Want to put in low offer but EA knows we can go higher, Help!

ems2

Hi,

We have been to see a house which we are going to put an offer in for, but our budget is MAX 183K. The house is on for 188K - more than we want to spend on this house - but we really like it, just not at this price. We are going to put in an offer for 178k. The EA thinks we can pay 185K for a house but this house is really not worth it. How do we aproach this so we get house for price we want to pay not for what we can pay?

F_T_Buyer

Why does the EA 'think' you can afford £185k?

Eitherway, just offer what you think it's worth. If the EA says it's too low, say 'ok I won't buy it'.

Ems*Honie

It doesn't matter what you can afford to pay, only what you are willing to pay.

mountainofdebt

I would love to have a break at Centre Parcs but don't think, deep down it is worth the money (especially as you have to pay for everything once you get there) so I won't go.

If YOU think the house is worth only £178K then only offer £178K.

You MAY lose the house to someone who is willing to pay more but that is only because they think that the house is worth more than you.

ems2

When the EA asked what we were looking for, he also asked how much we would be willing to go pay up to.

tomstickland

As previous posters have said, offer what you are prepared to pay and leave it at that.

annie-c

I had a similar problem, buying a house in a small area, where everyone gets too involved in each others' business and where , in my case, the EA was initially happy to advise the vendor against accepting my offer- I wanted to bid 110K for a house on the market at 120K and was worried because I had already got into a bidding war on an earlier house and had let the EA 'know' that I could stretch to 125K.

I put in the offer on the Friday (or so I thought...), but when I chased to see if it had been accepted by Monday, the EA said that they hadn't put it to the vendor because they 'felt' it was too low!!! In the end, I was quite assertive, said it was my final and only offer and walked away... they came back with a 'yes' from the vendor the same day.

A house in worth as much as someone is willing to pay for it. Nothing less, nothing more.

Good luck.. and be strong!

aloiseb

Never forget that the EA is working for the vendor, not the buyer - whatever they might like you to think. It's easy to forget this when they try the "I can help you out with a bit more finance" trick. They are trained to look helpful as it's goign to get them teh sale and therefore lots of commission.

I generally try to see them as some kind of perfoming seal - it helps a bit.....

EA who came round to value my house the other day was awful - more or less admitted to the companies tactics of luring people in with a "guide price" which deluded buyers into thinking they could get the house for the bottom of the guide, then "negotiating" the hell out of them until they'd come up to nearly full asking price - once they were hooked. IMHO it's nasty and immoral to do this to people who are out to buy a house, not paly some stupid and expensive game.

nelly_2

aloiseb wrote:

Never forget that the EA is working for the vendor, not the buyer - whatever they might like you to think. It's easy to forget this when they try the "I can help you out with a bit more finance" trick. They are trained to look helpful as it's goign to get them teh sale and therefore lots of commission.

I generally try to see them as some kind of perfoming seal - it helps a bit.....

EA who came round to value my house the other day was awful - more or less admitted to the companies tactics of luring people in with a "guide price" which deluded buyers into thinking they could get the house for the bottom of the guide, then "negotiating" the hell out of them until they'd come up to nearly full asking price - once they were hooked. IMHO it's nasty and immoral to do this to people who are out to buy a house, not paly some stupid and expensive game.

Actually they are probably saying that to you to get a greedy vendors hooked

why anyone gives a !!!!!! what an ea thinks about them is beyond me.

Theres been a few threads like this lately, has everyone lost their spine?

Robert_Sterling

Buying a house is a bit like bidding at an auction.
You are the one who decides what you will or will not pay.

Jorgan_2

You know what the property is worth to you so thats what you offer. It may or may not be enough to secure the property, that is ultimatley down to the vendor. Don't do what a lot of people do, they put in an offer of £x and at the same time tell the EA that will go to £y if that offer is unsuccessful. The fact that EA knows what you can afford is irrelevant in my opinion & I am an EA, what you actually offer is key.