know where to draw your line and how to play it "cool" otherwise you WILL pay over the odds for it...

If all house prices had dropped by 24% from their height, I would be a VERy VERY happy woman!

You have to be strong, that doesn't mean unreasonable, just strong.

QT